Down on the Farm – NCAA, SHL, and Liiga prospects season review

“Down on the Farm” is your weekly Seattle Kraken prospects update. It’s hard to believe, but we’ve already reached the end of the regular season for Kraken prospects playing in a few leagues. We’ll put a bow on those seasons and take a look at what’s next for them, including an injury update on Zeb Forsfjäll. Then we’ll have notes on a few standout performances and data from the last seven days, plus a preview of the week ahead. (Note: This post contains data gathered on Friday, Mar. 22.)

As always, if you have a prospect-related question you’d like to see featured in a future column, drop a note below or on X or BlueSky @deepseahockey. Let’s dive in.

NCAA season recap

As the calendar flips to March, college sports take center stage, with both basketball and ice hockey hosting conference tournaments as a lead-in to a national championship bracket tournament. On the hockey side, a few conference championship games remain before the 16-team national championship field is set.

Though there is plenty of drama left in college hockey this year, the Kraken NCAA prospects will all be just watching like the rest of us. Justin Janicke and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated Minnesota in the first round of the Big-Ten Tournament but lost to Michigan State in the semi-finals on March 15. The Irish, ranked 41st in the “Pairwise” ranking, are unlikely to make the NCAA Tournament field.

Janicke ended the season with 15 goals (more than his previous three NCAA seasons combined) and 34 points (more than double his previous NCAA career high). He was the second-leading scorer for Notre Dame. Since Janicke is a graduating senior, the Seattle Kraken face a deadline of August 15, 2025, to sign him to an entry-level contract before losing his exclusive negotiating rights. Theoretically, Janicke could sign a tryout agreement to join the Firebirds this season.

Ben MacDonald and the Harvard Crimson bowed out of the ECAC tournament after dropping Game 3 of a three-game series to Clarkson on Sunday, March 16. Harvard is not going to make the NCAA field (38th in Pairwise). After posting five goals and 10 assists in 32 games as a freshman last season, MacDonald posted a nearly identical five goals and 11 assists in 27 games this year. He was Harvard’s fourth-leading scorer. MacDonald is likely to return to Cambridge for his junior year.

Barrett Hall and the St. Cloud State Huskies dropped a three-game series to Western Michigan last weekend, which eliminated them from the NCHC Tournament. Hall didn’t play in St. Cloud’s last game on Saturday. St. Cloud will not be in the NCAA field either (36th in Pairwise). Hall was producing points early, but his play levelled off over the second half of the season. Overall he had seven goals and 22 points in this, his sophomore season, which improved on his eight goals and 16 points from his freshman season. Hall is likely to return to St. Cloud for his junior season.

Similar to Hall and the Huskies, Zaccharya Wisdom and the Colorado College Tigers lost in the first round of the NCHC playoffs last weekend to the reigning National Champion Denver Pioneers. The Tigers’ season is now done. (They are 33rd in Pairwise.) Wisdom had a solid sophomore season, posting eight goals and 21 points, ranking him fifth on the team in scoring. He had 10 goals and 20 points as a freshman last year. He too should return to college for another season.

European leagues season recap

Most European pro leagues, including the top pro league in Sweden (SHL) and Finland (Liiga), have also wrapped the regular season in the last week or so.

Oscar Fisker Mølgaard and his SHL team HV71 ended the regular season at the bottom of the SHL standings, which put them (for the second straight year) into a seven-game relegation series against the other lowest-ranked team. This year, either HV71 or MoDo Hockey will fall down to the HockeyAllsvenskan level. The series is currently tied 2-2 after HV71 won the Mar. 21 contest in overtime. Regardless of the outcome of the series, this will likely be Mølgaard’s last run of games with HV71, as the Kraken anticipate bringing him to Coachella Valley to continue his career as soon as this Spring. Mølgaard had 19 points in the regular season but has not scored in the regelation series so far.

Zeb Forsfjäll‘s SHL club, Skellefteå AIK, begin this year’s playoffs as a five seed. Regrettably, it appears that Forsfjäll won’t be able to assist in the pursuit of a repeat championship for Skellefteå because he is out for the remainder of the season with an undisclosed injury. His season ends with eight points in 39 SHL games. The Kraken don’t have to make a decision on signing Forsfjäll until June 1, 2027, so it’s possible he remains in the SHL next season. Check out Forsfjäll’s shifts from his Dec. 31, 2024, World Juniors game against Czechia below.

Kim Saarinen and his Liiga club HPK were in the playoffs, briefly, but were eliminated Friday in a best-of-5 series sweep against Assat. Saarinen drew all three starts and performed well in the first two—and adequately overall—giving up nine goals in total. His team couldn’t support him with enough offense. Saarinen ended his Liiga regular season with a .911 save percentage in 30 starts, which was good for third-best in the league. He will likely return to Liiga for at least one more season.

Notes on three Kraken prospects

Semyon Vyazovoy | G | Salavat Yulaev Ufa (KHL)

In what was a relatively quiet week in Seattle’s prospect pool (excluding players at the NHL level), Semyon Vyazovoy’s continued strong play in net in the KHL was the standout. By stopping 29 of 30 shots to win in his only start in the last seven days, Vyazovoy is your Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week. With the KHL playoffs close at hand, I’m curious if Vyzaovoy will get at least one start. He’s earned it.

Tyson Jugnauth | D | Portland Winterhawks (WHL)

Tyson Jugnauth piled up five more assists since our last update, bringing his season total to 75. This leads all CHL defensemen, and by a wide margin. Zayne Parekh, of the OHL Saginaw Spirit, is the next closest with 69. Brayden Crampton of Spokane is the closest in the WHL with 59. Jugnauth has put together a special year for the Winterhawks.

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WHAT A MOVE, WHAT A GOAL! pic.twitter.com/VhPcZFXViZ

— x – Portland Winterhawks (@pdxwinterhawks) March 10, 2025

Caden Price | D | Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)

Caden Price was close behind Jugnauth in the WHL points standings for defensemen before he left for the World Juniors. After that tournament, the Kelowna Rockets dealt Price to the Lethbridge Hurricanes, and he has been a shell of former self offensively ever since. At the time of the trade, he was averaging 1.2 points per game in 27 contests. Since the trade, he has accumulated only .4 points per game in 28 dates.

While this production downturn is unlikely to change Seattle’s development plans for Price—which include bringing him to Coachella Valley next season—it is a situation that bears watching.

Kraken prospects data update

With Jani Nyman’s promotion to the NHL, the Firebirds are struggling to score right now, posting just one goal in each of their last five games—all losses. For his part, David Goyette has been a bit more involved for Coachella Valley over the last few games. He almost had the game-tying goal in the dying seconds of the Firebirds’ Wednesday game. While that moment was a frustrating one, it’s good to see him in the mix more, and hopefully he can continue to build confidence down the stretch.

Juganuth, Berkly Catton, and Clarke Caswell are all in the top-10 in assists in the WHL.

Niklas Kokko had a solid week, giving up only four goals across two games, but the Firebirds were only able to score twice in those contests, which left Kokko without a win for his efforts.

At this point, it appears Visa Vedenpaa will not return this season, leaving him with only three early fall starts in an otherwise lost year.

2024-25 Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week tracker

Previewing the week ahead

The CHL wraps up its regular season this weekend, with playoffs set to begin next Friday. The Seattle Thunderbirds and Everett Silvertips are already locked in as one of the WHL matchups. The rivals start their series in Everett on March 28 at 7:05 pm PDT.

Recent prospect updates

March 14, 2025: Ty Nelson’s looking to prove there are no limits on his game

February 28, 2025: Talking Firebirds with Shad Powers

February 21, 2025: Lukas Dragicevic making strides, still striving for consistency

February 14, 2025: Mid-season Seattle Kraken prospect ranking

February 8, 2025: Oscar Fisker Mølgaard quietly ascends the ranks

January 31, 2025: Measuring the performance of the Seattle Kraken prospect pool

January 24, 2025: Tyson Jugnauth is putting on a show in Portland

January 17, 2025: Jani Nyman’s scoring, 2025 NHL Draft coverage

January 10, 2025: Interview with Kraken director of player development Jeff Tambellini

January 3, 2025: Stock Up, Stock Down for Kraken prospects at the World Junior Championship