RWC REPORT: Nestrasil ahead of the curve

By Matthew Wuest - RedWingsCentral.com / November 3, 2009

It's impressive enough that Andrej Nestrasil finds himself 10th in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League scoring early this season.

But when you add to that the fact that he's the only 18-year-old in the league's top 15 scorers — the rest are 19- and 20-year-olds — it becomes clear that the Prague, Czech Republic, native is well ahead of the development curve.

Nestrasil, drafted in the third round (75th overall) by the Red Wings in June, is certainly living up to his billing as a first-round calibre prospect. That's where the Red Wings' scouting staff ranked him on its draft board.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound right-winger co-leads the Victoriaville Tigres in scoring along with countryman Tomas Kubalik, producing nine goals and 15 assists for 24 points in 18 games. The Tigres, meanwhile, have been a mild surprise early on, with a 12-7-0-1 record, seventh in the 18-team QMJHL.

Nestrasil projects as a top-six NHL forward, with a unique blend of size, skill and a willingness to get the job done in the dirty areas.

NOTES: Defenseman Nick Jensen (Green Bay, USHL) is representing the United States at the world junior A hockey challenge in Summerside, P.E.I., this week ... Forward Landon Ferraro (Red Deer, WHL) returned to action after missing 10 games with a knee injury ... Forwards Brent Raedeke (Edmonton) and Willie Coetzee (Red Deer) were named to the WHL roster for the two-game Subway Super Series against Russia later this month ... Forward Evan McGrath (Grand Rapids, AHL) has been one of the most productive Griffins this season, contributing three goals and three assists in 10 games ... Defenseman Brendan Smith (Wisconsin, NCAA) is off to a terrific start, with nine points in five games. If he stays healthy, he could have a banner year and leave college after his junior campaign.

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	10	4	2	6	4
Evan McGrath	Grand Rapids	AHL	10	3	3	6	4
Mattias Ritola	Grand Rapids	AHL	10	1	4	5	4
Dick Axelsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	7	2	2	4	2
Jakub Kindl	Grand Rapids	AHL	9	0	4	4	10
Jan Mursak	Grand Rapids	AHL	10	3	0	3	6
Cory Emmerton	Grand Rapids	AHL	9	0	3	3	2
Tomas Tatar	Grand Rapids	AHL	5	1	1	2	0
Francis Pare	Grand Rapids	AHL	8	0	2	2	0
Logan Pyett	Grand Rapids	AHL	10	0	2	2	6
Travis Ehrhardt	Grand Rapids	AHL	8	0	1	1	13
Sebastien Piche	Grand Rapids	AHL	6	0	0	0	4
Sergei Kolosov	Grand Rapids	AHL	9	0	0	0	0
S W E D E N
Joakim Andersson	Frolunda	SEL	16	3	3	6	20
Anton Axelsson	Timra	SEL	14	0	6	6	2
Jesper Samuelsson	Timra	SEL	12	0	1	1	6
Jesper Samuelsson	Sundsvall	SWE-2	4	1	2	3	0
Johan Ryno	AIK	SWE-2	10	2	1	3	8
Adam Almqvist	HV-71	SWE-J20	14	5	24	29	14
C H L
Willie Coetzee	Red Deer	WHL	17	9	20	29	4
Andrej Nestrasil	Victoriaville	QMJHL	18	9	15	24	14
Brent Raedeke	Edmonton	WHL	19	7	11	18	22
Mitchell Callahan	Kelowna	WHL	16	5	8	13	45
Stephen Johnston	Belleville	OHL	15	6	4	10	16
Gleason Fournier	Rimouski	QMJHL	10	3	6	9	28
Brian Lashoff	Kingston	OHL	16	3	5	8	23
Landon Ferraro	Red Deer	WHL	7	1	2	3	2
N C A A
Gustav Nyquist	Maine	HE	7	4	7	11	2
Brendan Smith	Wisconsin	WCHA	5	2	7	9	8
Brian Rufenach	Clarkson	ECAC	7	2	3	5	25
Nick Oslund	St. Cloud St.	WCHA	8	1	3	4	6
Julien Cayer	Clarkson	ECAC	7	1	1	2	4
Max Nicastro	Boston U.	HE	5	0	0	0	6
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	6	3-2-0	2.57	.903
Daniel Larsson	Grand Rapids	AHL	5	3-2-0	2.85	.916
Jordan Pearce	Toledo	ECHL	3	2-1-0	4.67	.851