AHL Records Watch: Mavrik Bourque and Logan Stankoven

Mavrik Bourque and Logan Stankoven are producing at extraordinary American Hockey League levels, outdoing many historic comparables. Since 2012, there have been only four players to have better U23 AHL season point paces than Mavrik Bourque and Logan Stankoven’s 1.37 P/GP through at least 19 games. Here is the list of those players alongside Mavrik Bourque and Logan Stankoven’s 2023 numbers so far (2012-present, min. 19 GP, as of December 3rd):

This is outstanding company. Furthermore, some notable names to have great AHL seasons at lower point-per-game paces than our two Texas superstars since 2012 include Taylor Hall, Tyler Toffoli, Jake Guentzel, and Drake Batherson, among others. There are full-time star National Hockey League (NHL) players who have not succeeded in their initial professional hockey experiences at the AHL level as well as Bourque (year 2) and Stankoven (rookie).

Most players with the skills and production of Mavrik Bourque and Logan Stankoven are called-up before they finish their dominant AHL season, where only ~11% of U23 AHL player seasons with a 1.00+ P/GP pace through 19 games have played 50+ games in an AHL season since 2012.

Logan Stankoven vs. Nikita Kucherov

There are a few “small” but highly-skilled hockey players who have had past success in the NHL, but very few produce elite results at multiple levels and turn into NHL superstars. Nikita Kucherov is 5’11” and 183 pounds, and was, apparently, 5’10” and 163 pounds in his draft year.

Logan Stankoven is 5’8” and 170 pounds, and Stankoven is always critiqued for his small stature. Nikita Kucherov is not a giant compared to Stankoven, and Kucherov is worth talking about because of the following snapshot below:

To be clear, Nikita Kucherov had a different trajectory and path as a prospect than Logan Stankoven. However, the fact that they had similar statlines through 17 games as AHL rookies 10 years apart is quite the image for Dallas Stars fans. At the time, the 20-year-old Kucherov was promptly called up to the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the rest is history.

To further examine the comparison, using Byron Bader’s HockeyProspecting Player Comparison Tool, a visual demonstration of Logan Stankoven’s past couple of seasons compared alongside Nikita Kucherov’s time in the similar drafting age range shows a similar trend, albeit different junior league paths (e.g., both are producing at a 60+ point prime NHL-equivalent production in their D3 season).

It will be interesting to see how long the NHL club waits because it seems this dynamic duo is too good for the ‘minors’, and history suggests they won’t finish the season in the AHL. I wish Mavrik Bourque and Logan Stankoven the best this season, and I hope their efforts are rewarded soon with NHL call-ups.