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Colorado Avalanche prospect report: Alex Newhook, Matt Stienburg earn NCAA honors

It’s almost NCAA playoffs time!

By LaurenKelly24
BC Hockey

Hello again!

Sorry for the delay in the prospect report — I did mention on Twitter on Monday that because of the trade deadline, we decided it was best to push it a couple of days just in case the Avalanche made any major trades (and we lost any prospects off the reports).

Personally, I’m pretty relieved that nobody on this report was traded — I’ve grown very attached to them all.

I didn’t answer any questions on this report because I’m in the middle of midterms and work being very hectic. I’m hoping to get that back up in the next couple of editions. Don’t worry if you’ve asked questions and I haven’t answered them yet, I have them all saved and will get to them once things calm down a bit.

Also, NCAA playoffs start in two weeks and the CHL wraps up at the end of March. So if you guys have any other questions, especially as we approach the ends of regular seasons, please feel free to comment them down below!

Here’s how everybody performed in the last week and a half.

Canadian Hockey League

WHL

#44 - Bowen Byram (D)
Vancouver Giants (30-21-5)

Byram continued his offensive onslaught for the Giants this week. He racked up another two goals and six points in three games, despite Vancouver’s 11-game win streak coming to an end.

Vancouver sits third in the division, and last night, they clinched a playoff spot. Their win streak saw them widen the gap between them and the next team in the wildcard race — there’s now ten points between them.

#34 - Sasha Mutala (RW)
Tri-City Americans (17-34-5)

Sasha Mutala deserves better than this hockey team. Tri-City sits dead last in the Western Conference. And you know what he keeps doing? Putting up points. Mutala had four goals and seven points in four games last week.

Mutala is now the Avalanche prospect with the most points this season, with 66 in 56 games, and he is three goals away from reaching the 30-goal mark.

#27 - Luka Burzan (C)
Brandon Wheat Kings (30-21-6)

Burzan had four goals and an assist this week in Brandon’s three games. He now has 60 points (35 goals, 25 assists) in 59 games. The Wheat Kings sit third in the division, and they clinched a playoff spot last night as well with a dominant win over the Swift Current Broncos.

QMJHL

#16 - Alex Beaucage (RW)
Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (26-27-4)

Beaucage had a goal and two assists in three games this past week. He showed off his hands on the goal, which was named the QMJHL’s Play of the Night:

Rouyn has slipped to fifth in the conference, but the Huskies are still comfortably in a playoff spot. Beaucage has 64 points in 57 games this season.

NCAA

HOCKEY EAST

#18 - Alex Newhook (C)
Boston College Eagles (21-8-1)

So, Newhook has been racking up awards for the last two weeks. First, he was nominated for St. John’s Male Athlete of the Year (2019) — and won.

Then, the NCAA named him the first star of the week (last week):

Once the games actually started, Newhook racked up a goal and four points against Northeastern:

And on Monday, he picked up his second Hockey East Rookie of the Week accolade.

#4 - Drew Helleson (D)
Boston College Eagles (21-8-1)

Helleson is still injured, and missed both of BC’s games over the weekend. Boston College will play Merrimack and Boston University this week.

BIG TEN

#26 - Cam Morrison (LW)
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (14-12-6)

It was a two goal week for Morrison, as Notre Dame picked up two wins over Big Ten rival Michigan:

Notre Dame will celebrate its seniors this weekend, and Morrison will be one of them.

#4 - Nick Leivermann (D)
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (14-12-6)

No points for Leivermann in either of their games against Michigan.

#2 - Nate Clurman (D)
Notre Dame Fighting Irish (14-12-6)

Clurman also went pointless this week. Notre Dame will play their last games of the regular season this weekend against Michigan State.

#58 - Sampo Ranta (RW)
Minnesota Golden Gophers (14-12-6)

Minnesota tied and lost to Penn State over the weekend. Ranta had an assist on this goal:

Minnesota will play its last two games of the regular season against Michigan this weekend.

#25 - Denis Smirnov (RW)
Penn State Nittany Lions (20-10-4)

Smirnov didn’t record any points in Penn State’s games against Minnesota, but he was one of 10 Nittany Lions seniors celebrated over the weekend.

Penn State has finished their regular season schedule. They’ll have a week off before the Big Ten playoffs begin.

NCHC

#40 - Tyler Weiss (LW)
Nebraska Omaha Mavericks (13-14-5)

Just one assist for Weiss as Omaha split two games with Colorado College. The Mavericks will travel to play Miami (not in Florida) for two games this week.

ECAC

#20 - Matthew Stienburg (RW)
Cornell Big Red (21-2-4)

Stienburg had a fabulous week. He recorded his first multi-point game of the season against Yale with a goal and an assist:

Here are the highlights for that game:

Stienburg also had points in back-to-back games for the first time all season, potting another goal against Brown:

His performance was good enough for ECAC to name him the conference’s rookie of the week:

Cornell will wrap up their regular season this weekend with games against St. Lawrence and Clarkson.

Europe

KHL

#51 - Nikolai Kovalenko (RW)
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (34-23-4)

Lokomotiv played three games last week, all wins. Kovalenko only dressed for the first game, and hasn’t been in the lineup for the other two (though I haven’t been able to confirm whether or not it’s because of injury or performance reasons). I’ll keep you guys posted on that.

#2 - Danila Zhuravlyov (D)
Ak Bars Kazan (42-12-5)

Speaking of mysteries, Zhuravlyov hasn’t played since January 21st, and I still can’t find any information as to exactly what injury he has. The fact that he hasn’t played in over a month is concerning, to say the least — the injury is definitely significant. The good news is that Bars has maintained its hold on first in the conference, as they picked up three more wins in their four games last week.

These prospect reports were compiled with information from the WHL, QMJHL, Flashscore, and NCAA. Please leave your questions for next week’s report in the comments below!