The Beanpot tournament began tonight and first round winners Boston U. and Harvard will meet next week for the final.

Boston University and Boston College are two teams loaded with top NHL prospects and there were several strong performances.  

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Here's how <a href="https://twitter.com/TerrierHockey">@TerrierHockey</a> &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/BCHockey">@BCHockey</a> will line up for tonight's <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Beanpot?src=hash">#Beanpot</a> semifinal. Chabot and Kelley back on the 4th line, same otherwise. <a href="https://t.co/eUGdMRLtC2">pic.twitter.com/eUGdMRLtC2</a></p>&mdash; Boston Hockey Blog (@BOShockeyblog) <a href="https://twitter.com/BOShockeyblog/status/828749796760502272">February 6, 2017</a></blockquote>

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Jacob Forsbacka Karlsson played an inspiring game. JFK scored the opening goal for the Terriers and was a thorn in the side of Eagles players the whole game giving pokes, slashes and hits every chance he had. He was strong defensively as well breaking up scoring chances, blocking passes and creating take aways.

Fellow Bruins prospect and Terrier teammate Charlie McAvoy was seen several times coaching his teammates at the bench between plays and reminded me of his speech to his USA teammates heading into the third period in the Canada game where he said “20 minutes for the rest of our lives” It resonated with me and clearly had an impact on his teammates as well. He strikes me as a future captain in the NHL and could inherit the mantle of Bruins franchise defenceman handed down by the likes of Bobby Orr, Ray Bourque and Zdeno Chara.

For Boston College I had to take notice of Matt Gaudreau (Johnny’s little brother) as he made a high skill and determination play on BC’c first goal as he was falling down backwards at the side of the net and had the presence to make  backhand pass (while falling) to an open teammate open in front of the goal. The 22-year-old Gaudreau is in his senior year and is leading the team in scoring with 26 points in 29 games. Gaudreau is a NHL free agent and should command some contract attention when his season ends in a few months and is a player you should keep on your fantasy radar.

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Chicago Blackhawks prospect Alex DeBrincat was named the OHL player of the week scoring 11 points in three games on an Eastern Conference road trip. It is the third time he has been named Player of the Month in the OHL and he is now the league leading scorer with 92 points in 45 games. DeBrincat is only six goals shy of back-to-back-to-back 50 goal seasons. After viewing him play live in Kingston on Sunday I was impressed by his ability to dictate the pace of the play. He was incredibly elusive using his skating ability and vision to find open space and never really being subject to a hit. His ability to read the play and keep his head up at all times serves him well and will translate to the pro ranks. Owners and Hawks fans can expect DeBrincat to find his way to the NHL and find success there as well.

Taylor Raddysh plays on the same line as DeBrincat and Dylan Strome and the trio were dominant. When they were on the man advantage you can almost hear the sound of Sweet Georgia Brown playing in the background. With Raddysh, I like his size, skill and shot and he started the season on fire. While still producing points on that line I have concerns about his ability to keep up with the pace of play in higher levels.

Darren Raddysh is an overage defenceman on the Otters and is the OHL league leading scorer for defenceman with 57 points in 44 games. He has size and skating ability that I believe are good enough for the NHL and he plays a very reliable defensive game as well. He uses his long stick to take away passing lanes and uses his mobility to take away skating lanes and he uses his size and reach to protect the puck. He shows his veteran savvy on both side of puck and is another NHL free agent who should be drawing the attention of NHL scouts and should also be on your fantasy watch list. He has previously attended NHL training camps with St. Louis, LA and San Jose Sharks.

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Last week I attended the CHL Top Prospects game and you can listen to my scouting notes on the latest edition of DobberProspects Radio. In the episode we are joined by guest Sam Cosentino of SportsNet to get his thoughts on some of the top prospects. After the game I caught up with another SportsNet analyst Jeff Marek who let me know that the play of Nico Hischier has earned his legit first overall consideration. He even mentioned that one NHL team in the West that could end up being a lottery team already has Hischier ranked number one. On Sunday Hischier was at it again with a five point game.

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Islander’s fans can read my Top Ten New York Islanders Prospects ranking for MyNHL. It seems like the Islanders are in a perpetual state of rebuild. Every time they take a step forward with a strong season or a playoff berth and seem poised to make the jump to contender, they take two steps back instead.

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The season is slipping away from the St. Louis Blues and the injury to Robby Fabbri could push them into seller mode come the trade deadline. With the Fabbri injury the Blues have recalled AHL leading scorer Ken Agostino, who scored a nice breakaway goal.

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Agostino on the breakaway extends the <a href="https://twitter.com/StLouisBlues">@StLouisBlues</a>' lead! 2-0 St. Louis.<br><br>Join us on <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCSN">@NBCSN</a> or stream: <a href="https://t.co/x6hzZanKxP">https://t.co/x6hzZanKxP</a> <a href="https://t.co/e0Or8aKek6">pic.twitter.com/e0Or8aKek6</a></p>&mdash; NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) <a href="https://twitter.com/NHLonNBCSports/status/828787568023998464">February 7, 2017</a></blockquote>

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Another Blues prospects that could earn an extended NHL look if the Blues choose to chase the draft lottery rather than the playoffs is Ivan Barbashev who was lighting up the AHL in his second season, and has been with the Blues for the past several games in limited ice time.

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