Grubbe Leads The Way

Jayden Grubbe (Red Deer Rebels)

On a Saturday night where nine New York Ranger prospects saw action, it was the Rangers two 2021 third-round picks who stood out as they both earned stars. So far this season Jayden Grubbe, Ryder Korczak, and Brett Bedard who have stood out the most among Ranger prospects. 

The season is still young but it is nice that for the most part the most recent New York Ranger draft picks have played the best. Let us hope that others start to step up their performances as time goes on.

Jayden Grubbe earned second star honors as his Red Deer Rebels beat up on the Brandon Wheat Kings 7-1. Grubbe had a power play goal as well as a power play assist as the Rebels won their third straight to improve to 6-3-1 on the season.

The Red Deer captain earned the primary assist on the team's third goal then scored the fourth one which gave the Rebels a 4-0 lead in the second period. Besides going 1-1-2 for the game, Grubbe had one shot, was a -1 with a minor for high-sticking and went 11-7 on his faceoffs. 

For the season Grubbe is now 4-4-8 with three of his goals coming on the power play.

Ryder Korczak (Moose Jaw Warriors)

Ryder Korczak earned the game's third star but his Moose Jaw Warriors blew a 4-1 lead and lost to the Winnipeg Ice 5-4. Korczak had a goal (his fourth) on one shot with a +1 and was an impressive 12-4 on his faceoffs. 

But Korczak also had an interference minor that the Ice turned into their first goal of the game. Forget Korczak's offense (4-6-10 in eight games), it was his play on the defensive end as well as on the penalty kill that stood out to me. 

Will Cuylle was scoreless as his Windsor Spitfires were spanked 5-1 by the Owen Sound Attack. Cuylle had three shots and a minor for "unsportsmanlike conduct" to show for his night.

Talyn Boyko had a second straight rough start as his Tri-City Americans got spanked by the Spokane Chiefs 7-2. Boyko lasted just two periods surrendering six goals on 38 shots as the Americans dropped their fifth straight.

I feel bad for the kid as he is stuck on a really inexperienced team and is paying for it with his own play suffering because of it. Boyko had a decent first period allowing just one goal on 15 shots. 

But in the second the roof caved in as Boyko surrendered five goals on 23 shots as the Americans fell behind 6-2. Why they didn't pull Boyko sooner I just don't know but this is going to hurt Boyko's development.

Boyko falls to 1-4 with a 4.69 goals against and 0.880 save percentage.

Simon Kjellberg was scoreless as his Rensselaer Engineers shut out Vermont 1-0 in non-conference play. The junior defender was credited with one shot as his team improves to 2-2-1 on the season.

Riley Hughes was scoreless on five shots as his Northeastern Huskies shut out visiting Colorado College 1-0. Hughes was also a +1 as he is still looking for his first point of the season after five games.

Evan Vierling was scoreless as his Barrie Colts were shut out 3-0 by the Ottawa 67's. Vierling was credited with one shot with a -1, and a 6-12 mark on faceoffs. 

Eric Ciccolini returned to the top-ranked Michigan Wolverine lineup as the fourth-line right-wing as they took on Western Michigan in non-conference action. Ciccolini was scoreless as Michigan earned a 3-2 overtime win.

Ciccolini did not register a shot on goal and was 0-1 on face-offs.

Exhibition

Defenseman Hank Kempf (2020 seventh) made his NCAA debut for 15th-ranked Cornell as they made their season debut with an exhibition game with the USNTDP U-18 team. Kempf is a 6'2 195 lb. left-handed defender known mostly for his defense.

Cornell earned a 4-2 win with Kempf going scoreless.

Did Not Play

Hugo Ollas did not play as his Merrimack Warriors lost to Boston University