Young Wild Tracker: De Jong goes on the offensive
With signees and draft picks spread out across two continents and more than a dozen junior leagues, keeping up with the Minnesota Wild's various prospects can be a daunting task.
From managing streaming plans and tracking down cable channels, to learning a few new languages (Puhutko suomea?), keeping tabs on the next generation can be a full-time job.
FOX Sports North has you covered.
From Finland to Fargo, we're breaking down the stats and bringing you a comprehensive look at the Wild's prospect pipeline each and every week.
So, let's take a look at the week that was in the latest edition of the Young Wild Tracker.
Nolan De Jong, D, Michigan (Big Ten)
The Minnesota/Penn State series swept the Big Ten's weekly awards, but De Jong's performance against Michigan State probably would have earned him a spot most weeks. De Jong scored twice Friday in the Wolverines' shootout win over the Spartans, the first multi-goal game of the senior's college career. He rifled home a power-play goal from the top of the right circle in the second period, before drifting across the top of the slot and firing a wrist shot through traffic in the third.
Dmitry Sokolov, RW, Sudbury (OHL)
There's a case to be made for Sokolov making the tracker pretty much every week for the last two months. He scored two more goals and had an assist in a 7-5 slugfest with the Ottawa 67's on Sunday, while adding assists in the Wolves' two other games last week. Sokolov has points in his last six games, and has been held without a point just twice in 2017. He now has 38 goals on the season with 15 games to go.
Ales Stezka, G, Chicago (USHL)
Stezka has been performing at a pretty average pace since stringing together three straight shutouts to start the season, but he turned in a pair of strong wins last week. He came within minutes of two more shutouts, allowing third-period goals in back-to-back wins, and making a combined 48 saves on 50 shots. Kristian Pospisil spoiled Stezka's clean sheet with less than nine minutes remaining in Chicago's win over Sioux City on Friday. Sioux Falls' Lean Bergmann did it again Saturday, forcing overtime with less than seven minutes to go. The Steel now lead the USHL's Western Conference with six weeks to go in the regular season.
