RWC REPORT: Nyquist gets top marks at college

By Matthew Wuest - RedWingsCentral.com / January 19, 2009

Gustav Nyquist's accomplishments with the Maine Black Bears would be impressive enough if he wasn't a freshman and hadn't played his whole life in Sweden.

But when you throw those factors into the equation, it's easy to see why the Detroit Red Wings think they might have something in the 19-year-old winger, who crossed the pond this summer to further his career in the NCAA.

Nyquist, drafted 121st overall by the Red Wings last year, leads Maine in scoring with nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points in 22 games. Those totals put him third among Hockey East freshmen and 14th in the conference.

"It's very impressive, what he's done," said Red Wings scout Mark Leach. "First of all, stepping into a very good program, playing a lot, the top lines, the power play ... It doesn't happen a lot for a freshman in the college ranks.

"Then to adjust to the lifestyle and the game ... The rinks are smaller, there's more traffic, people are on him quicker. His adjustment's been excellent."

Maine isn't a particularly strong team this season, with a 5-6-2 record against Hockey East competition and a 10-9-3 record overall.

Leach lists Nyquist's best assets as his hands, hockey sense and touch around the net, and his biggest weakness his tendency to get knocked around. The 5-foot-11, 175-pounder has plenty of time at college to get stronger, and could fill a variety of roles if he develops into an NHLer.

"He plays both ends of the ice," Leach said. "He has the skill to be a possible second-line guy, but he has the ability to be the complementary third-line guy who is willing to back-check and play in the hard areas. If you have a skilled guy like him that plays on your third line, that's going to be a good thing."

AXELSSON ON TRACK: Forward Dick Axelsson (Farjestad, Swedish Elite League) has been productive since transferring to a new team. He has three goals and six assists in his first nine games and 23 points in 28 games overall.

D-LIGHT: Defenseman Jakub Kindl (Grand Rapids, American Hockey League) is fifth in scoring among AHL blueliners with five goals and 21 assists for 26 points in 42 games. Simply put, he's a new man this season.

HELM, RITOLA; HOT, COLD: Forward Darren Helm (Grand Rapids, AHL) has just one assists in his past six games. Teammate Mattias Ritola, meanwhile, has five goals and four assists for nine points in his last nine games.

NICASTRO HONOURED: Defenseman Max Nicastro (Chicago, United States Hockey League) was named USHL defensive player of the week. He had a goal, two assists and a plus-3 rating in three games the previous week.

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	40	10	26	36	12
Mattias Ritola	Grand Rapids	AHL	41	15	14	29	22
Darren Helm	Grand Rapids	AHL	35	10	17	27	14
Jakub Kindl	Grand Rapids	AHL	42	5	21	26	40
Justin Abdelkader	Grand Rapids	AHL	40	12	13	25	57
Evan McGrath	Grand Rapids	AHL	34	9	16	25	6
Cory Emmerton	Grand Rapids	AHL	37	3	17	20	18
Ryan Oulahen	Grand Rapids	AHL	42	10	4	14	21
Jamie Tardif	Grand Rapids	AHL	34	9	4	13	23
Jonathan Ericsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	34	2	11	13	40
Logan Pyett	Grand Rapids	AHL	32	1	7	8	4
Sergei Kolosov	Grand Rapids	AHL	35	0	6	6	18
Jan Mursak	Grand Rapids	AHL	21	0	3	3	6
K H L
Gennady Stolyarov	Astana Barys	KHL	33	11	8	19	20
Miroslav Blatak	Salavat Yulaev	KHL	42	3	9	12	14
S W E D E N
Dick Axelsson	Farjestad	SEL	27	8	15	23	14
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SEL	35	3	6	9	16
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SEL	39	4	4	8	0
Jesper Samuelsson	Timra	SEL	39	2	1	3	10
Johan Ryno	AIK	SWE-2	11	3	4	7	10
Joakim Andersson	Boras	SWE-2	4	2	2	4	2
Jesper Samuelsson	Sundsvall	SWE-2	5	0	1	1	4
C H L
Randy Cameron	Moncton	QMJHL	40	13	25	38	16
Brent Raedeke	Edmonton	WHL	47	13	25	38	56
Zack Torquato	Erie	OHL	43	17	18	35	58
Stephen Johnston	Belleville	OHL	41	12	20	32	22
Brian Lashoff	Kingston	OHL	41	2	17	19	35
N C A A
Gustav Nyquist	Maine	HE	22	9	10	19	18
Brendan Smith	Wisconsin	WCHA	21	7	11	18	40
Julien Cayer	Clarkson	WCHA	17	3	6	9	20
Bryan Rufenach	Clarkson	ECAC	20	4	4	8	28
Nick Oslund	St. Cloud State	WCHA	22	4	2	6	22
Nils Backstrom	Alaska-Anchorage	WCHA	20	2	1	3	24
U S H L
Max Nicastro	Chicago	USHL	31	7	16	23	54

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

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	W-L-O	GAA	SPCT
Thomas McCollum	Brampton	OHL	35	20-11-4	2.22	.924
Daniel Larsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	22	14-4-1	2.45	.920
Jimmy Howard	Grand Rapids	AHL	24	11-10-2	2.53	.907

LEAGUE LEGEND: AHL — American Hockey League; KHL — Kontinental Hockey League; SEL — Swedish Elite League; SWE-2 — Swedish Allsvenskan (second level); OHL — Ontario Hockey League; WHL — Western Hockey League; QMJHL — Quebec Major Junior Hockey League; WCHA — Western Collegiate Hockey Association; ECAC — East Coast Athletic Conference; HE — Hockey East; USHL — United States Hockey League.