Now that both the Edmonton Oilers and Bakersfield Condors are done with their seasons a little earlier than we had all hoped, it’s time to check in with the prospects overseas.

Most of their seasons are over as well, the European leagues generally start earlier than the NHL and end before the playoffs are done. Only one prospect is left playing in this update, so we will start there.

The Lokomotiv Yaroslavl squad is still fighting on as they won their semifinals matchup and are headed back to the Gagarin Cup Final, where they will look to defend their championship. The fifth-round selection was the series hero for Lokomotiv as Beryozkin scored the winning goal in double-overtime with a great release through a screen.

The big Russian winger has a great shot when he decides to unleash it. What I like most about the goal is the ability to drag the puck in and use the defender as a screen. It’s subtle, but you can notice Beryozkin slow down a bit after he enters the zone, and it allows his teammate some time to drive the defenders back. It works, as there is just enough room to fire the puck through the defenders’ legs. This wasn’t the only highlight of the right-shot forward’s game, I found that he played an excellent game overall. The next clip below shows how much of a pain the massive forward can be on the cycle.

The clip shows just how tough he is to move around when he has you on his back. Beryozkin pushes the defender all the way to the back of the net only using his backside. Then once the big Russian is able to gain some time and space, he can make plays.

This is a great sequence of plays. First he makes a great backhand pass for a high-danger chance, and then he gets robbed on the rebound. Beryozkin has been around it all season, and even though his point totals don’t reflect that, it has still been a good year. On the game-tying goal, Beryozkin is around the action once again. The power forward battles for a puck along the wall, and when the puck is thrown on net, he is around causing havoc. The video makes it seem like he got a touch on this puck, however, he wasn’t credited with the goal.

Beryozkin was all over the ice when it mattered most. So far throughout his playoffs, he has three goals and six points in 16 games played. The 6-foot-4 winger has a ton of intriguing tools, and I hope the rumours of him signing are true. After some adjustment to smaller ice, Beryozkin could be a handful to deal with.

Although Cibulka’s team’s season is over, that doesn’t mean that his is. The newly signed defenceman is currently playing in the Euro Hockey Tour for Team Czech Republic, and in the five games he has suited up for, Cibulka has one assist and an even plus-minus rating. After putting up seven goals and 22 points in 47 games, the mobile Czech defenceman put up a goal and three assists in only four games played. Unfortunately, their playoffs were cut short. In their final game of the season, Cibulka didn’t register a point, however, he showed off one of his main strengths in the video below.

Like a lot of good offensive defenceman Cibulka uses the full blue line to his advantage, the young defender isn’t scared to get his feet moving to open up a shooting lane, create a passing lane, or buy himself some time. Whenever there is a chance to create an advantage offensively, you know Cibulka is going to take it. So far through his Euro Hockey Tour games, he does only have the one assist, and it came off a shot from the point that the left-shot defender was able to get through.

One of my favourite aspects of his game is the fact that Cibulka rarely takes a shot from along the wall. The 6-foot defenceman has the confidence in his skating ability to work the puck off the wall and towards the middle, trying to get a better shot off. Being a “smaller,” more offence-leaning defenceman, he is going to have to continue strengthening his skating ability. Especially on the smaller ice surface in North America, his first two steps will have to be strong.

The right-shot Swedish defenceman, Albin Sundin, has finished his season with Timrå IK. This year the 6-foot-2 defender scored four goals and added five assists for nine points in his 51 games played. That’s a big step up from his zero points in 25 games last year when Sundin was with Frolunda of the Swedish league. Throughout the back half of the SHL season, it seemed that Timra wanted Sundin to focus on his defensive side, and the offensive flashes weren’t showing as much like the first few games of the season. However, I did notice that the Swedish defenceman’s defensive game did get a little better throughout the season. Mainly his close-out speed, Sundin is able to stick to opposing forwards in the SHL, and with more refinement to his skating ability, he could be a pain for offensive players. The below video shows Sundin’s final goal of the season.

With the subtle fake to the inside, Sundin is able to generate enough space to lob a wrister on net. Somehow the puck goes in. The offence was never on the same level of Cibulka, but Sundin’s defending can bring value.

Nikita Yevseyev started to see less and less ice time as the season went on, he was starting to get a little overwhelmed with the load he had to carry. Not only was he playing the most minutes on the backend, but he was also doing it while playing on his off-side. Towards the end of the season he might have played less, but I found the quality of his play to be better. Especially with the puck on his stick, he displays this with an excellent pass to get the transition started.

During the early parts of the season, the Russian defender would usually try to race to the red line to dump this puck in. Instead, Yevseyev makes a simple pass to the looping forward, retaining possession and leading to a controlled zone entry. The former sixth-round selection in 2022 played his first full KHL season, and he finished the year with four goals and 12 assists in 61 games. Yevseyev’s team was unable to qualify for the playoffs. Much like Albin Sundin, the late-round pick finished his season off with a goal from the point, as you will see below.

Yevseyev shows off the power behind his wrister. With a little flick of his wrists, the Russian defender finds the shooting lane, and the goalie doesn’t even see the shot for a second — it was extremely well placed. Another full season in the KHL is expected out of the soon-to-be 23-year-old, and hopefully he can maintain playing 20-plus minutes a game.

Daniel Salonen had himself a good year playing the full year in the Finnish top division. In 30 games played, the right-handed goaltender went 14-7-7 with three shutouts, a 2.40 goals-against average, and a 0.887 save percentage. In two playoff losses, Salonen had a 2.11 goals-against average and a 0.902 save percentage. The other Finnish goalie in the system, Eemil Vinni played in the Finnish second league, where he got into 21 games with two teams. With JoKP, the goalie played in 17 games with a 2.99 goals-against average, a 0.884% save percentage, and a shutout. Then in four games with Kettera, Vinni had a 1.23 goals-against average and a 0.951% save percentage with one shutout. In the playoffs for Kettera, the second-round pick played in six games with great numbers: a 1.52 goals-against average and a 0.943% save percentage.

The European side of the prospect pipeline has had its ups and downs this year, but out of the group, Beryozkin continues to show that he has a skill set to fit a bottom-six role in the NHL. Can his feet and mind keep up with the pace and limited space of the NHL? As I said earlier, I think he could be a handful on the cycle, and I want to see him in North America next year.