Next Wave Report: March 7

In our previous update, our draft picks were continuing to find success throughout their respective seasons, including Brandon Coe riding a seven game point streak and Gannon Laroque registered his 40th point of the season.
In this edition of Next Wave check out what our prospects have been up to and how they've been making strides in recent weeks.
Let's dive into this week's update of our Next Wave report, presented by Kaiser Permanente.

Johnny on the Spot
John Leonard (San Jose) found the back of the net three times and added an assist on March 6 to record his first professional hat trick and first professional four-point game. Leonard has points in three straight games (five goals, two assists) dating back to March 2 and was named the AHL Player of the Week on March 7. The forward has collected 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in his last 10 games and has recorded at least four shots on net in seven of his last eight games.
Back-to-back for Zach
Zachary Emond (San Jose) emerged victorious in consecutive starts with wins on March 2 and 6. In four appearances since the new year, Emond has recorded a 2-1-0 record and a .936 SV%. He stopped 38-of-40 shots on Feb. 20 and 36-of-38 shots on March 6. The rookie netminder has split time between the Barracuda and Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL) this season.
Linus Goal-berg
Linus Oberg (Orebro HK) picked up a pair of assists and finished a plus-2 on Feb. 26. He now ranks second in goal scoring among under-22 SHL skaters and is third in points. Oberg has been red hot since the beginning of the new year, registering 16 points (ten goals, six assists) in 18 games. The forward has increased his goals, assists, points and point-per-game output in three consecutive seasons in the SHL.
Notable Players
•Nick Merkley (San Jose) recorded a four-game point streak (three goals, three assists) from Feb. 19 to March 2, including potting a goal in three consecutive games on Feb. 20, 23 and March 2. The forward has three multi-point outings in his last four appearances and has six multi-point games since the beginning of the new year.
•Artemi Kniazev (San Jose) now ranks second among active club defensemen in scoring this season thanks to a hot stretch with seven points (two goals, five assists) in his last nine games. He leads all Barracuda blueliners in scoring since the start of February and notched his first AHL point streak with points on Feb. 16 and 19. He matched that with another two-game streak on March 2 and 5. His 67 shots rank sixth on the team, first among defensemen, and are sixth among all league rookie defensemen.
•Jake McGrew (San Jose) tallied assists in back-to-back appearances on Feb. 23 and March 2 to reach 15 points on the season, more than double what he totaled in 2020-21 (seven).
•Thomas Bordeleau (Michigan) is currently riding a two-game point streak (one goals, two assists) and has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his last 10 games. The sophomore was 26-for-35 (74.3%) on faceoffs over a two-game weekend series against Ohio State on Feb. 18 and 19.
•Alex Young (Colgate) finished the ECAC regular season with 11 points in his last 10 games, including a career-long seven-game point streak (four goals, five assists) from Jan. 29 to Feb. 18. Young ranks second on Colgate in scoring, only trailing his older brother, and is tied for first in power-play goals.
•Magnus Chrona (Denver) reached the 20-win mark for the first time in his collegiate career after stopping 21-of-22 shots against Western Michigan on Feb. 18. The junior then recorded his sixth shutout of the season with a 19-save performance against Colorado College on March 4. Chrona's six shutouts rank fifth in the NCAA and first in the NCHC.
•Brandon Coe (North Bay) reached the 80-point threshold for the first time in his career with a three-assist night on Feb. 27. This was also the forward's 25th multi-point game of the season, and fourth multi-point game in his last eight games. Entering play on March 8, Coe ranks fifth in the OHL in both assists and points.
•Tristen Robins (Saskatoon) has points in five of his last six games (six goals, four assists), including three multi-point games in that span. Robins has earned First Star of the Game honors twice in the last two weeks, with three-point appearances (both two goals, one assist) on Feb. 25 and March 5. He potted the game-winning goal in both games. Robins ranks second on his team in scoring and is one of two club skaters above a point-per-game.
•Danil Gushchin (Niagara) is currently riding a 17-game point streak dating back to Dec. 11, 2021. This is the longest currently active streak in the OHL and second-longest streak the league has seen this season. Gushchin scored twice and added two asssists on Feb. 24 to mark his fourth game this season of recording four or more points. The forward ranks sixth in league goal scoring despite missing at least seven more games than every player in front of him. He is tied-ninth in the league in points-per-game (1.49) and is the only Niagara skater to eclipse the point-per-game mark.
•Liam Gilmartin (London) recorded his first OHL hat trick on Feb. 18. He added two assists in the contest to also set a single-game career high for points. He was named the CHL Player of the Night for his performance.
For the full Sharks player report,
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