A trio of L.A. Kings prospects continue to battle it out for the 2015 OHL championship, while the organization’s top minor league affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs, have a 3-1 lead in their bid to make it to the AHL’s Eastern Conference Final, and a pair of prospects have already helped the Ontario Reign reach the ECHL’s third round for the first time in franchise history. Let’s take a lap around the player pipeline to see how individual players have performed over the past week…
MAXIM KITSYN: Forward, Ontario Reign (6th round pick in 2010, KHL)
Regular season (AHL): 1 goal, 0 assists, minus-2, 0 PIM in seven games played
Regular season (ECHL): 26 goals, 17 assists, plus-16, 155 PIM in 57 games played
Playoffs: 3 goals, 7 assists, even plus-minus, 10 PIM in 12 games played
Kitsyn notched a goal in each of the Reign’s two final wins in their series with the Utah Grizzlies. He also tallied three assists in the five-game series. After advancing to the ECHL Western Conference Final for the first time in franchise history, the Reign now await the winner of the Allen Americans v Rapid City Rush series. Allen lead that series 3-2 and finished the regular season with the best record in the West. Thus, they will have home ice advantage, while the Reign would hold home ice over the Rapid City, should they advance.
Ontario defeated Utah 4-1.
GM 1: Ontario 3, Utah 2
GM 2: Ontario 6, Utah 2
GM 3: Utah 4, Ontario 2
GM 4: Ontario 4, Utah 2
GM 5: Ontario 4, Utah 0
KURTIS MACDERMID: Defenseman, Erie Otters (free agent signing)
Regular season: 8 goals, 32 assists, plus-20, 129 PIM in 61 games played
Playoffs: 0 goals, 3 assists, plus-3, 19 PIM in 10 games played
After a rough start to the OHL Final, with MacDermid posting a minus-3 rating in the opening game, things have settled down. He chipped in with an assist in Game 2 and had a strong defensive effort in the team’s Game 3 victory.
Game 3 highlights:
Erie trails 2-1 in the series.
GM 1: Oshawa 4, Erie 1
GM 2: Oshawa 5, Erie 1
GM 3: Erie 4, Oshawa 3
GM 4: OSH @ Erie – Wed, May 13
GM 5: Erie @ OSH – Fri, May 15
GM 6: OSH @ Erie – Sun, May 17
GM 7: Erie @ Osh – Tue, May 19
JAKE MARCHMENT: Center, Erie Otters (6th round pick in 2014, OHL)
Regular season: 4 goals, 7 assists, plus-3, 6 PIM in 51 games played
Playoffs: 7 goals, 6 assist, plus-4, 2 PIM in 17 games played
In Erie’s three games of the OHL championship thus far, Marchment has only shown up on the scoresheet with a negative plus-minus rating in each game (minus-1, minus-2, and minus-1).
Game 3 video highlights and the series schedule is posted above.
MATTHEW MISTELE: Forward, Oshawa Generals (6th round pick in 2014, OHL)
Regular season: 37 goals, 27 assists, plus-8, 34 PIM in 60 games played
Playoffs: 10 goals, 2 assists, plus-5, 16 PIM in 19 games played
Oshawa won Game 2 of the OHL Final in large part due to a two goal performance from Mistele. He also added an assist in the team’s Game 3 loss. The winning team in this series will advance to the 2015 Memorial Cup.
Oshawa leads the series 2-1.
GM 1: Oshawa 4, Erie 1
GM 2: Oshawa 5, Erie 1
GM 3: Erie 4, Oshawa 3
GM 4: OSH @ Erie – Wed, May 13
GM 5: Erie @ OSH – Fri, May 15
GM 6: OSH @ Erie – Sun, May 17
GM 7: Erie @ Osh – Tue, May 19
ALEX ROACH: Defenseman, Ontario Reign (free agent signing)
Regular season: 2 goals, 14 assists, plus-16, 51 PIM
Playoffs: 2 goals, 4 assists, plus-10, 28 PIM in 12 games played
In Round 1 of the ECHL playoffs, Roach registered one goal and two assists. In the five games needed to eliminate the Utah Grizzlies in Round 2, Roach matched those totals, recording two assists in Game 2 and a goal in Game 5. The Reign advanced to the ECHL Western Conference Final for the first time in franchise history and are currently awaiting the winner of the Allen Americans v Rapid City Rush.
Ontario defeated Utah 4-1.
GM 1: Ontario 3, Utah 2
GM 2: Ontario 6, Utah 2
GM 3: Utah 4, Ontario 2
GM 4: Ontario 4, Utah 2
GM 5: Ontario 4, Utah 0
A few other miscellaneous notes:
While never officially labeled as this year’s ‘Black Aces,’ the trio of Jonny Brodzinski, Alex Lintuniemi, and Valentin Zykov have left Manchester and will now resume their training in Los Angeles with the team’s annual Development Camp kicks off in early July at Toyota Sports Center. Meanwhile, 2014 first round draft pick Adrian Kempe remains with the Monarchs and has contributed to the team’s offense of late. For more in-depth analysis, interviews, and video highlights from Manchester’s run through the playoffs, simply click here.
Additional updates on Kings prospects Mike Amadio (forward, North Bay Battalion, Alec Dillon (goalie, Tri-City Storm), Steven Johnson (defenseman, University of Minnesota), Paul Ladue (defenseman, University of North Dakota, Zac Leslie (defenseman, Guelph Storm), Joel Lowry (forward, Cornell University), Jacob Middleton (defenseman, Ottawa 67’s), Nikolai Prokhorkin (forward, CSKA), and Spencer Watson (forward, Kingston Frontenacs) can be found in previous Prospect Trackers.
Highlights from Jordan Weal’s hat trick and Michael Mersch’s shorthanded goal can be seen here. The duo continue to lead all scorers in the AHL playoffs.
3 MUST-READ ARTICLES:
LA Kings 2014-15 Midseason Prospect Rankings: The Top 5
LA Kings 2014-15 Midseason Prospect Rankings: No. 6-10
LA Kings 2014-15 Midseason Prospect Rankings – Honorable Mentions
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