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The month of November was a good one for many Montreal prospects as quite a few players came up with some surprise clutch contributions. Here are our 3 Stars.
St. John’s IceCaps
1st Star: Michael McCarron – Count me among those who didn’t expect him to be having quite the impact he has so far. McCarron had a decent debut in October before busting out last month, vaulting himself towards the top of both the rookie and overall scoring leaderboards. With his play and the injuries/recalls, he’s now the #1 centre with the IceCaps less than two months into his rookie season.
Stats: 10 GP, 4 goals, 9 assists, 13 points, +3 rating, 15 PIMS, 24 shots
2nd Star: Morgan Ellis – His confidence level must be at an all-time high right now. Ellis has been paired up with Mark Barberio on the #1 defence pairing to start the season and he has shown considerable improvement in just two months. Ellis also provided most of St. John’s offence from the blueline last month; his five goals were more than every other defenceman combined.
Stats: 10 GP, 5 goals, 5 assists, 10 points, +7 rating, 6 PIMS, 24 shots
3rd Star: Charles Hudon – As players started to get recalled to the big club, Hudon was asked to shoulder more and more of the offensive load and he delivered, leading the team in goals for November. There’s not a whole lot more he can do to earn himself a call-up other than just bide his time for now.
Stats: 10 GP, 6 goals, 4 assists, 10 points, -1 rating, 6 PIMS, 28 shots
Honourable Mention: Bud Holloway – He missed two games while on recall to Montreal and still finished tied for second in points for the month. Holloway won’t bring a whole lot else to the table other than points but right now, he’s a big catalyst for St. John’s offence.
Stats: 8 GP, 2 goals, 8 assists, 10 points, +1 rating, 0 PIMS, 30 shots
Other Prospects
1st Star: Jake Evans (Notre Dame, NCAA) – Despite not playing big minutes (he’s a second or third liner most nights), Evans has been one of the offensive leaders early on this year. Last season, he had some spurts but followed those up with scoring droughts. Last month, he started to show some consistency, recording a point in all but three games.
Stats: 9 GP, 2 goals, 8 assists, 10 points, +5 rating, 19 PIMS, 11 shots
2nd Star: Jeremiah Addison (Ottawa, OHL) – The second straight 7th round pick that was picked 207th overall on this list, Addison had a very slow start to his season but picked it up in November. He spent some time alongside Philly first rounder Travis Konecny – a linemate down the stretch last year – and that chemistry has helped move Addison back up to third in team scoring.
Stats: 11 GP, 6 goals, 6 assists, 12 points, +1 rating, 13 PIMS
3rd Star: Simon Bourque (Rimouski, QMJHL) – Last year, Bourque showed signs of a burgeoning offensive game and we saw more of that last month as he hovered near the point per game mark. He has become the Oceanic’s #1 blueliner (receiving a lot of PP time) while doing so playing his off-side at times. He’s another late round selection that has impressed in the early going this season.
Stats: 11 GP, 3 goals, 7 assists, 10 points, -4 rating, 8 PIMS, 21 shots
Honourable Mention: Martin Reway (Fribourg, NLA) – Reway missed most of the month due to a self-imposed squabble over ice time that eventually saw him shipped to the Swiss league. While he has been productive in the early going, his defensive lapses have also been a concern. Reway also suited up for a trio of games internationally in the Deutschland Cup, playing on Slovakia’s second line.
Stats: NLA: 4 GP, 2 goals, 6 assists, 8 points, +1 rating, 2 PIMS
Deutschland Cup: 3 GP, 1 goal, 0 assists, 1 point, +3 rating, 2 PIMS, 4 shots