The Calder Cup playoffs in the American Hockey League are reduced to four teams.
The Western Conference Finals, which begin Friday, have Chicago (Carolina Hurricanes), regular season champions, facing Stockton (Calgary Flames). The Eastern Conference Finals, which begin Saturday, will feature Laval (Montreal Canadiens) against Springfield (St. Louis Blues).
Each series is a best of 7.
Here’s a look at the top five NHL prospects competing for the Calder Cup:
Nikita Alexandrov, Springfield
The 21-year-old striker showed considerable promise in his first full American professional season.
Selected in the second round (No. 62) of the 2019 NHL Draft by the Blues, Alexandrov amassed 30 points (12 goals, 18 assists) in 67 games with Springfield. He split the previous season between Liiga’s KooKoo in Finland and Utica, an AHL affiliation that the Blues shared with the Vancouver Canucks for a season. In 28 games of Liiga it added nine points (three goals, six attendances); then added five points (three goals, two assists) during seven games with Utica. He signed a three-year initial level contract with St. Louis on August 1, 2019.
He has flourished in the Calder Cup playoffs to become a points-per-game player through two rounds with six points (two goals, four assists) and has taken on key responsibilities for Springfield, the only undefeated team in the United States. AHL playoffs (6-0). .
Vasiliy Ponomarev, Chicago
Carolina’s highly productive farming system has another young talent developing with Chicago.
Ponomarev turned 20 on March 30 shortly before his assignment to Chicago after the end of his season with Spartak Moscow in the Continental Hockey League. Carolina picked him in the second round (No. 53) of the NHL 2020 Draft and signed him to a three-year starting contract on October 20, 2020.
In 14 KHL games, he scored two points (one goal, one assist). After going to Chicago to play the fourth-best offense of the regular season in the AHL (3.43 goals per game), he added 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in 11 games. He has four points (one goal, three assists) in seven playoff games with Chicago.
Cayden Primeau, Laval
As the image of the Canadians’ goalkeeper continues to unfold with the uncertainty about the health of incumbent Carey Price, the 22-year-old is arguing for a full-time role with Montreal.
A selection from Montreal’s seventh round (No. 199) in the 2017 NHL Draft, Primeau’s career began to increase with two strong seasons in the NCAA Northeast, where he was a first-round pick. Hockey East star team every season. As a sophomore, he was also named Hockey East’s Goalkeeper of the Year and won the Mike Richter Award for Best College Hockey Goalkeeper. He became a professional and signed a three-year initial contract with Montreal on March 31, 2019.
In his third professional season with Laval, he was 16-12-3 with two goals, an average of 2.94 goals against and a savings rate of 0.909 in 33 games. He also played 12 regular-season games with the Canadians and was 1-7-0 with a GAA of 4.62 and a savings rate of 0.868.
In the postseason, he has gone 6-1 with a 1.93 GAA (sixth among AHL goalkeepers) and a savings rate of .936 (sixth).
Juuso Valimaki, Stockton
With the Flames eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Second Round of the Western Conference by the Edmonton Oilers, Valimaki will continue his season with Stockton.
Calgary assigned the 23-year-old defender to Stockton after the elimination, and played the fourth game of a second-round series against Colorado (Colorado Avalanche). Prior to the assignment, he had split his postseason between Calgary and Stockton and played three AHL playoff games against Bakersfield, Edmonton. He has a post-season attendance at the AHL.
Calgary selected Valimaki in the first round (No. 16) of the 2017 draft. After being sidelined for the entire 2019-20 season due to a knee injury, he played 49 games with the Flames last season and added 11 points (two goals, nine assists). He split this season between the NHL and the AHL; in 35 games with Stockton, he scored 18 points (two goals, 16 assists). He also made two assists in nine games with Calgary.
Dustin Wolf, Stockton
Wolf, a 21-year-old goalkeeper, remains one of AHL’s most prominent stories after Calgary selected him in the seventh round (No. 214) of the 2019 draft.
Wolf was a selection of the AHL First Team All-Star and was also named to the AHL All-Rookie Team. After going 33-9-4 with a GAA of 2.35 and a savings percentage of 0.924 in 47 games, he won the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Award as the best AHL goalie. He also twice won the Western Hockey League Best Goalkeeper Award while he was with Everett each of the last two seasons.
His game has continued until the postseason, where he is 6-1 with a GAA of 1.82 (the fourth best among AHL playoff goalkeepers) and a savings rate of 0.941 (third) in seven games. He left Colorado three times in four games, including a 40-game wild game on Sunday to get the series.