RWC REPORT: Johnston matches rookie point total

By Matthew Wuest - RedWingsCentral.com / October 20, 2008

The Detroit Red Wings were right — Stephen Johnston's nine-point rookie campaign didn't even scratch the surface of his potential.

The 18-year-old center has already matched his 56-game rookie output after 11 contests as a sophomore with the Ontario Hockey League's Belleville Bulls, with three goals and six assists in the young season.

Johnston, who the Red Wings took a flyer on in the sixth round (181st overall) in June's draft, had a pair of three-point games this week and has recovered from a sluggish start to post eight points in six games.

The 6-foot-2, 185-pounder is compared by the Red Wings to former prospect Shawn Matthias. He had two goals and seven assists last year in a fourth-line role on a deep, veteran team that made it to the Memorial Cup.

Here's are some other prospects worthy of mention from the past week.

— Don't write off forward Gennady Stolyarov (Astana Barys, Kontinental Hockey League) just yet. The 6-foot-4 winger from Russia has blossomed since a transfer from Dynamo Moscow and has three goals and three assists in seven games. Stolyarov, 22, is a big Viktor Kozlov-type prospect who impresses the Red Wings with his skill but not his work ethic. He has never had more than nine points in Russia's top league, so this is encouraging.

— Forward Julien Cayer (Clarkson, NCAA) is another June draft pick who is off to a good start. The 6-foot-3, 186-pounder had a one-goal, one-assist showing in his U.S. college debut last week in a 4-3 loss to Niagara.

— Defenceman Jakub Kindl (Grand Rapids, American Hockey League) is finally in the black when it comes to plus-minus. After going an AHL-worst minus-34 last year, he has a goal, two assists and is a plus-2 in two games.

— Kindl isn't the only one doing well on the farm. Forwards Ville Leino (two goals, two assists), Mattias Ritola (one goal, three assists) and Justin Abdelkader (two goals, one assist) and defenseman Logan Pyett (three assists) are also off to good starts in the AHL. The Griffins have a 2-0-1 record.

— The Red Wings lost a prospect when Kyle Quincey was claimed off waivers by the Los Angeles Kings. They spent five seasons developing Quincey into an NHL defenseman, but ultimately didn't have room for him.

— Forward Darren Helm was called up to Detroit.

— Forward Dick Axelsson (Djurgarden, Swedish Elite League) returned from a shoulder injury and scored his first goal of the season.

The following is an up-to-date statistical report for skaters:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
A H L
Ville Leino	Grand Rapids	AHL	3	2	2	4	0
Mattias Ritola	Grand Rapids	AHL	3	1	3	4	0
Justin Abdelkader	Grand Rapids	AHL	3	2	1	3	0
Jakub Kindl	Grand Rapids	AHL	3	1	2	3	0
Logan Pyett	Grand Rapids	AHL	3	0	3	3	0
Jonathan Ericsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	3	0	2	2	4
Jamie Tardif	Grand Rapids	AHL	2	1	0	1	0
Ryan Oulahen	Grand Rapids	AHL	3	1	0	1	0
Darren Helm	Grand Rapids	AHL	1	0	1	1	0
Evan McGrath	Grand Rapids	AHL	2	0	1	1	2
Sergei Kolosov	Grand Rapids	AHL	1	0	0	0	0
Cory Emmerton	Grand Rapids	AHL	3	0	0	0	0
Jan Mursak	Grand Rapids	AHL	3	0	0	0	0
K H L
Gennady Stolyarov	Astana Barys	KHL	10	3	3	6	12
Miroslav Blatak	Salavat Yulaev	KHL	15	1	3	4	2
S W E D E N
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SEL	13	2	3	5	0
Jesper Samuelsson	Timra	SEL	13	2	1	3	4
Dick Axelsson	Djurgarden	SEL	4	1	0	1	2
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SEL	13	0	0	0	4
Johan Ryno	AIK	SWE-2	4	1	2	3	2
C H L
Randy Cameron	Moncton	QMJHL	9	2	8	10	6
Brent Raedeke	Edmonton	WHL	12	5	4	9	18
Stephen Johnston	Belleville	OHL	11	3	6	9	12
Zack Torquato	Erie	OHL	10	3	4	7	20
Brian Lashoff	Barrie	OHL	10	0	6	6	11
N C A A
Julien Cayer	Clarkson	WCHA	1	1	1	2	2
Gustav Nyquist	Maine	HE	2	1	0	1	4
Brendan Smith	Wisconsin	WCHA	3	1	0	1	8
Nick Oslund	St. Cloud State	WCHA	4	1	0	1	2
Bryan Rufenach	Clarkson	ECAC	2	0	1	1	14
Nils Backstrom	Alaska-Anchorage	WCHA	4	0	0	0	4
U S H L
Max Nicastro	Chicago	USHL	5	1	4	5	15

The following is an up-to-date statistical report for goaltenders:

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	W-L-O	GAA	SPCT
Thomas McCollum	Guelph	OHL	10	6-3-1	2.24	.924
Daniel Larsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	2	1-1-0	3.46	.903
Jimmy Howard	Grand Rapids	AHL	1	1-0-0	2.77	.893

LEAGUE LEGEND: AHL — American Hockey League; KHL — Kontinental Hockey League; SEL — Swedish Elite League; SWE-2 — Swedish second level; SWE-J20 — Swedish under-20 league; -->OHL — Ontario Hockey League; WHL — Western Hockey League; QMJHL — Quebec Major Junior Hockey LeagueCCHA — Central Collegiate Hockey Association-->; WCHA — Western Collegiate Hockey AssociationECAC — East Coast Athletic Conference -->; USHL — United States Hockey League.