Penguins Prospect Watch: Kasper Bjorkqvist snaps scoring slump
A weekly look at how Penguins prospects and minor leaguers have fared over the past seven days:
• In Finland’s Liiga, forward Kasper Bjorkqvist scored the game-winning goal on a power play for KooKoo in a 7-2 home win against JYP on Saturday. The goal was Bjorkqvist’s first since Dec. 2 and snapped an 11-game slump without a goal.
The 23-year-old Bjorkqvist, a second-round pick (No. 61 overall) in 2016, is entering the second year of a two-year entry-level contract with the Penguins.
• Finland’s second-tier league, the Mestis, is scheduled to resume play Feb. 13 after being on hiatus for approximately two months because of covid-19 related concerns.
Goaltender Joel Blomqvist (2020 second-rounder, No. 52 overall) and Antti Palojarvi (2017 sixth-rounder, No. 186 overall) are each currently members of Hermes in that league but have been loaned to Karpat and KooKoo, respectively, in that country’s top junior league, the Nuorten SM-liiga.
• In the American Hockey League, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are expected to open their season Monday with a home game against the Binghamton Devils.
• Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defenseman Jesper Lindgren is expected to be sidelined four to six weeks due to an undisclosed injury he suffered during a 5-1 preseason road win against Binghamton on Jan. 31.
Lindgren, 23, is entering the final year of a three-year entry-level contract. The Penguins acquired him in a trade from the Toronto Maple Leafs in August.
• In the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Val-d’Or Foreurs are not scheduled to play a game until Feb. 26 due to covid-19 related concerns in that province. That league has already experienced multiple disruptions this season.
Forwards Nathan Legare (third round, No. 74 overall) and Sam Poulin (first-round, No. 21 overall) — each drafted by the Penguins in 2019 — play for Val-d’Or. Both 19-year-olds are signed to three-year entry-level contracts with the Penguins that have yet to begin.
• In Sweden’s HockeyAllsvensken, goaltender Calle Clang made 35 saves on 37 shots for Kristianstad IK in a 4-2 road win against Tingsryd on Friday.
Clang, 18, was a third-round pick (No. 77 overall) by the Penguins in 2020 and has yet to sign with the team.
• In Russia’s KHL, forward Pontus Aberg suffered an undisclosed injury for Traktor Chelyabinsk during a 3-2 home loss to Ak Bars Kazan on Feb. 1 and has missed Traktor’s past three games.
Aberg, 27, is an unsigned restricted free agent whose rights the Penguins acquired from the Maple Leafs in an August trade.
Statistics
Forwards and defensemen
Goaltenders
*-Current team
(All figures are through Sunday.)
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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