Tag: Dominik Olszewski

PHL

“Russian Reinforcements” 2019-20 PHL Team Previews: KH Torun

Leading up to the start of 2019-20 season, we will preview every team in the PHL. 

Last year KH Torun had a really great run during the PHL regular season that saw them capture sixth place just a year after being promoted. They even battled Cracovia Krakow at some points for the fifth spot. A big part of this was the explosive Russian offensive trio of Daniil Orekhin, Robert Korchokha, and Semyon Garshin. That trio all departed for Zaglebie Sosnowiec in the offseason though. KH Torun also saw two valuable import defensemen leave in Tomas Parizek and Maxim Kamenkov. This left Torun with a lot of holes to plug on their roster. They brought in a Polish star to fill one, and a whole Russian army to fill the others.

Before we start a lot of players are on try-outs. I will fully mark the roster on who I think are the best players in camp, contract status will not currently affect rankings.

Forwards

Bartosz Fraszko – Dmitri Teslenko – Danila Bogush

Jaroslaw Dolega – Michal Kalinowski – Daniel Minge

Yegor Feofanov –  Dominik Olszewski – Jakub Jaworski

Piotr Naparlo – Gleb Bondaruk – Vladislav Sokolov

Other forwards: Artyom Sadretdinov, Alexander Volzhankin, Filip Mazurkiewicz, Vadim Ageyev, and Vadim Artemyev. 

Bartosz Fraszko is truly the most essential player on Torun’s roster. There is no doubt in my mind with the ice time and chances he’ll receive in Torun he maybe one of the top scorers in the PHL, helping replace the production of the Russian trio. The if on Fraszko is will he have linemates that will help him get there. Of the imports trying out for Torun, Dmitri Teslenko and Danila Bogush really stuck out to me as two players that really have some potential to provide offense in the PHL. Fraszko and Teslenko are 23 and Bogush is 21, making it a really young top line, but fast and skilled as well. Jaroslaw Dolega (37) and Daniel Minge (30) should both be able to provide some veteran leadership and nice secondary scoring. Michal Kalinowski has had some productive seasons in his career but cooled off lately. He should still be a solid part of the team’s middle-six forward group. Dominik Olszewski is a promising prospect, who I want to see take on some more significant roles. Of the six Torun players on my top 80 U23 board, he was the highest at 45. Overall there is a star player, some solid players, and some big chances on imports. If those chances payoff, Torun should have no problem repeating their previous success.

Defensemen

Adrian Jaworski – Eetu Moksunen

Artyom Smirnov – Mateusz Zielinski

Bartosz Skolmowski – Dmitri Kozlov

Other defensemen: Mikhail Syroyezhkin and Stanislav Kandzyuba

Update 8/15: Eetu Moksunen did not receive a contract from his tryout.

This defense may not feature any stars, but I wouldn’t say anyone is out of place. Eetu Moksunen had some nice moments with Podhale last year but dropped off as the season went on. Adrian Jaworski is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated young defensemen in Poland. He plays a nice two-way game and could develop into a top guy. Artyom Smirnov is quite an interesting import. He has served as the captain for multiple junior teams and had moderate success in the third tier of Russian hockey. This defense could use more talent, but it isn’t going to handcuff the team.

Goalies

Patrik Spesny

Krzysztof Bojanowski

Szymon Guranowski

Patrik Spesny was great for Torun last year. He is precisely what Torun needs in the back of the net given their lack of a great defense. Spesny is also still very young at only 23-years-old, meaning we might have only seen a glimpse of what he is capable of.

Prediction: 9th

It was tough to pick who was finishing second to last on my list. I feel this season in the PHL there are three tiers of teams. The top tier of four championship contenders, the second tier of five mid-level teams, and then the bottom tier of Janow and PZHL u23. That mid-level tier is were Torun is. The standings between these teams will most likely be decided by one or two games. It is a very competitive group, where concerns about the defense and too many import forwards that may underperform have them finishing 9th. This is the ranking that I believe will most likely be wrong.

Mens Prospects

2019 Top 50 Polish Men’s U23 Players. #50-45

Despite all that seems to go wrong in Polish hockey the light at the end of the tunnel has been the amount of great young talent that Poland has in their system right now. This is the deepest depth of young talent Poland has had this century. Regardless of what happens in regards to management and coaching with the talent that Poland has coming, they should be able to push forward. In this list, I wanted to rank Poland’s young talent to create a better picture of what the future look likes. There are only a few rules.

  • The cutoff date for age was the final day of the Division 1 Group B World Championships
  • No players that are under the age of 16
  • Rankings are based on a mixture of current play and potential

Honorable Mentions (Alphabetical Order): Bartosz Florczak (Defensemen, Sanok), Filip Mazurkiewicz (Forward, Torun), Kamil Sikora (Left Wing, Zaglebie Sosnowiec), Michal Cychowski (Forward, Krefelder EV 1981 U17), Maciej Miarka (Goalie, SMS Katowice), Mateusz Wawrzkiewicz (Forward, Tampa Bay Juniors), Milosz Kuszynski (Forward, ECC Preussen Berlin), and Pawel Oblonski (Forward, Skedvi/Säter)

Rank – Player Name, Age During Next Hockey Season, Team

#50 – Piotr Pawel Ciechanowski, 20, ES Weißwasser U20. We start of the list with a player who could be described as the black sheep of Polish prospects. Ciechanowski gained attention by finishing 8th in DNL2 (Germany) scoring in 2015-16 before making the jump to Denmark for 2 years, where he played some professional hockey in the Danish second league. He returned to Germany last season, where he had 20 points (8G, 12A) in 30 games. His junior career is over and ended without representing Poland once at an IIHF event, but was on the roster for many non-IIHF tournaments. Ciechanowski has played abroad for a long time and it will be interesting to see where he lands now that his junior career is over.

#49 – Alexis Svitac, 23, Orlik Opole. The son of former Polish hockey olympian Andrzej Svitac, has now played in Poland for 3 years without making much of a mark. In Podhale, he wasn’t afforded too many top chances, while in Opole the team eventually went bankrupt having him playing with a roster of scraps and random loans. He was selected to be apart of PZHL U23 this year in some exhibition games that later got canceled. He has a good skill set, but both a lack of chances and development on his part make hard to see Svitac donning the eagle on his chest.

#48 – Jakub Worwa, 20, Podhale Nowy Targ. Worwa has bounced around a lot in his short career and that has always not always allowed him to get comfortable and showcase his skills, but this year with Podhale Worwa finally got his long term short. He did well in it putting up 11 points (3G, 8A) in 37 games, while adding 3 more assists in 15 playoff games. He also represented Poland at the U20 World Championships, for the second time, picking up one assist. Worwa is a player I definitely hope that I continue to see more of in larger roles, he has already re-signed with Podhale for 2019-20.

#47 – Dawid Musiol, 22, Cracovia Krakow. Musiol has been a favorite of national team coaches for a while. He has played twice at the U18 and U20 World Championships, along with getting some senior games this year. I imagine he will return to Naprzod Janow for the following season. Musiol has a lot of great qualities to his game, but a share of weaknesses. His role on the national team will be more in the bottom pairing.

#46 – Patryk Pelaczyk, 21, JKH GKS Jastrzebie. Pelaczyk is one of the biggest players in Polish hockey at 6’5 227 lbs and when he uses that size to forecheck look out. He impressed me at the 2017-18 World Juniors with his forechecking ability. He needs to be more consistent in using his size though. This year he started to score more, but only when away from Jastrzebie. In 19 games with Jastrezebie he had 1 goal in 19 games, away on loan to PZHL u23 and Orlik Opole he had 11 points (6G, 5A) in 22 games. I hope he gets more of an opportunity next season with Jastrezebie. There will also always be value with him to the Polish national team through his size as a forechecker and net-front presence.

#45 – Dominik Olszewski, 20, KH Torun. Olszewski used to be higher on my list after impressing in foreign Germany and American leagues, while also having a strong showing at the 2015-2016 U18s. Olszewski game has continued to grow but has had a slide in my rankings after disappointing production in the PHL and with Poland U20. In 45 PHL games, he has 5 points (3G, 2A), and only 2 points (1G, 1A) in 15 U20 World Championship games. He is able to still carve up lesser leagues as shown by his 2.70 ppg in Poland’s U20 league, which was the third best in the league. I have a lot of faith in Torun right now and their roster, now that the three big Russians are gone though I hope Olszewski gets maybe some higher offensive chances.

Players 44-39      Players 20-17

Players 38-33      Players 16-13

Players 32-27      Players 12-10

Players 26-21      Players 9-8

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