RWC REPORT: Nyquist enjoying sophomore success

By Matthew Wuest - RedWingsCentral.com / October 27, 2009

If there's a Swedish phrase for "sophomore slump," Detroit Red Wings prospect Gustav Nyquist doesn't appear to know it yet.

The 20-year-old left-winger is in the process of following up a tremendous NCAA rookie campaign with an even better encore. Although it's still early, Nyquist is tied for the nation's lead in scoring with four goals and six assists for 10 points through six games with the Maine Black Bears.

"I'm a little faster this year because I've improved my leg strength. And my shot is better. I've worked on that a lot, too," Nyquist told the Bangor Daily News. "I didn't shoot enough last year. I want to improve on that."

Nyquist also said he has "more muscle weight" and wants to "push (defenders) away with one hand and keep the other hand on my stick."

Drafted out of Sweden in the fourth round (121st overall) in 2008, Nyquist has emerged as an outstanding prospect since coming to North America. The 5-foot-11, 175-pounder finished with 13 goals and 19 assists for a team-best 32 points in 38 games last season, cracking Hockey East's all-rookie team.

The Red Wings consider him a potential top-six forward, but believe he has the defensive acumen to get the job done as a checker, too.

At the rate things are going, Nyquist appears destined to leave college after his junior year, similar to Jimmy Howard and Justin Abdelkader.

NOTES: Brendan Smith (Wisconsin) and Bryan Rufenach (Clarkson) are other college players off to good starts. Both have five points so far, with Smith appearing in three contests and Rufenach in five ... Forward Jamie Tardif (Grand Rapids, AHL) has jumped out to the Griffins scoring lead with four goals and two assists in eight games. He's also wearing the captain's C ... Forward Andrej Nestrasil (Victoriaville, QMJHL) is in the Q's top 20 scorers with 18 points in 14 games ... Here's a flash from the past: defenceman David Petrasek, selected 226th by the Red Wings in the Pavel Datsyuk draft of 1998, is second in Swedish Elite League scoring with an incredible 20 points in 13 games with HV-71. He is 33.

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

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
A H L
Jamie Tardif	Grand Rapids	AHL	8	4	2	6	4
Evan McGrath	Grand Rapids	AHL	8	2	3	5	4
Dick Axelsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	6	2	2	4	2
Mattias Ritola	Grand Rapids	AHL	8	1	3	4	4
Jakub Kindl	Grand Rapids	AHL	7	0	3	3	2
Jan Mursak	Grand Rapids	AHL	8	2	0	2	0
Cory Emmerton	Grand Rapids	AHL	8	0	2	2	0
Tomas Tatar	Grand Rapids	AHL	3	0	1	1	0
Francis Pare	Grand Rapids	AHL	6	0	1	1	0
Travis Ehrhardt	Grand Rapids	AHL	6	0	1	1	11
Logan Pyett	Grand Rapids	AHL	8	0	1	1	4
Sebastien Piche	Grand Rapids	AHL	4	0	0	0	2
Sergei Kolosov	Grand Rapids	AHL	7	0	0	0	0
S W E D E N
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SEL	12	3	2	5	12
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SEL	12	0	5	5	2
Jesper Samuelsson	Timra	SEL	10	0	1	1	6
Johan Ryno	AIK	SWE-2	8	2	1	3	8
Adam Almqvist	HV-71	SWE-J20	12	5	23	28	14
C H L
Willie Coetzee	Red Deer	WHL	14	8	16	24	4
Andrej Nestrasil	Victoriaville	QMJHL	14	7	11	18	14
Brent Raedeke	Edmonton	WHL	16	7	8	15	20
Mitchell Callahan	Kelowna	WHL	14	4	8	12	38
Gleason Fournier	Rimouski	QMJHL	7	3	6	9	20
Stephen Johnston	Belleville	OHL	14	5	4	9	16
Brian Lashoff	Kingston	OHL	14	3	5	8	23
Landon Ferraro	Red Deer	WHL	5	1	1	2	0
N C A A
Gustav Nyquist	Maine	HE	6	4	6	10	2
Brendan Smith	Wisconsin	WCHA	3	2	3	5	4
Brian Rufenach	Clarkson	ECAC	5	2	3	5	6
Julien Cayer	Clarkson	ECAC	5	1	1	2	4
Max Nicastro	Boston U.	HE	3	0	0	0	4
Nick Oslund	St. Cloud St.	WCHA	6	0	3	3	4
U S H L
Nick Jensen	Green Bay	USHL	7	0	2	2	4

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

NAME	TEAM	LEAGUE	GP	W-L-O	GAA	SPCT
Thomas McCollum	Grand Rapids	AHL	5	2-2-0	2.89	.885
Daniel Larsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	4	2-2-0	3.73	.890
Jordan Pearce	Toledo	ECHL	2	1-1-0	4.50	.847