Anders Bjork as advertised, patience preached for Trent Frederic & more takeaways from Prospects Challenge

A loaded Bruins roster featuring the likes of Anders Bjork, Jack Studnicka, Urho Vaakanainen and more wrapped up its play in the 2019 Prospect Challenge showcase up in Buffalo on Monday — going 1-1-1 during the three-game event. 

Here are a couple of takeaways from the four-day tournament — especially when it comes to the performance of some of Boston’s most promising youngsters in the pipeline. 

 

Anders Bjork thrives in return to the ice 

Entering the weekend showcase as a 23-year-old with 50 games of NHL experience under his belt, the expectations for Bjork were high up in Buffalo — even if the winger was coming off of his second major shoulder surgery in as many years.

“It’s been a long time since he’s played,” Bruins development coordinator Jamie Langenbrunner said of Bjork ahead of the tournament. “Him and I talked about it this summer. This was a good opportunity for him to do that. We expect him to be a good player this weekend and he should be. He should be noticeable.”

While Bjork did not suit up in Boston’s finale on Monday against the Devils, the winger was



as advertised in the first two games of the showcase — tallying two points in the B's first game against the Penguins on Friday, including a game-winning tally with 1.9 seconds remaining in regulation.

"Guys were really tired, so I don’t think we really wanted to play overtime that badly," Bjork said of his tally. "It’s good that we put it in there. I think it just started — four guys kept the puck in and Studs (Jack Studnicka) made a great play to me there and I just took it a bit to the middle and just tried to fire it on net. … That was something that I thought was really good about the guys — everyone was battling hard. You could tell they wanted to win, they weren’t just trying to score, which was pretty cool."

While expectations should be tempered a bit for Bjork out of the gate once training camp gets underway on Thursday, the Notre Dame product passed the first hurdle in his goal of returning back to the Bruins' lineup this season. Even if the Boston opts to ease Bjork back in by getting him into a groove offensively down in the AHL once October rolls around, the forward eased any concerns about the lingering effects of his offseason surgery with his play over the weekend.

"Well, I think Anders had two strong games, it was pretty close," Don Sweeney told BostonBruins.com of which player had the best showing at the Prospects Challenge.

Patience preached for slimmer Trent Frederic 

Another participant looking to build off of NHL reps in 2018-19 was center Trent Frederic, who appeared in 15 games with Boston when the Bruins' third-line center role was still vacant.

The physical forward did make strides to build off of last season thanks to a stricter adherence to a diet over the summer, which allowed him to slim down and improve his overall conditioning. That meant cutting down on subs and toasted ravioli for the St. Louis native, who has opted for salad chain Sweetgreen for most of the offseason.

"To be honest with you, last year, I didn’t do probably all the right things outside of the rink," Frederic said. "Not necessarily that I was trying to not do the right things, I just didn’t eat properly. I think I just had water in my fridge, that was about it. So hopefully this year that helps me. I can feel better, sleep better and wake up better and hopefully that translates."

The 21-year-old pivot opened the Prospects Challenge as Boston's second-line center behind Studnicka, but failed land on the scoreboard in the matchup against Pittsburgh before missing the final two games in the showcase as a precautionary move due to lower-body soreness.

Even if he didn't provide much of a scoring punch in his limited time on the ice, Providence head coach Jay Leach believes that Frederic is in line for another major step forward. However, given the somewhat longer development curve that comes with power forwards as opposed to shiftier, skilled forwards, Leach harped on the need for Frederic to earn major minutes at wherever his next stop will be after training camp.

During his stint up in Boston last year, Frederic only averaged 9:24 of ice time in a bottom-six spot — not exactly what you want to see from a young, developing center.

“He took a really big stride this summer in his off-ice conditioning," Leach said of Frederic. "We were really excited to see where he was at with that. So he’s clearly shown his willingness to take that step. But he needs reps. I bet you every guy out there after that game last night would say that, ‘Oh my gosh, I haven’t played one of those games in awhile.’ Timing is so much different than it is in the summertime.

"He needs reps, he needs to consistent play, whether it’s in Boston or Providence, a lot of minutes so that he can get his motor going. So that he can stop thinking and start playing, which is when he’s at his best.”

Langenbrunner reiterated that — while Frederic may not have as accelerated of a development plan as say, a Studnicka — his ceiling is still very high when assessing Boston's prospect pipeline.

"He’s continued to grow and continued to get better and better," Langenbrunner said. "I think he’ll be a heck of a player for us sooner than later. He’s doing it the right way and he’s going to be a player that can have an impact in games. We’re happy with the way he’s going.. I think everyone wants him to speed up and be right where he’s supposed to be. He’s just fine."

Vaakanainen rebounds 

Despite his standing as one of the top — if not the best — prospect in Boston's system, Urho Vaakanainen would like to put much of the 2018-19 season in the past and not look back.

Even with his efforts in helping Finland take home a gold medal at the 2019 World Junior Championships, Vaakanainen dealt with a fair share of injuries throughout the season — forcing the 20-year-old defenseman to miss a couple months of game action.

While a concussion sustained in just his second career NHL game put Vaakanainen on the shelf from October until the end of December, the blue liner sustained another injury to his shoulder in March that knocked him out for at least another month. Even when he was given the all-clear to return, Vaakanainen struggled to play to the high standards that he set for himself.

"After that I didn’t feel so good," Vaakanainen said of his play in the AHL postseason following the shoulder injury. I didn’t think "I played real well. I probably had my worst games in the playoffs. ... Hopefully I'll get a good healthy season now and no more injuries — knock on wood."

The 2019-20 season does wipe the slate clean for Vaakanainen, who will be competing for a role up in the NHL over the next couple of weeks at training camp.

But whether it be due to high expectations or the pressure to perform with a potential gig in Boston up for grabs, Vaakananinen's play over the weekend was a bit more muted than one would expect from the two-way defenseman.

Despite skating on Boston's top D pairing for all three games, Vaakanainen was reportedly unremarkable through the first two games of the showcase, failing to show the smooth skating and — perhaps most importantly — the sound, split-second decision making that helped him make major strides during last year's training camp.

“He’s certainly not exactly where he wants to be, not to say any of them really are,’ Leach told Mark Divver of Rinkside Rhode Island when asked about Vaakanainen's play in the first two games up in Buffalo. “He’s fighting it a little bit. He puts a lot of pressure on himself. He expects to be really good and in a tournament like this sometimes it’s hard to be really good, it’s so helter-skelter out there.’’

However, he did rebound in Monday's finale against the Devils, assisting on a tally from Dante Hannoun in what was an eventual overtime loss. Even if his showing in the tournament was only so-so, Vaakanainen's ceiling and ability to do the little things to contribute to solid zone entry/exit play & other facets of the game should have him primed to be a top contender for a spot out of camp — even if Boston's blue is looking pretty stacked if/when Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo return.

"He’s a 20-year-old defensemen," Langenbrunner said of Vaakanainen. "He did have a tough, broken-up year. He had a great stretch there in the middle. He was excellent, especially in the second half of the World Junior tournament. He came back from that and was playing fantastic hockey in Providence. .. Carried the play. And then kind of got sidetracked again.

"But that happens for a young kid. I think with him, most kids his age aren’t playing in the American League. Most are playing still in Juniors. This will be an opportunity for him to take that next step. We feel that he has that ability and this will be a good training camp for him to be a more impactful player."

B's looking for the next diamond in the rough

Before the team took off for Buffalo, Langenbrunner brought up both Connor Clifton and Karson Kuhlman multiple times to the players set to take part in this most recent tournament.

The reason being? Despite starting the 2018-19 season squarely behind many other players in Boston's prospect pipeline, both players rose through the ranks to become key cogs up at the NHL level — eventually logging games in the Stanley Cup Final.

For Clifton especially, his strong play at the Prospects Challenge two years was the first sign to Bruins management that they could have something special in the dynamic defenseman.

"His play was an eye opener two years ago in Buffalo," Langenbrunner said of Clifton. "It was his first year there. Came in and I guess the "Cliffy Hockey" thing started then. He had two breakaway shorthanded (chances) in Buffalo. He definitely opened some eyes for us right then and it continued last year. He went from being a guy that was pretty exciting to a guy that controlled the play.

"I think the guys that looked like they were ready for the NHL are usually pretty good in this tournament, they stand out, pretty noticeable. … Cliffy was what our message was today in the meeting. We showed Cliffy, we showed Karson Kuhlman, we showed some of these guys that were in this camp, maybe not thought of as guys that were going to be playing in the NHL and here they are, playing in the finals in June a couple of months later."

One player to keep tabs on this year? Playmaking defenseman Cooper Zech, who fits the mold as an undersized, dynamic blueliner with a booming shot.  Set to enter his first full season down in Providence, Zech got off to a strong start over in Buffalo — chipping in with a pair of assists during the tournament.

Dante Hannoun, the 5-foot-6 forward out of the WHL, tallied three points over the weekend, while Providence College product Scott Conway managed to tally two goals in both games he played. Axel Andersson missed the first two games of the tournament due to illness, but managed to record an assist on Hannoun's goal on Monday.

Oskar Steen tallied a pair of goals in Saturday's loss to the Sabres, while Jakub Lauko added two points during the tournament. Jack Studnicka, who played center in all three games, also finished with a goal and an assist. Kyle Keyser earned the win on Friday against the Penguins, stopping 39 of the 42 shots that came his way in the victory.