The opening weekend of the AHL season gave us a chance to get a glimpse of several top prospects in action. Many of them did not wait long to get themselves cooking.

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There are going to be ups and downs in every player’s season, even for top prospects. But I watched a lot of the games we had on FloHockey this weekend and wanted to detail some of the more intriguing performances by top NHL prospects across the league. There were a lot to choose from.

Montreal Canadiens - Laval Rocket

Logan Mailloux’s Dominant Performance In Opener

The very first game of the season featured the Laval Rocket on the road at Providence and while the Rocket as a whole played well, Logan Mailloux was by far the best player on the ice. It wasn’t particularly close.

The 2021 first-round draft pick had two goals and two assists. His last goal was the kind we saw him score in his OHL days, dangling through the defense, using his edges to open up lanes and deceive defenders. He then put a perfect backhand shot past the Providence netminder for the prettiest of Laval’s five goals in the 5-2 win.

Mailloux also showed advanced distribution skills and tremendous poise with the puck. His ability to take over a shift was noticeable, too. That was him at his best.

Mailloux and the Rocket return to action Friday night on home ice against the Syracuse Crunch.

Chicago Blackhawks - Rockford IceHogs

Kevin Korchinski Making Good On Opportunity

If you were a Chicago Blackhawks fan and saw the goal Korchinski scored on Saturday night, you may have been thinking to yourself ‘why did Chicago send him to Rockford?’ While he looked great in the game, that goal was exactly why Chicago sent him to Rockford.

I don’t think he’ll score goals like that in the NHL when he gets back either, but what it did was remind Korchinski that he’s a mega offensive talent. That wasn’t always evident with the pace and physicality of the NHL last season. He's getting reps as a No. 1 defenseman with Rockford that he could not get in Chicago.

This was the kind of thing he could do routinely in junior hockey, and now he's figuring out how to do it as a pro.

Kevin SCORE-chinski is out there showing that he can do it all 😱

(also, how about a Drew Commesso goalie assist?! 🎉) #AHL pic.twitter.com/dH72sR5qQo

— FloHockey (@FloHockey) October 13, 2024

Taking a step back isn’t easy for a player, but for players as significant to their team’s rebuild, it is crucial for Korchinski to take this opportunity and run with it. In his first ever AHL game after 76 in the NHL last year, he showed he’s going to make the most of this opportunity in front of him.

Rockford will host Milwaukee Friday night in their second home game of the season.

Winnipeg Jets - Manitoba Moose

Brad Lambert Starts Hot

We already knew Brad Lambert was among the best skaters in the AHL. The young Finn showed off his exceptional wheels routinely in Manitoba’s road sweep of the Iowa Wild. He was a nightmare in transition for opposing defenders and made good on the chances available to him.

Lambert finished the weekend with three assists including this nice burst of feed and perfect pass to Dominic Toninato.

"No mistakes made!"
Dominic Toninato gets the @ManitobaMoose on the board early!

Brad Lambert makes it three assists on the weekend 👀

Tune in now!
📺: https://t.co/zlPGwC6DF8 #AHL #GoMooseGo #GoJetsGo #MBvsIA pic.twitter.com/HdESZsEWoQ

— FloHockey (@FloHockey) October 13, 2024

Lambert still has some challenges to work through in order to be an effective pro including continuing to build strength and being able to play more on the interior. But his skating ability has been at an NHL level basically since he was 17 years old. Continuing to build off of that and maximize the opportunities he’s able to create with his speed will be critical to his finding an NHL role in the near future.

Lambert and Manitoba will next head to Grand Rapids for a date with the Griffins.

Detroit Red Wings - Grand Rapids Griffins

Sebastian Cossa’s Back-To-Back Up And Down

Cossa’s weekend started off great and ended with a loss, but these are the learning opportunities Detroit is desperate to let their goalie of the future experience.

Cossa posted an impressive shutout on opening night for Grand Rapids, stopping all 35 shots he saw from a very talented Milwaukee Admirals squad. The next night, Rockford was able to put four past him on 33 shots.

The Red Wings just placed Ville Husso on waivers and he cleared, so he can potentially come in to platoon with Cossa if that is indeed Detroit’s intention. They should want to see Cossa in back-to-backs occasionally still, but the AHL season is too long to make that a sustainable proposition. Grand Rapids also has veteran Malcolm Subban in the mix.

All that said, Cossa is going to get the bulk of the starts in Grand Rapids and continue building on the season he had a year ago. His raw skill is starting to be honed into making the big and quick Cossa a more consistent, dependable presence in the net.

Marco Kasper Getting Involved Eearly

Based on what I saw on social media, a lot of Red Wings fans were feeling Kasper should be with the big club and while there’s a strong case, he’s continuing to put the work in at the AHL level.

Kasper scored a dandy of a goal for the Griffins’ first of the season, plus added an assist in the 3-0 win. 

Marco Kasper came out of the box READY!
His first of the season = the first of the season for @griffinshockey! 🚨#AHL pic.twitter.com/sw2TcBVrQQ

— FloHockey (@FloHockey) October 12, 2024

The following night, he got into a spirited fight with Chicago Blackhawks prospect Colton Dach who has a few inches and more than a few pounds of an advantage on Kasper. The Red Wings prospect more than held his own, though, and showed that he’s not going to get pushed around by anyone.

San Jose Sharks - San Jose Barracuda

Yaroslav Askarov Introduces Himself To San Jose With Shutout

Patrick Williams is going to touch on this one further, but I couldn’t resist writing about Askarov. His first start with a new team ends in a shutout and he does his patented, shut down the net celebration.

WELCOME TO SAN JOSE, YAROSLAV ASKAROV!

Aquired by the @SanJoseSharks over the summer, Askarov secures his first shutout of the year for the @sjbarracuda in their season opener! 🚫🥅#AHL #TheFutureIsTeal #DecadeinSJ pic.twitter.com/p8FfSqpY2S

— FloHockey (@FloHockey) October 13, 2024

Askarov is one of hockey’s most entertaining personalities, but he’s backing the bravado with performance. He made 22 saves in his first start with the Barracuda and let the big club know that he’s not going to need too terribly long before they may want to give him a call.

The Barracuda have their home opener set for Saturday against the Iowa Wild.

Florida Panthers - Charlotte Checkers

Aidan McDonough Reminds Us He Can Score

Aidan McDonough left Northeastern University as a known scorer with size. Last season, however, he struggled to produce with Abbotsford and found himself without a deal from the club that had drafted him.

McDonough signed an AHL deal with Charlotte and reminded everyone this weekend that he still knows how to find the net. The 24-year-old had a hat trick in the Checkers’ wild 7-6 win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Saturday night.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound winger added another tally the next afternoon at Bridgeport when he spun around and found the net on the power play.

Charlotte heads home this weekend for a pair of games against the Cleveland Monsters.

St. Louis Blues - Springfield Thunderbirds

Dvorsky With A Strong Start

Dalibor Dvorsky made his North American pro debut Saturday night with Springfield and wasted absolutely no time getting acquainted with his new surroundings. The 2023 10th overall pick by St. Louis scored his first goal in the AHL and added an assist. He also had four shots on goal over the weekend.

His skill and ability to compete are two notable traits that will serve him well as he re-adjusts to older, stronger competition after dominating the junior ranks last season with the Sudbury Wolves.

Dvorsky and the Thunderbirds will start the weekend on the road Friday against the Hartford Wolf Pack.

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