Penguins Prospect Watch: Kasper Bjorkqvist is producing in his return from injury
While the NHL and many leagues in North America are in the the midst of their offseasons because of the coronavirus pandemic, several leagues in Europe and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League have already opened play for the 2020-21 season.
Thirteen of the Penguins’ prospects or minor leaguers are currently playing, primarily in Europe. Here is a weekly look at their progress:
• Forward Kasper Bjorkqvist is playing his first games since suffering a knee injury while playing with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League in mid-October of 2019. On loan to KooKoo of Finland’s Liiga, the 23-year-old Bjorkqvist leads that team in scoring with six points (three goals, three assists), having scored in all five games he has played. Bjorkqvist, the Penguins’ second-round pick in 2016 (No. 61 overall), is currently manning the left wing of KooKoo’s top line.
• Forward Valtteri Puustinen, 21, has not played since recording two assists for HPK in a 4-2 win against Karpat, also in the Liiga, on Oct. 1. According to Finnish newspaper Hameen Sanomat, Puustinen has been under quarantine but the specific nature of his status or potential ailment has not been revealed. On Oct. 3, the entire HPK team was quarantined for one day after two unidentified members of the team were exposed to family members who had tested positive for the coronavirus. That measure was lifted Oct. 4 and HPK resumed played, albeit without Puustinen, the Penguins’ seventh-round pick in 2019 (No. 203 overall). During the 2019-20 season, Puustinen was HPK’s second-leading scorer with 40 points (17 goals, 23 assists) in 54 games.
• Forwards Sam Poulin (Sherbrooke Phoenix) and Nathan Legare (Baie-Comeau Drakkar), each 19, will not play again until Oct. 28 at the earliest as the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League has suspended play in its two Quebec-based divisions as a precaution because of the coronavirus. Poulin (first-round, No. 21 overall) and Legare (third round, No. 74 overall) were each drafted in 2019.
• With the Czech Republic’s Ministry of Health halting all sports until Oct. 26 at the earliest, forward Radim Zohorna, 24, currently leads BK Mlada Boleslav of the country’s ELH league in scoring with five points (two goals, three assists) in four games.
• In his debut with Ljubljana Olimpija HK of the Alps Hockey League, a league based in Austria, Italy and Slovenia, forward Jan Drozg recorded two primary assists in a 9-0 road win against Steel Wings Linz on Saturday. Drozg, 21, was a fifth-round selection in 2017 (No. 152 overall).
• Defenseman Jesper Lindgren, 23, recorded two assists for MODO in a 6-4 win against Kristianstads IK during a contest in Sweden’s second-tier HockeyAllsvenken league on Friday.
• Goaltender Calle Clang, 18, was in net for Kristanstands IK and allowed six goals on 34 shots. He was the Penguins’ third-round pick this year (No. 77 overall).
• Goaltender Joel Blomqvist, 18, allowed three goals on 30 shots for Hermes in a 3-2 overtime road loss to IPK on Friday in Finland’s second-tier Mestis league. Blomqvist was the Penguins’ second-round pick in this year’s draft (No. 52 overall).
• Defenseman Santeri Airola, a seventh-round pick in 2019 (No. 211 overall), has yet to play a game this season with Ilves in the Liiga. Sidelined since suffering an undisclosed injury in the preseason, he could potentially return to the lineup later this week.
Statistics
Forwards and defensemen
Goaltenders
*-Current team
(All figures are through Monday.)
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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