Goal Production as a Pro
March 24, 2024
By Bob Trask
Since the 2020 draft the Montreal Canadiens have drafted 37 players with 16 of these players already having participated in men’s professional leagues. High draft picks, particularly if they have played in North America, garner most of the attention even if they are still playing junior or college hockey and it becomes easy to overlook those who toil in the relative obscurity of European leagues or the minor pros. While there is a wide variance in talent between a top pro league like the NHL and lesser leagues like the SHL, Liiga or the VHL it’s also worth keeping in mind that these are men’s professional leagues with mature players. No one is competing against 17 year old players. The leading goal scorer in pro games among this group of 12 players is Oliver Kapanen with 31 goals in 137 games. Alexander Gordin is second with 30 goals in 119 games, albeit in a lesser league. A pleasant surprise has been Filip Eriksson who has 12 goals in 26 games in the Allsvenskan, after going scoreless in 21 SHL games. And let’s not forget Jared Davidson who has netted 11 goals in 38 games while battling injuries. Among defenseman, Dimitri Kostenko has 18 goals in 182 pro games, most of them in the VHL, while Logan Mailloux has 14 goals in only 62 games with Laval. As far as efficiency goes, it his hard to beat Joshua Roy who has already scored 17 pro goals in his first 63 games – 4 of those goals coming in 23 NHL games. Adam Engstrom has also demonstrated some offensive prowess with 13 goals in 108 SHL games. – Trask