Minsk, Stockholm see top free agents leave

Two key members of the Cup-winning Minsk Hussars, and a top-line winger for the runners-up in Bratislava will be the top names available when “Free Agent Frenzy” gets under way Sunday night (or earlier).  The EURO League has advanced and 24 players with OV ratings of 80 or higher will be available on the free…

Hussars take prospect Formenton

At the end of the first round, the champs took a defensive forward who can help pretty soon, and at the end of Round 2, General Manager Igor Kirunov went with one of the youngest players he could get.  Alex Formenton, 18, scored about a point per game with the London Knights of the Ontario…

Comtois picked by Bern; Bratislava takes a Slovak

Big, quick and skilled is how scouts describe Maxime Comtois, a Canadian left wing who was previously drafted by the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks. He just because property of the Bern Interrail. With the Victoriaville Tigres in the QMJHL, Comtois saw his production drop a little from 2016 to 2017, but then he saw it improve…

Prospects Studnicka and Mitchell gone

Jack Studnicka’s point totals with the Oshawa Generals went up from 52 to 72 in the last year and he was named captain of the team. Belfast Giants General Manager Chris Patton noticed and made the 6-1 Canadian center the 43rd player taken in the draft. Studnicka joins Brett Howden, Cal Foote and Jacob Larsson…

A run on Finns and Swedes

Picks 36 through 42: Geneva – The Generals’ current goalies – Frederik Andersen and Michael Hutchinson – are 29 and 27 with 19-year-old Filip Gustavsson in the system as well. Ivan Nalimov, a 21-year-old Russian, was drafted at pick 36 and he and Gustavsson will be teammates vying for the top job once Andersen vacates…

St. Petersburg, Helsinki take prospect forwards

Alexander Volkov was born in Moscow but he’s spent almost all of young hockey career playing in St. Petersburg. After being drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning of the NHL, he ventured across the sea to play in the AHL, but the 20-year-old RW might have a return to St. Petersburg in his future. Krasnyye…

Prague, Lisbon pick defensemen

Prague General Manager Peter Ott looked to Sweden to select the first defenseman in 10 picks when he called the name of Gustav Lindstrom. The 6-2 teen-ager from Ostervala will learn the basics with the Detroit Red Wings in the NHL as he prepares for his EURO career as a prospect without attributes. There is…

Danish winger Asperup goes to Bern

Danish left wing Matthias Asperup, 19, is now a member of the Bern Interrail and must now, by law, hate the Berlin Smurfs. Asperup plays in Denmark and has represented the country in more than 100 international games during his lifetime. The draft guide said this about him: Asperup might develop into a decent puckhandler/ possession…