The Other Stars: Mavrik Bourque, (Officially) AHL's Top Gun
Plus a look at what kind of history Bourque is making.
Two wins, 13 goals: just another day in Cedar Park. The Texas Stars officially lead the AHL in goals. Because they’re shooting hot? No. Because they’re being led by Dallas’ 2020 first round pick (30th overall), Mavrik Bourque.
Bourque is on pace for 107 points. The first thing on everyone’s mind is naturally, who else has done it at that age? Looking only at the cap era, Jason Spezza scored 117 in 204-2005. However, back then AHL teams played more games. His point-per-game pace of 1.46 is actually lower than Bourque’s. The other one is Michael Cammalleri with 109 through 79 games. Like Spezza, his point-per-game pace is lower than Bourque, who left Earth this weekend with a six-point weekend.
Cammalleri may not be known to a lot of fans, but he had a quality career, playing slightly less than 1000 games and scoring over 600 points. His fancy stats rate quite highly as well.
What does this mean for Bourque? On one hand, what Spezza and Cammalleri did is more impressive. Spezza and Cammalleri played during much rougher AHL years where the talent was a lot less impressive. Plus they didn’t have someone like Logan Stankoven on their flank (which we’ll get to). However, on the other hand that makes what Bourque has accomplished more impressive: the AHL is a much tougher, and more talented league, which means he’s breaking through night in and night out against more talented defenses.
I’m not sure what that means long term. Every player is different, and I’m not even sure what Bourque’s spot in the lineup will ever look like while Tyler Seguin, Roope Hintz, and Wyatt Johnston lead the charge down the middle.
But I know that what he’s doing is special. (These are relatively familiar fancy stats with new wording: you can check out the glossary here.)
There’s a bit more to talk about, but let’s keep talking about Bourque because it’s more fun this way.
Mavrik Bourque: (A perfect) A+
I feel like the word ‘skating’ has become too much of a catch-all term. You see the words ‘good skater’ and you immediately think ‘fast.’ Conversely, bad skating = slow. This explains nothing. Bourque is not an agile skater, I would say. He doesn’t have the edgework to deceive defenders with movement, and he can’t adjust his tempo at a high level. I wouldn’t call him fast either, but I’ve noticed an uptick in his ability to accelerate. (#22 along the left wall.)
That was not a play he had in his wheelhouse a year ago. I wouldn’t call him fast but he’s developing a loose puck speed that should serve him well at the NHL level.
However, as we learned with Denis Gurianov, speed doesn’t count for as much if you can’t control the puck with it. (And no I would never disrespect my boy: Gurianov is doing just fine in the AHL with 20 points in 20 games for the Admirals, and I would say, belongs in the NHL.) Bourque’s puck control is stellar. Here’s a sequence during the powerplay where Bourque — #22 along the halfwall — had no problem facilitating the puck to his teammates with a forechecker in his grill.
Just absolutely fantastic work. Of course, if you’ve been following my work then you know where I’ve always stood on this: Bourque is special. His campaign to prove that this year is more or less done.
Logan Stankoven: (A strong) A
I thought it’d be interesting to look at Stankoven’s potential comps. He’s on pace for 97 points. There’s only one player in the cap era to score that many points and it’s Jiri Hudler. Like Cammalleri, Hudler also had a solid career, his stint with Dallas and the mysterious illnesses notwithstanding.
Stankoven had a less showy weekend (only three points in two games Logan? Get it together man!) but he continues to power through his shifts like a lunatic. Despite scoring nine points between them through two games, they could have easily had more. I like this little sequence between the two because it showcases how good their routes are.
Christian Kyrou: (A decent) B-
These Texas Stars reports started out harshly against Kyrou. I swore Kyrou would be back on here if I had something good to say about him. And so here we are. I have something good to say about him!
Granted, I still can’t look at Kyrou and think “there’s a quality NHLer one day.” But he was surprisingly sturdy defensively, breaking up two 2 on 1’s and of course — offensively, using his legs more. (He’s #25)
He almost looks like Antonio Stranges there with his stride behind the net. Unfortunately this play ended the way Kyrou has typically struggled: decision-making. Sure, if that pass goes through, it looks brilliant, but how many times is that pass gonna get through? Regardless, Kyrou was making things happen while also not looking out of place in the defensive zone, which is all you can ask for.
Antonio Stranges: (A strong) B+
I still don’t know anything about Stranges after watching all 20 games, but I know that he’s gonna work hard. He got a shift with Bourqe and Stankoven and it went as well as you’d hope (besides not scoring). Stranges is #40.
Stranges scored a big goal this weekend, which I posted on Twitter. I think it’s funny that even on a breakaway, he couldn’t avoid that little c-step of his. I’m not sure it was all that necessary, but then again I guess there’s no such as an extraneous move versus a goalie on a breakaway.
The Rest: (A weak) B-
Matt Murray played both games, and gave up a lot, but these were two games that involved a lot of penalties. So while not his best work, he didn’t necessarily stand out for poor play.
Another player I’ve been hard on is Oskar Back. Often described as a Radek Faksa clone, I just don’t see the potential given his lack of puck control. But he’s having a hell of a season for a player described as “two-way” in the most diplomatic terms. His line has been productive as a result, and it doesn’t hurt that he’s had time on the top power play unit with Kyle MacDonald out. Outside of that, not much to report.
Dallas will be in action tomorrow, FYI. Can Bourque and Stankoven continue on their absolute tear? Obviously. The real question is about to what degree.