We will start today’s trip across the prospects landscape in Sweden, where a key player in the Detroit Red Wings rebuild suffered an injury. From there, we will return to North American to check on a Montreal Canadiens prospect looking to make history in the United States Hockey League (USHL). Finally, we’ll end in the Western Hockey League (WHL), where a Calgary Flames goaltending hopeful accomplished a rare feat.
Moritz Seider Leaves with Injury
When the Red Wings get back to being a playoff team and Stanley Cup contender, there is little doubt that Seider will be a huge part of the blue line. Detroit drafted the large German defenseman with the sixth overall pick of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.
He had a very successful first season in North America in 2019-20, scoring two goals and 22 points in 49 games for the Grand Rapids Griffins in the American Hockey League (AHL). The Red Wings were quick to loan Seider to Rogle BK in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He scored seven goals and 28 points during his 41 regular-season games.
Rogle is having a great postseason run, winning their first seven games. They beat Skelleftea 2-1 on Saturday to move to within one victory of advancing to the SHL championship series. Seider was his usual self during the game by throwing his weight around and being a physical presence.
During the second period, he continued to be aggressive by mixing up with forward Oscar Moller. As he went to give another shot in front of the net, Moller braced himself and his head made heavy contact with Seider’s jaw.
Seider skated off to the locker room after the sequence and did not return to the game. There has been no update from the team on his condition.
Sean Farrell Goes for 100
The Chicago Steel have already wrapped up the best regular-season record and home-ice advantage throughout the USHL players. With that in mind, they rested some of their top stars, like Sam Coronato, Erik Middendorf, and Mackie Samoskevich, in Friday night’s game against the Muskegon Lumberjacks.
However, the USHL’s leading scorer, Sean Farrell, was in uniform, and he had a huge night in a 6-4 victory. He entered the night with 94 points, and he showed no signs of slowing down as he assisted on all four of Josh Doan’s goals.
Doan, the son of longtime NHL star Shane Doan, had the Steel’s first four-goal game since Andy Miele on Nov. 23, 2007. The four helpers gave Farrell 69 on the season in 52 games. Add on his 29 goals, and he is just two points shy of one hundred heading into tonight’s regular-season finale versus the Lumberjacks. If he can pick up two points, he will be just the second USHL player with a 100-point season since 2000 and the first since Kevin Roy had 104 in 59 games in 2011-2012 with the Lincoln Stars.
Farrell was drafted by the Canadiens in the fourth round (124th overall) of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. He was originally supposed to play for Harvard University in 2020-21, but he elected to return to Chicago when they canceled fall sports.
The Steel will begin the Clark Cup playoffs on home ice next weekend and face either the Dubuque Fighting Saints or Team USA in the best-of-three Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Dustin Wolf Hits Triple Digit
Speaking of the number 100, we head to the WHL, where Wolf picked up his 100th career victory on Friday night. He made 21 saves to lead the Everett Silvertips to a 6-1 win over the Spokane Chiefs and keep them in first place of the U.S. Division. He was just 1:55 from his second shutout of the season before Cordel Larson spoiled the party.
Wolf became just the 20th goaltender in WHL history to win 100 career games. He has been phenomenal during this abbreviated season, going 12-2-0 with a .945 save percentage (SV%) and 1.65 goals-against average (GAA).
The Flames drafted Wolf in the seventh round (214th overall) of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. He made three starts with the Stockton Heat in AHL this season before heading back to Everett. He won two of his three games while posting a .895 SV% and 3.45 GAA. During his career with the Silvertips, Wolf is 100-33-6 with a .936 SV%, 1.83 GAA, and 24 shutouts. He was named the 2019-20 Goaltender of Year for both the WHL and Canadian Hockey League.
