Ottawa makes short work of patchwork Winnipeg prospect team

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This article was published 06/09/2019 (2194 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They didn’t exactly bring the A-team to Belleville, Ont., with several of their most promising prospects unable to attend. And so, perhaps it shouldn’t be a huge surprise that a group of Winnipeg Jets hopefuls got schooled on Friday night by a superior Ottawa Senators squad as the Rookie Showcase tournament got underway.

An opening goal by undrafted free agent James Phelan ended up being the lone highlight for Winnipeg. Ottawa rattled off eight straight tallies, including six in a one-sided second period, to cruise to an 8-1 victory.

The final shots were 37-23 in favour of the Senators, who are loaded with several high-profile prospects thanks to a series of trades and high draft picks in recent years. They made short work of the Jets, who played a passive game and spent much of the night on their heels, trying to defend against a faster, stronger and more skilled opponent.

Perhaps the biggest deficiency for the Jets was in goal. Top prospect Mikhail Berdin is dealing with a nagging injury and was unable to attend, nor were other drafted goalies in the system, including Logan Neaton (2019), Jared Moe (2018) and Arvid Holm (2017).

That left netminding duties to a couple of undrafted players in Adam Carlson, who has spent most of his pro career in the ECHL and signed an AHL contract with the Manitoba Moose earlier this summer, and Griffen Outhouse, who just finished up his junior career in the Western Hockey League and is set to play U Sports hockey this season with the University of Alberta Golden Bears.

Carlson, 25, was beaten seven times on 27 shots through 40 minutes before getting the mercy pull. Although he didn’t have a ton of help in front of him, Carlson struggled with his puck control at times. He was an emergency replacement for Berdin, the 21-year-old Russian who had a tremendous rookie pro season with the Moose last year.

Outhouse, 21, stopped nine of 10 shots he faced in the third period.

Up front, Finnish forward Joona Luoto was the most noticeable skater for the Jets, including a great first shift in which he lifted the stick of a Senators defenceman, stole the puck and ripped off a great scoring chance — one of a handful he had on the night.

Luoto, 21, signed a two-way deal with the Jets this summer after spending the past three years playing in the KHL. He could be an intriguing depth forward for the organization.

All eyes were on another Finnish winger, 2017 first-round draft pick Kristian Vesalainen, who skated on the top line Friday with C.J. Suess and Sergey Popov, an undrafted Russian who spent the past four years in the Ontario Hockey League. Vesalainen, 20, showed a few flashes but was relatively quiet.

Same goes for 2019 first-rounder Ville Heinola, an 18-year-old defenceman who is adjusting to playing on the smaller North American ice surface.

Several other top prospects — including defencemen Dylan Samberg and Simon Lundmark, and forwards Henri Nikkanen, Santeri Virtanen and Harrison Blaisdell — were also unable to attend, either because of college or European team commitments.

Add to that a lingering injury to speedy, skilled forward Skyler McKenzie, who spent last season with the Moose, and it was a pretty depleted lineup. Phelan, the lone goal-scorer, was added to the roster late this week as a replacement for McKenzie. The 22-year-old from Quebec split last year between the AHL and ECHL and is essentially here on a tryout, along with a number of other skaters meant to fill out the roster.

The Jets team will practise today before returning to action Sunday evening against the Montreal Canadiens prospects. They’ll close out the three-team event on Monday with a rematch against Ottawa.

 

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg