Several Boston Bruins prospects have hit the semester break with their college team. There have been mixed results through the first two months of the college hockey season as some prospects currently are having a better season than they had last year and some are struggling this season compared to last season.
In this edition of the Bruins Prospects Report, we will look at how some of the Black and Gold’s prospects are faring at the semester break ahead of Christmas.
Lohrei Helps Ohio State Sweep Bowling Green
One team that is entering the semester break playing some of its best hockey of the season is Ohio State University, which is currently ranked 14th in the country. Bruins prospect Mason Lohrei continues to climb up the ranks of the Buckeyes’ scoring list this season.
In Ohio State’s weekend sweep of Bowling Green University, Lohrei picked up an assist in each game for a team-high 15 helpers in 20 games. This season, Lohrei has been thriving in all situations and has logged over 30 minutes a night in multiple games. He has yet to find the back of the net, but he has 48 shots on net, including a season-high five against the Falcons on Dec. 16 in a 5-2 victory, and he’s blocked 25 shots. He is without a doubt the Bruins’ top defensive prospect and could sign as early as the end of this sophomore season later this season.
Kuntar, Jellvik & Gasseau Chipping in at Boston College
Trevor Kuntar, selected 89th overall in the third round of the 2020 Entry Draft ahead of his freshman season at Boston College, has been playing top-six minutes for the Eagles and is second on the team in scoring with six goals and eight assists with a team-high 53 shots on the net. Against Boston University on Dec. 9, he scored a goal and had two assists in a 9-6 BC victory. He is second on BC in scoring with 14 points and had points in seven of his final nine games before the break.
A pair of freshmen have been a key part of the Eagles’ 6-5-4 start. Oskar Jellvik was picked in the fifth round, 154th overall in 2021, and has one goal and eight assists playing in the middle six. Jellvik, from Sweden, is one the more underrated prospects for the Bruins as he shows that his skill set is adjusted to the college game. Andre Gasseau, the 213th overall pick of the 2021 Draft, had two goals and seven points in 15 games.
Related: Boston Bruins Top 15 Prospects Heading Into 2022-23
Earlier this season, Boston College coach Greg Brown put Kuntar, Jellvik, and Gasseau together on a line for the Eagles, but it was broken up when injuries hit Boston College. Kuntar continues to make strides in his development as an offensive forward.
Svedeback and Duran Continue to Shine at Providence
Prospects Riley Duran and Philip Svedebäck continue to play a big part in the start of the season that Providence College is having through the first two months. Duran has been playing in all situations for the Friars and excelling in each. He has seven goals, which is a team-high, and seven assists in 17 games and he is on pace to shatter his numbers from his freshman season of 2021-22, in which he tallied 10 goals and nine assists. He closed out the semester with two assists in the Friars’ 3-2 loss to Merrimack College. In the 2022 World Junior Championship, Duran played well on the fourth line for Team USA where he had two goals and three assists. Selected 182nd in the sixth round of the 2020 Draft, he could end up being a late-draft steal.
Related: Bruins’ Prospect Duran Off to Hot Start in 2022-23
Svedebäck entered Providence in the fall as a freshman and immediately took control of the net for coach Nate Leaman. The Friars are 9-4-5 and Svedeback has a record of 7-3-5 with a 2.32 goals against average (GAA) and a .900 save percentage (SV%). In 16 games, he has allowed more than three goals three times and he is 1-1-1 in those games. The Bruins have a deep prospect pool in goal and Svedebäck is someone to keep an eye on down the line.
Prospect Quick Hitters
- Ty Gallagher has eight assists in his sophomore season for Boston University in 16 games, including points in four of the six games for the Terriers before the break. The seventh-round draft pick in 2020 is an offensive defenseman that has a good skill set for the Terriers, who are 11-5-0 and hoping for an NCAA Tournament berth in March.
- The 2022-23 season has not been too kind for University of North Dakota sophomore Jake Schmaltz. A seventh-round draft pick in 2019, he has three goals and eight points, but after starting the season as the first-line center, he has been dropped down to the bottom six. Last season he had eight goals and 16 assists for the Fighting Hawks.
- At the University of Minnesota-Duluth, Quinn Olson, the 92nd pick in the third round of the 2019 Entry Draft has two goals and 10 points in 18 games for the Bulldogs. He closed out the semester with a pair of assists against the University of Denver.
- Also at Minnesota-Duluth, Cole Spicer, one of three centers selected in July’s Draft in Montreal by general manager (GM) Don Sweeney, has two goals and three points for the Bulldogs in 16 games. The 5-foot-11, 178-pound Spicer scored both of his goals in back-to-back games in November against Western Michigan University.
All colleges are on their semester break with Lohrei and Ohio State reaching it last. A lot of teams will return to action around the New Year either in a tournament or non-conference games. Some college prospects for the Bruins are taking the next step in their development, while some are struggling. The final two-plus months of the season are going to be big for some of them as they have visions of playing for an NCAA National Championship in March and April.
