Justin Carbonneau is back to sniping goals. A first-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft (No. 19), Carbonneau was surprisingly held off the scoresheet for Blainville-Boisbriand of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League before ripping off a pair of two-goal games to give him 15 in 11 games. He scored twice in a 7-5 loss to Halifax last Wednesday, then scored the first two goals in a 4-1 win over Victoriaville on Friday: Carbonneau now has 19 points in 12 games and six multi-goal games to put him on pace for 74 goals and 92 points in 60 games for the Armada, who are currently in first place in the Western Conference at 11-4-2-0 (24 points). * Adam Jiricek -- The first round pick in 2024 (No. 16) continues to shine for Brantford of the Ontario Hockey League and through 13 games, has his second four-game point streak that began a week ago Sunday. The defenseman has been doing a good job of pinching into the offense at opportune times and did so here when he had a goal and an assist in a 5-4 overtime loss last Wednesday to Barrie. He tied the game getting to the net for a loose puck midway through the third period to tie the game 4-4: Jiricek then had an assist Saturday in a 7-0 win over Flint before wrapping up the week with two assists Sunday in a 6-2 win against Saginaw to give him six points (one goal, five assists) in the four-game point streak and 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 13 games this season. The 13 points this season already surpassed the 12 he had in an injury season last year when Jiricek played in just 27 games; he also is a plus-14, so a real encouraging start to the season thus far. The Bulldogs lead the Eastern Conference with 29 points and they're the only team in the league without a regulation loss (13-0-2-1) and are coached by former Blues defenseman Jay McKee. * Adam Jecho -- It had been a bit of a slow start for the 2024 third-round pick with just six points in 13 games to begin the season for Edmonton of the Western Hockey League, but the center picked up the slack this past week. Jecho had six points (two goals, four assists) in three games leading the Oil Kings to three wins. He had a goal and two assists in an 8-6 win against Lethbridge on Wednesday, then had an assist in a 6-1 win over Medicine Hat on Saturday before capping off a three-game point streak with a goal and an assist on Sunday in an 8-4 win against Swift Current: Jecho is now up to 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in 16 games with a plus-7 in helping the Oil Kings to a first place spot in the Eastern Conference with 26 points (12-4-1-1). * Mrsic gets on the board -- The points were coming fast and furious for Tomas Mrsic in the WHL last year, but for the Blues' fourth-round pick in 2024, life as a college player has started with some challenges. But that first goal had to feel sweet for the Colorado College freshman when he scored his first for the Tigers on Saturday in a 5-4 loss to Omaha and it was a beauty of a wrist shot from the right circle: Mrsic, who had 90 points (33 goals, 57 assists) in 65 games for Prince Albert of the WHL last season, was held without a point the first five games despite the Tigers racing out to a 4-1 start to the season. But he picked up his first two points when he had two assists Oct. 18 in a 5-2 win at Northern Michigan before scoring on Sunday. Mrsic is averaging over three shots per game and has 26 on the season, so he's not shy about shooting the puck; it just hasn't gone in, as he explained: * Colin Ralph -- The word for 2024 second-round pick Colin Ralph is that he's defending well at Michigan State. Ralph has no points through six games, which isn't the focus here, but the 6-foot-4, 230-pound blue liner, who has helped the Spartans off to a 5-1-0 start, is a plus-1 and leads the team with 10 blocked shots, including four Oct. 18 in a 4-3 win at Boston University, for the program that started last week as the No. 1-ranked team in the country ahead of Michigan and defending national champion Western Michigan. * Harenstam, Cranley lead goalie charge -- Despite the lack of wins, 2025 sixth-round pick Love Harenstam continues to put up impressive stats. Despite having just three wins in 10 games played for Sodertalje SK in Sweden's HockeyAllsvenskan, Harenstam has a sparking 1.98 goals-against average. He's allowed two goals or fewer in eight of his 10 games, including two after stopping 23 of 25 on Thursday in a 2-1 loss vs. Oskarshamn. And Will Cranley is off to a strong start with Florida of the ECHL with two wins and one loss having stopped 77 of 82 shots in three games, good for a 1.65 GAA and .939 save percentage. A Sight For Sore Eyes: Blues Could Get Huge Boost With Return Of Key Piece [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/9ce6c276-3108-4509-9c95-7df740dcee2c.jpeg] A Sight For Sore Eyes: Blues Could Get Huge Boost With Return Of Key Piece Robert Thomas was on the ice Sunday; No. 1 center has missed past four games with upper-body injury [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/latest-news/a-sight-for-sore-eyes-blues-could-get-huge-boost-with-return-of-key-piece] Observations From Blues' 3-2 Loss Vs. Blue Jackets [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/60efbd05-5c92-4055-be2d-fa0237e17918.jpeg] Observations From Blues' 3-2 Loss Vs. Blue Jackets Losing skid now at seven games for St. Louis Blues (0-5-2) [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/latest-news/observations-from-blues-3-2-loss-vs-blue-jackets] Image [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/9f721e50-81ca-4a5e-8659-b8f85cec01ac.jpeg] For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
