When Ryan Spooner was taken midway through the second round with the 45th pick in June’s draft, he received little fanfare. After all, Bruins fans were a little busy salivating over the potential of that Tyler Seguin kid the club took 43 spots earlier.
Spooner won’t have the immediate impact that Seguin is having this season, as the slick center was returned to his junior club in the Ontario Hockey League. But after opening eyes with a spectacular camp in Boston this fall, Spooner has established himself as a potential future star with his exceptional scoring touch, skating ability and hockey sense, and the numbers he’s putting up so far in Peterborough back that up.
Spooner has done enough to take over the top spot in our Bruins’ prospect rankings, but how do the rest of the organization’s top youngsters stack up this week?
- 1
Last week: No. 2
Current Team: Peterborough (OHL)
Ryan Spooner, C
After putting together a strong first pro camp in Boston, Spooner hasn’t slowed at all in the OHL. Through seven games, he has 7-6-13 totals. On Thursday, he tallied three goals and an assist in a 6-4 win over Kitchener, scoring the game-winner at 18:45 of the third, then completing the hat trick with an empty-netter at 19:59.
- 2
Last week: No. 1
Current Team: Providence (AHL)
Joe Colborne, C
Colborne still has as much potential as anyone in the Bruins system, but he’s off to a slow start in Providence with just one assist in five games. He did pick up his first point of the season with an assist on Yury Alexandrov’s first goal of the year in a 2-1 shootout loss to Springfield on Oct. 15, but he’s a minus-2 with just seven shots so far.
- 3
Last week: No. 3
Current Team: London (OHL)
Jared Knight, C/RW
Like Spooner, Knight enjoyed a solid camp and has built upon it since returning to junior. He has 4-5-9 totals and is a plus-2 in eight games for London, collecting three assists and finishing a plus-3 in two wins over Erie and Kitchener games this week.
- 4
Last week: No. 4
Current Team: Providence (AHL)
Matt Bartkowski, D
Bartkowski played his first three games in the pro ranks last week after returning from Europe, where he accompanied the big club on its trip to Belfast and Prague. Bartkowski had an assist against Manchester, but was a minus-3 in the game. He was even but did not record a point in his other two games.
- 5
Last week: No. 5
Current Team: Providence (AHL)
Steve Kampfer, D
Kampfer also had an assist in the 5-2 loss to Manchester, and has 1-3-4 totals overall in five games. He also has 12 shots on goal and is a solid plus-2 on the year, no mean feat on a club that is 1-3-0-1 and was outscored 10-3 while going 0-2-0-1 last week.
- 6
Last week: No. 6
Current Team: Providence (AHL)
Max Sauve, C/LW
Sauve suffered a wrist injury against Manchester and underwent an MRI on Thursday. It’s not believed to be a serious injury, which is good news for a struggling Providence club that needs his offense. Sauve has 3-1-4 totals in four games. He had an assist but no shots against Springfield after a hat trick his previous game, then had four shots but no points against Manchester.
- 7
Last week: No. 7
Current Team: Prince Albert (WHL)
Ryan Button, D
It was a rough week for Button and his Prince Albert Raiders, who lost to Prince George 5-2 and Red Deer 6-2. Button had no points and was a minus-4, but did get out some frustrations with his first fight of the year, instigating a scrap with Red Deer’s Mathew Dumba. Button wasn’t a part of the major brawl later that night though, as 10 fighting majors were handed out in a major melee at 18:18 of the third period.
- 8
Last week: No. 9
Current Team: Providence (AHL)
Yury Alexandrov, D
Alexandrov scored his first pro goal in North America against Springfield, tying the game 1-1 with a power-play strike before the Bruins eventually fell 2-1 in a shootout. After a minus-2 debut, he’s even in his last four games with 1-1-2 totals and eight shots overall.
- 9
Last week: No. 8
Current Team: Providence (AHL)
Zach Hamill, C
Hamill’s slow start to the season continued this week with no points and a minus-2 rating in three games. For the season he now has no goals and just one assist in five games. There’s talent here, but the Bruins could be losing patience with the 2007 first-round pick now in his third full season at Providence.
- 10
Last week: Unranked
Current Team: Boston University (Hockey East, NCAA)
David Warsofsky, D
Warsofsky’s size (5-foot-8, 170 pounds) will always raise questions, but there’s no denying the skill. He’s off to a great start with the Terriers with 2-3-5 totals and a plus-2 in three games, though he didn’t score in last week’s only game, a 2-2 tie with UMass-Amherst.
