16 Thoughts: The Wolves are Alright
The Kids, or Wolves, are doing some great things
Welcome back to 16 Thoughts, a series somewhat like Elliotte Friedman’s 32 Thoughts but cut in half due to only talking about Carolina Hurricanes prospects.
You could still say the Kids are alright, since the average age of the Chicago Wolves roster is 24 years old, but the team is led by a youth movement, with their top 3 scorers being 20, 23, and 20. Even with losing a good amount of their scoring to the NHL during the last bit of the regular season, the Wolves still squeezed out a great 3 in 3 weekend. I’ll speak more on their MVP so far in the first Thought, but Felix Unger Sorum has become the engine that drives this Wolves team when push comes to shove. His playmaking and ability to be creative with the puck is one of the biggest reasons why the Wolves are 2nd in the division. That’s no disrespect to Justin Robidas (23) and Bradly Nadeau (21), who are incredibly impactful players, but Felix has been able to stay healthy and continue doing what he does, which is why I’m giving him the (mostly worthless) regular season MVP for the Wolves team.
With that said, let’s tackle some Thoughts.
1. Felix Unger Sorum (20), the player reborn. To triple your production in the AHL year over year is insanely tough, but Felix was up to that challenge. Last year, Felix was somewhat apprehensive and nervous to engage fully in board battles or most things that involved physicality. Now, he’s actively engaging in board battles and winning them more often than not. He fully bought into what his potential could be and this year has been absolutely reformative for him.
2. I know people will forever be mad at undersized wingers and, while I do understand it to a certain extent, please understand that Felix doesn’t get bullied off the puck often. He’s done immense work in the weight room over the past calendar year and has become a stout 5’11, 172 pounds. People had the same qualms about Jackson Blake and look what he’s become physically. Being undersized is not the end all, be all when it comes to a hockey player.
(Update: 1 NHL game, 1 NHL point).
3. I’ll be completely honest, I didn’t think Ronan Seeley’s (23) NHL debut would come with the Hurricanes. He’s a complete story of perseverance, from being diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm, to being a 7th round pick (this isn’t really a perseverance thing, but going to the NHL as a 7th round pick is tougher), dealing with the Hurricanes AHL/ECHL situation during Covid, he’s just been a pro’s pro. He deserves this callup too, as he’s moved into the role of the Wolves most consistent defenseman. He’s done everything, from playing power play and penalty kill, to eating big minutes when others go down with injury. This is, truly, one of the most deserved call ups during my tenure of covering the prospects.
4. Since we last spoke, Charlie Cerrato (21) signed a PTO with the Chicago Wolves. As of last Tuesday, he has started practicing with the team and is (hopefully) in line to contribute to the lineup for their playoff run. The PTO means he cannot return to college, which means we are just waiting for the announcement of an ELC. I’m just happy that he might play hockey again this season, as I was worried after the injury he suffered in the NCAA tournament.
5. Ivan Ryabkin (18) had one hell of a run in the QMJHL. 42 points in 20 regular season games and then 9 points in 7 playoff games is something you just don’t see that often, but he also went from playing against grown men to playing against U20 comp. I’d be more worried if he didn’t have immense success, but nevertheless. His first 3 games in the AHL after returning from Charlottetown were good. He was much more engaged into game action and was much more involved overall. The offense has come much more naturally and I’ve noticed the play driving traits flash more, which is what you really want to see from a young center playing professionally.
6. In one last funny Ryabkin QMJHL moment, he’s been suspended 3 games for abuse of officials. I really, really, doubt that he’ll ever actually serve that suspension.
7. The Glebinator has returned. There’s something special when two people from the same country who have never played together finally end up playing together and they look like they have the most natural chemistry. This is the case with Gleb and Ryabkin, who looked really, really good together. More so, they didn’t look worse off when switching from Nikita Pavlychev as the center to Ryabkin as the center, with Josiah Slavin running the LW. I really want to see more of this duo going forward, as they might be able to unlock the better parts of each other’s game.
8. For a more serious thing, the last 7 games Gleb Trikozov (21) has played has been some of the best hockey of his career in North America. He’s been the primary sniper on the third line and he’s been good! The offense is flowing and his backchecking has gotten much better. He’s forechecking with decent aggression as well. It takes me a second to remember that this is his technical first AHL season after having the vast majority of last year taken away from him due to 2 different leg injuries.
(Update: He blocked a shot on Saturday and seemed to be hurt. He couldn’t skate off on his own and needed help off the ice. Hoping for good news for him)
9. The Wolves are getting healthy at the perfect time, by the way. With Justin Robidas and Charlie Cerrato returning to practice, alongside the litany of players getting NHL game time right now, this lineup is going to be scary good come playoff time. Even with a depleted lineup, they still ended up getting points in all 3 games this past weekend. Adding Legault, Nystrom, Seeley, Nadeau, Robidas, and (potentially) Cerrato to that lineup is going to make for some incredibly fun viewings (in decent quality because I finally caved and bought FloHockey! No more 480p footage that freezes constantly!). Hopefully Ryan Suzuki and Juuso Valimaki (and Gleb) can get back in enough time as well.
10. Let’s talk Greensboro Gargoyles for a second, because I’ve gotten questions about them recently and I feel the need to talk about the guys down there. To be honest, they stink, which was expected for a brand new ECHL franchise. I had hoped that they’d be a little better, but alas. Ruslan Khazheyev’s (21) counting stats are going to look ugly, but I have to remind people that most of their defense is built upon recent college graduates and guys that don’t have a ton of experience at the pro level. As well, Ruslan still had more than handful of good starts, enough to give me a good feeling with him going into next year.
11. A fun stat I wanted to look up regarding Khazheyev. Since February 1st, he saw less than 30 shots in a game 3 times. He played in 19 games during that time. Ruslan faced a ton of shots over the course of the year, which is what you want to see when you are a young goalie.
12. Bryce Montgomery (23) was also good in my viewings, as he was a real leader for that team at times. The physical defenseman has one more year on his ELC, which I imagine will end up kind of the same way this year. He’ll get AHL looks, in which I should add that he was good in those AHL games, but might spend most of the year in Greensboro again.
13. 2 prospect related moves that might happen. First, KHL team Amur want to make the loan move for Andrei Krutov (19) permanent. I think it’s good, for one it shows that Amur were happy with what Krutov showed during his stint with the team. Secondly, Krutov could benefit from staying with Amur, a younger team that might use him more at center, something that he could be good at.
14. Noel Fransen (20) is rumored with a move to Ilves in Liiga, Finland’s top league. This seems like a good place for a fresh start. It seemed like he and Farjestad were headed for this after he returned from his loan to Karlskoga, played a couple games, and then was sent down again. A fresh start in a new league with a different style of play could do wonders for Fransen.
15. While we are talking about Farjestad, want to mention that former Wolves coach Cam Abbott signed a 2 year extension with Farjestad to continue coaching there.
16. I mentioned it during the last Canes regular season game, but it’s awesome to see all the Wolves guys play on the penalty kill and not look a second out of place. It’s a great showing of preparation that Spiros Anastas and the Wolves coaching staff does to get these younger players ready to play that trademarked style of hockey. It’s also a great showing of how the development is going, because if I told you 365 days ago that Bradly Nadeau would be killing penalties at the NHL, I might be telling a fib.
17. Spiros Anastas getting the full time coaching gig in Chicago was the easy choice, since he’s gotten points in 36 out of 50 games since he took over. Players have really bought into his system and his coaching style really seems to stick with them. He’s shown a good track record for youth development, shown by Felix tripling his point total, Bradly Nadeau going back to back point 25+ goal AHL seasons before he’s 21, and just a whole host of development for guys like Dominik Badinka, Ivan Ryabkin, and others.
17. It recently came out that Justin Poirier (19) will/has entered the transfer portal. Maine has had a mass exodus of guys, including 5 of their top 10 scorers and Florida Panthers draft pick Luke Coughlin. Poirier was having a great freshman season before going down with what we now know as a hip injury, which led him to getting hip surgery recently. At least 2 different people have reported that Wisconsin is a potential landing spot.
18. It’s quite honestly ridiculous that Felix Unger Sorum wasn’t named to the AHL first or second All Star team. He’s a top 5 scorer in the AHL but apparently that’s not good enough.
19. For anyone wondering about Jayden Perron (21), don’t be surprised to see him go back to Michigan for his senior season.
20. Alexander Siryatsky (19) has been really solid for Metallurg in the KHL playoffs. He’s been the 7th defenseman the majority of the time, which is the best place for him. He gets around 15-17 minutes a night, with some spot time on the power play and penalty kill. Outside of one really, really ugly moment that led to Torpedo tying up a game and then winning in OT, he’s been good.
21. NHL playoff related thought, it’s cool that the best line for the Canes in the playoffs so far has 2 “smaller” forwards by NHL standards (and Taylor Hall). While Jackson Blake isn’t the strongest skater, he’s got a combination of work ethic, hockey sense, and ability with his hands to keep him making plays. Then we got to the focus of the point, that being Logan Stankoven.
22. Not every smaller forward is going to be Logan Stankoven. It’s not possible to recreate what he does because he’s a special player. But the stigma around smaller forwards being net negatives on ice because they’ll just get bullied around needs to go away. Obviously, there will still be some smaller players who can’t handle the physicality, but it’s just not the case for everybody. Justin Poirier stands 5’8 and is able to handle contact pretty well, even inviting it at times.
22. Another NHL playoff related thought (that I’ll connect to prospects in a second), K’Andre Miller has really blossomed in the first 2 games of the playoffs. His physical frame and strong skating ability allow him to become a play eraser at a high rate, which is the point I want to make.
23. Do you remember last year when Darren Yorke and Eric Tulsky made it a point to mention how Roman Bausov fits the mold of defenseman they like? They want big, rangy defenseman that have a strong skating base who have the ability to take away time and space at a high rate. It’s something the Canes have coveted in (almost) all the defenseman they’ve taken over the past 3 years.
24. In 2023, they took 1 defenseman, that being Charles Alexis Legault. In 2024, they took Dominik Badinka, Noel Fransen, Alexander Siryatsky, Roman Shokhrin, and Timur Kol. In 2025, they took Kurban Limatov and Roman Bausov. The strongest attribute of each defenseman:
Legault (6’4): defensive ability and good skating base
Badinka (6’3): Projectable NHL traits (defense, breakouts, physical ability) and great skating
Fransen (6’): Great skating and offense
Siryatsky (6’4): Great skating
Shokhrin (6’5): Great skating
Kol (6’4): Great skating
Limatov (6’3): Great skating
Bausov (6’5): Great skating
Notice a trend? Out of the 8 drafted defenseman, only one was smaller than 6’3. Out of the 8 drafted defenseman, only one had an Elite Prospects skating grade under 5 (that being Charles Alexis Legault, who I’d say is better than a 5 now). Their drafting strategy over the past 3 years when it comes to defenseman has been take the upside swing on big, rangy defenseman who have a strong skating base and see if you can get development on the other aspects. For Fransen, it’s the offensive ability. For Limatov, it’s his aggressive play style in each zone. For Kol, it’s the defense (offense has also come along). Each of these guys has another trait, or two, that can project to the NHL if, and I stress if, it develops enough.
25. The Last Thought, brought to you by enough Russian player viewings that I’ve learned parts of the language without touching Duolingo in over 6 months, I’m still watching some players closely when it comes to any potential prospects coming to North America. I mentioned them last time, but I’m still looking at Fyodor Avramov (20), Timur Kol (19), and Alexander Rykov (20). Obvious disclaimer that I have no sources and hockey is an ever changing business, but these are the guys that could come to North America.