Penguins Prospect Watch: Lukas Svejkovsky debuts with 2 goals
A weekly look at how Penguins prospects and minor leaguers have fared over the past seven days:
• With the Western Hockey League (WHL) opening its season on Friday, forward Lukas Svejkovsky got off to a fast start with two goals in his first two games for the Medicine Hat Tigers. On Friday, Svejkovsky scored a game-tying goal in a 5-4 comeback road win in overtime against the Red Deer Rebels. He followed that up on Saturday by scoring the game-winning goal in a 7-2 home win against the Rebels.
Svejkovsky, 19, was a fourth-round pick (No. 108 overall) in 2020 and has yet to sign with the Penguins.
• In the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), forward Raivis Ansons made his season debut for Baie-Comeau Drakkar on Saturday. During a 9-2 road loss to the Shawinigan Cataractes, Ansons scored a goal.
The 19-year-old Ansons was a fifth-round pick (No. 149 overall) in 2020 and has yet to sign with the Penguins.
• In the American Hockey League (AHL), forward Radim Zohorna scored the first two goals of his North American career and added an assist for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 4-2 home win against the rival Hershey Bears on Wednesday.
The undrafted 21-year-old Zohorna, a Czech Republic native, is signed a one-year, entry-level contract.
• On Friday, forward Jan Drozg scored the game-winning goal and had an assist for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton during a 4-2 home win against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
A fifth-round draft pick (No. 152 overall) in 2017, Drozg, 21, is in the second year of a three-year entry-level contract.
• Forward Sam Miletic made his season debut for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday during a 5-4 overtime road win against the Phantoms, scoring a goal and recording an assist.
The undrafted Miletic, 23, had been sidelined since suffering an undisclosed injury during the NHL Penguins’ training camp in early January. He is signed to a one-year two-way contract.
• Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins forward Justin Almeida will be sidelined on a week-to-week basis due to an undisclosed injury. A fifth-round pick (No. 129 overall) in 2019, Almeida, 22, is in the second year of a two-year entry-level contract.
• In the ECHL, goaltender Alex D’Orio made his season debut for the Wheeling Nailers on Wednesday in a 4-1 home loss to the Indy Fuel. D’Orio made 17 saves on 21 shots in the defeat.
The undrafted D’Orio, 21, is in the second year of a three-year entry-level contract.
• In the NCAA, forward Chase Yoder had a goal and an assist for Providence in a 3-3 tie at home with Northeastern on Sunday.
Yoder, 18, was a sixth-round pick (No. 170 overall) in 2020 and has yet to sign with the Penguins.
• Elsewhere in the NCAA, forward Judd Caulfield had an empty net goal and an assist for North Dakota in a 4-2 road win against Omaha on Friday.
Caulfield, 19, was a fifth-round pick of the Penguins in 2019 (No. 145 overall) and has yet to sign with the team.
• In Finland’s Liiga, forward Valtteri Puustinen’s eight-game scoring streak came to an end but not before he led HPK to a 3-0 home win against Tappara with two goals and an assist on Wednesday.
A seventh-round pick in 2019 (No. 203 overall), Puustinen, 21, has yet to sign with the Penguins.
• Elsewhere in the Liiga, defenseman Santeri Airola recorded an assist — his first point since Jan. 16 — for Ilves during a 2-1 road win against HPK on Saturday.
A seventh-round pick (No. 211 overall) of the Penguins in 2019, Airola, 20, has yet to sign with the Penguins.
• Also in the Liiga, defenseman Niclas Almari returned to the lineup for Pelicans after missing approximately five weeks due to an undisclosed injury. During a 5-4 overtime road win against Jukurit on Tuesday, Almari logged 17:54 of ice time and recorded three shots on net.
Almari, 22, was a fifth-round pick (No. 151 overall) in 2016 and is entering the second year of a three-year entry-level contract with the Penguins.
• Forward Kasper Bjorkqvist has been under quarantine along with all members of Finland’s national team that participated in a tournament in Sweden during mid-February. Twelve unidentified members of the team were found to have tested positive for covid-19.
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. He is currently on loan to KooKoo of the Liiga.
• In Sweden’s HockeyAllSvensken, goaltender Calle Clang made 29 saves on 31 shots for Kristianstad IK in a 3-2 shootout road win against Tingsryds AIF on Friday.
• In Russia’s KHL, forward Pontus Aberg returned to the lineup for Traktor Chelyabinsk after missing three weeks due to an undisclosed injury. During a 4-2 home loss to Sibir Novosibirsk on Tuesday, Aberg logged 19:08 of ice time on 21 shifts and recorded one shot on net.
Aberg, 27, is an unsigned restricted free agent whose rights the Penguins acquired from the Maple Leafs in an August trade.
Statistics
(Players currently on the NHL roster and taxi squad are excluded.)
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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