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So while Marian Hossa and Michal Handzus prepare for an early exit from the Olympics along with a Slovakia club I had pegged for the bronze (ouch), and Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, Marcus Kruger, Johnny Oduya, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Patrick Kane are all headed for the medal round . . .

I took some time over Valentine's Day weekend to dive into the performances of top Hawk prospects thus far this year.

The conversation on Hawk prospects right now always begins with Finnish Center/W and 2012 first round draft pick, Teuvo Teravainen. After basically ripping it up in the World Juniors this year, Teravainen has also had a solid season playing for Jokerit in the Finnish men's league. He has 6 goals and 32 assists in 41 games and is -2. Remember, this is a men's league, with many recent NHL players.

What Teravainen is showing, in addition to elite skating and on-ice decision-making is some top drawer set up ability.

Next comes 2013 first round pick Ryan Hartman, who has 36 points (19/17) in 38 games at Plymouth in the OHL. Hartman is -16.

At Rockford, a number of top prospects are having pretty good seasons:

Defenseman Adam Clendening leads the team in scoring with 7 goals and 34 assists and is +12—a really solid step forward in his second pro season.

Jeremy Morin has 16 goals and 20 assists and is +4 in 37 games

Defenseman Klas Dahlbeck has made huge strides offensively with 9 goals, 20 assists and +14.

Three Hawk forward prospects are having solid all-around seasons: C Joakim Nordstrom, with 14 goals, 13 helpers and +10, Wing Garret Ross has 12, goals, 13 assists and +12 and rookie C Philip Danault has 4 goals and 8 assists and is +6.

C Brandon Pirri was recently named MVP of the AHL all-star game and has 17 points in 20 games, but is -6, underscoring some perceived defensive deficiencies.

2011 1st rounder C/W Mark McNeill has 15 goals and 13 assists and is also -6.

Back in major junior, defenseman Dillon Fournier (Rouyn Noranda/QMJHL) is having a fine season with 32 points and +10 in 36 games. Fournier is a big, smooth-skating rearguard who has NHL talent written all over him.

Another Hawk prospect in the Q is Victoriaville netminder Brandon Whitney. The 6'5" Whitney has struggled to a 12-16 record with an inflated 3.23 GAA and a decent .907 save percentage.

Two other prospects to watch are collegians Stephen Johns and Kevin Hayes, both drafted in 2010 (2nd and 1st round respectively). The big, super-physical defenseman Johns has 4 goals and 10 assists and is even in his senior year at Notre Dame, which made the tough transition to Hockey East fir the CCHA this season. Also in Hockey East, Hayes is having a huge senior season at Boston College, where he has 50 points (22G/28A) in 36 games and is even.

I'll be back with some trade scuttlebutt and Olympic analysis in the next couple of days.

Until then, thanks for reading,



JJ

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