Prospect Report: Malatesta mixes skill, grit to stand out in CBJ pipeline

In a different world, James Malatesta could have ended up in Columbus perhaps as a member of the Ohio State hockey team.
The forward is quite a talent but a bit undersized, and the suburban Montreal native was looking at advancing up the hockey ranks by moving to the United States and going the Division I route at one point in his career.

OK, so Malatesta might not have ended up at Ohio State, but college was the route on the table until a tremendous playoff run a couple of years ago caught the eye of a hockey legend.
"I always loved the game and dreamt about going far with it and it taking me places I thought I would never go," Malatesta told Dylan Tyrer on the latest edition of the Pipeline Podcast. "Around the close to my midget year when I was going into midget AAA, we had a spectacular run in the playoffs and that's back when I was getting a lot of university, Division I offers. Then it was the QMJHL draft as well so I had some teams getting in contact with me and I was getting offers.
"(Quebec Remparts coach) Patrick Roy took the time to talk to me and really convinced me to come here. I was like, 'Wow, he wants me. He has a lot of confidence in me.' I think from there, my confidence went up and I was like, 'If I keep putting the hours and the time and the work in here, I can do something special.'"

That connection with Roy and the team's decision to draft Malatesta led to him to become a Rempart, and it was somewhat a perfect full circle moment for the forward. He had played at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City as a 12-year-old in the prestigious international pee-wee tournament held at the venue, and in the end, it was all too much to say no to.
"My mind was set on D-I university or going to prep school, and then when I got drafted by Quebec I was writing my SATs so I didn't even know I got drafted," he recalled. "Then after, I checked and I was like, 'Oh my God, Quebec.' I played at the pee-wee Quebec tournament here. When you're younger, everyone is in awe when you walk into the rink. I remember saying to myself, 'The team that gets to play here every game is super lucky.'
"Then I agreed that I'd come down for 48 hours to the camp, and from there Pat showed us the whole rink, my parents got to meet the teachers that I go to school with. I think we felt very comfortable from there."
It's fair to say the decision has paid off for Malatesta, who quickly showed his stuff two seasons ago when he posted 23 goals and 45 points in 59 games. Last year in the abbreviated Q season, he tallied a 10-13-23 line in 33 games, and he was on the Jackets' radar going into the NHL draft thanks to his impressive physique, high compete level and offensive skill.
"Before the draft, you see all the projections of you, and I think that people shouldn't really look at that too hard," he said. "I knew it said where I was gonna go and stuff, but I just wanted to get drafted, and from there I think everyone has to show the team that drafted them why they drafted them and give them something to like about you.
"So when I was drafted by Columbus, we had one or two meetings before the draft, and yeah, it went really well. I felt confident, and when I saw they had those back-to-back picks in the fifth round, I was waiting all the way until the fifth and I was getting a bit nervous at that point. I was like, 'OK, here it is, here's my time.'
"And then when I saw my name pop up, it was just complete joy with my family that was at my house. It was a very surreal feeling and some moments that I will keep with me for the rest of my life."
Malatesta has continued to show his talents in his first post-draft year, as the 18-year-old has again been a dependable scorer with 21 goals and 45 points in 59 games. He's been on a roll of late as the QMJHL playoffs near for a Remparts team that could win the league, posting five goals and nine points in a recent five-game stretch.
While he's not the biggest guy, being listed at 5-9, Malatesta clearly hasn't missed many days in the gym, and that physique allows him to play a hard game and get under the skin of opponents. His offensive talent is also highlighted by a hard, accurate shot with a quick release that was noticeable when he was on NHL ice this fall at training camp and at the NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, Mich., when he scored three times in four games.
He still has some development to do to get to the highest level, but Malatesta thinks his hard work and dedication can help get him there.
"For me to get to that level I think my game is I compete hard, I have good speed, good shot, so I think I have all the qualities," he said. "And I have that extra grit in my game if it's around the net or in the corners or finishing my checks. That little extra thing that I think will get me to the next level is that extra grit and extra compete level that I have in my game."

Pyythiä Keeps Scoring

The start of the Liiga playoffs in Finland has done little to stop the red-hot goal-scoring streak of Mikael Pyyhtiä.
The CBJ 2020 fourth-round pick finished the regular season on a tear, scoring 15 goals in the last 19 games of the season for TPS. In all, the 20-year-old finished the campaign with 21 goals, good for a tie for fifth in Finland's top league.
Pyythiä has continued that scoring run in the postseason as well, notching a 7-5-12 line and plus-10 rating in TPS' first 11 games of the playoffs. That includes a hat trick Sunday in a victory over Ilves in Game 2 of a semifinal series, then Pyythiä notched the winning goal in overtime in a Game 3 win Tuesday.
"Yes, that seems to be the most important goal of my career. It was great to silence the arena and take the 2-1 lead in the series," Pyyhtiä
said in an interview after the game
.
He then added a goal and an assist in TPS' shutout win in Game 4 on Wednesday, which pushed the Turku-based squad to within one victory of the finals.
"I really didn't think there would be so many goals,"
he told Ilta-Sanomat
. "Last season, I started to understand what this game requires. Now this season I have been able to improve a bit in every area. The big thing is that I dare to play better on the puck.
"The rest of the season became a lot of success, so it has fueled a lot of my self-confidence."
The winger remains under contract for next year with TPS, but his hot streak is a good sign for a player who is tearing up one of Europe's top leagues.

Monsters' Struggles Continue

Injuries and callups appear to have spelled the end of the road for the playoff push for the Cleveland Monsters, the AHL affiliate of the Blue Jackets.
Cleveland sits in last place in the seven-team North Division with eight games to go after losing at Grand Rapids on Wednesday, and the team will have to finish the season without such notable names as CBJ signees Liam Foudy, Kevin Stenlund and Josh Dunne as well as high-scoring forward Adam Helewka because of injury.
The Monsters also have been without such players as Carson Meyer, Brendan Gaunce and Jacob Christiansen -- three of the top six scorers for the club this year who have been playing for Columbus -- as well as goalie Jet Greaves, who has been banged up.
The Monsters are now 0-4-1 in their last five games and have lost seven of eight after last night's 4-2 setback at Grand Rapids. Robbie Payne and Tyler Sikura scored in the first period, but Cleveland gave up three goals in the second on the way to the loss.
Overall, the return of Christiansen today should help down the stretch as the defenseman leads the team with a 12-30-42 line that places him tied for first in the AHL in goals and tied for third in points among blueliners. Tyler Angle is next with 34 points (eight goals, 26 points), while AHL veterans Justin Scott (16-14-30) and Sikura (12-18-30) are next on the squad in scoring.
Cleveland returns home to take on Laval this weekend, hosting the Rocket for games Thursday and Saturday, then welcomes Utica to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse for games Tuesday and Wednesday.

Prospect Notes

• Five of the six CBJ draft picks in the CHL are ticketed for playoff games, a list that includes Malatesta. 2021 sixth-round winger Ben Boyd (7-9-16 in 38 games) and his Charlottetown Islanders are tied with the Remparts atop the QMJHL, while 2020 fifth-round defenseman Ole Bjorgvik-Holm (3-10-13 in 53 games) and Mississauga have qualified for OHL postseason play. In the WHL, 2020 third-round defenseman Samuel Knazko (5-15-20 in 27 games) is on a Seattle team that is fourth in a loaded Western Conference, while 2021 seventh-round winger Martin Rysavy (7-17-24 in 43 games) and Moose Jaw are fourth in the East.
• The odd man out? Stanislav Svozil, a defenseman who was drafted in the third round of the 2021 draft. Despite being on a Regina team with Connor Bedard, who many expect to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft, Svozil (10-30-40 in 56 games) and the Pats are 10th in the 12-team Western Conference and need wins in the last three games this weekend to make the eight-team bracket.
• One of the most highly anticipated CBJ prospects is 2018 second-round pick Kirill Marchenko, who has had success in the KHL and with Team Russia at various international tournaments. But the winger has not played a postseason game for SKA St. Petersburg this year at the KHL level and was sent instead to the team's minor league outfit. SKA-Neva was recently eliminated from postseason play in the VHL, with Marchenko (who had 12 goals and 20 points in 39 regular-season games this year with the big club) posting six goals in 12 games. Marchenko's contract with the St. Petersburg clubs expires at the end of this season.