Jack Studnicka (Kirk Luedeke photo)

The AHL released its 2019-20 All-Rookie team this afternoon and to the surprise of no one, Providence Bruins center Jack Studnicka was the first Bruins prospect named to a top-rookie squad since Austin Czarnik and Frank Vatrano both made the 2016 version.

Studnicka’s numbers were solid- 23 goals, 49 points in 60 games to lead the Baby B’s, but his league-leading 7 shorthanded goals is eye-opening because it speaks to his potential to create offense in any situation.

The 53rd overall pick in 2017 has performed like a first-round selection since the B’s tabbed the former Oshawa Generals captain who finished his OHL career with the Niagara Ice Dogs.

For more on Studnicka, Eric Russo published a detailed article on Providence head coach Jay Leach, sharing the B’s bench boss’s observations on some of Boston’s top prospects playing on the farm. It’s worth a read if you haven’t seen it, and check it out here. Leach had this to say about Studnicka:

“Studdy, for all intents and purposes, had a terrific year. Twenty-year-old kid jumps right in, plays every real scenario. Down the stretch, I was really leaning on him and Cameron Hughes as the guys to seal some games out for us. His competitiveness, his speed, his hockey sense really shone through and was able to be very productive on both sides of the puck. I think he had a terrific year.”

While we’re not sure about the ‘Studdy’ thing (Studs has a much better ring to it), there is no denying that he’s been nails in his first full pro season and that the Bruins were aces in their scouting of him.  Full credit for them recognizing that he was trending up after a strong playoff and U18 performance and was undervalued after struggling to meet expectations early in the season. Sometimes, scouts will move on from a player if he disappoints early on, and if they don’t catch him at the right time when he peaks, could end up missing the boat.

Russo followed up with another piece on Studnicka’s season, interviewing the man of the hour here.

A few highlights:

“There’s not older and younger guys, it’s just more team atmosphere and everyone loved coming to the rink and loved playing together. I think I can speak for the whole team when I say that I really think we had something special down there, the way it was a team-first mentality. Everybody was happy with each other’s success. At the end of the day, we just wanted to win the hockey game.”- Studnicka

“I’m not as strong as a lot of the players in pro hockey,” said Studnicka, who named Patrice Bergeron, Charlie Coyle, Jonathan Toews, and Patrick Kane as players he has tried to learn from. “We kind of keyed on ways to get around that in the offensive zone, whether that’s protecting the puck or holding onto the puck or taking space that you have to separate from your guy in the offensive zone.

“[The organization] just wanted to make sure that I was always approaching the game to play a 200-foot game and not cheating on offense, just making sure that I’m playing the right way and taking care of the defensive zone and the offense will come.”

It is our firm position that Studnicka is ready for the NHL full-time in 20-21 and in a few years, is going to end up being one of Boston’s more respected and productive players. That’s the prediction and we’re sticking to it.

We’ll have more on Studnicka and his selection in the next 3 Amigos + 1 podcast coming soon.