As the calendar turns to February, the schedule is heating up for college hockey with the NHL’s All-Star Break coming to an end. In Boston, the first two Monday nights are annually big hockey nights in the college rank with the Beanpot Tournament being held at the TD Garden. This season, the best matchup will be in the first round with Boston Bruins prospects facing off against each other for the third time in 10 days.
That’s where we’ll begin the latest Bruins Prospects Report, previewing the Beanpot and we’ll also take a look at what’s going on with the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL) and more.
Four Bruins Prospects Gear Up for the Beanpot
The annual Beanpot Tournament will begin Monday night (Feb. 5) at the TD Garden and four Bruins prospects will play in the game that features the four Division 1 Boston schools. Boston College, Boston University, Harvard University, and Northeastern University will play the first round at 5 o’clock before the consolation and championship games are played a week later on Feb. 12.
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This season’s tournament has an opportunity to be one of the better ones in the last few years as Boston College is currently the No. 1 ranked team in the country and the winner of five straight, including a weekend sweep of their first-round opponent Boston University on Jan. 26 and 27. Boston University is ranked No. 3. Those two teams will square off in the second game at 8 o’clock.
Bruins prospect Oskar Jellvik is fifth on the Eagles in scoring with 11 goals and 13 assists in 24 games, which is a big jump for the fifth-round pick in the 2021 Entry Draft and 149th overall by Boston. As a freshman in 2022-23, he had four goals and 11 assists. Andre Gasseau is right behind Jellvik in scoring with eight goals and 12 assists. Selected in the seventh round in the 2021 Draft, Gasseau has a chance to be a nice late-round selection for the Bruins.
Defenseman Ty Gallagher has three assists for BU and was the seventh-round pick in the same draft as Jellvik and Gasseau has seen a dip in his numbers from his freshman season for the Terriers after he had three goals and 21 points in 2022-23, but his overall game aside from the scoresheet has seen a nice development. Mason Langenbrunner, selected in the fifth round of the 2020 Entry Draft and son of former NHLer Jamie, has four assists in 20 games for Harvard, who enters the tournament with four wins in 20 games.
Lysell, Lohrei Continue to Impress in Providence
The Providence Bruins enter the AHL All-Star Break winners of six in a row and Fabian Lysell has been good during the winning streak. He has two goals and six assists with both goals coming in the last two games against the Charlotte Checkers and he had a four-assist game against the Bridgeport Islanders. For the season, he is up to 13 goals and 25 assists.
Defenseman Mason Lohrei, who was sent down to the AHL when Derek Forbort and Brandon Carlo returned to the Boston lineup in January, has a goal and five assists in five games, including a three-assist game against the Checkers on Jan. 28. It would be very surprising to not see him back in the NHL at some point this season.
Georgii Merkulov, who is headed to the AHL All-Star Game in San Jose on Feb. 5, leads Providence with 17 goals and 25 assists, four points more than Lysell. John Beecher, who played well earlier this season in Boston, has a goal and an assist since returning to the P-Bruins with Lohrei.
Hendrickson & Pelosi Powering Sioux Falls
Two Bruins’ draft picks from the 2023 Entry Draft in Nashville continue to play well in the USHL for the Sioux Falls Stampede. In 37 games, they have nearly identical numbers while playing on the top line for the Stampede.
Pelosi, drafted in the third round and No. 92 overall, has 16 goals and 24 assists playing at center, while Hendrickson, drafted in the fourth round and 124th overall, has 16 goals and 22 assists playing on the left wing. Both players have committed to college for next season with Pelosi going to Quinnipiac and Hendrickson going to the University of Minnesota.
That wraps up the latest Bruins Prospects Report and if you’re a huge college hockey fan, checking out the Beanpot is a must-do. The second game between Boston College and Boston University is a game that no one will want to miss.