Prospect Weekly: Sasha Mutala is unstoppable

Now is the time to highlight a Colorado Avalanche prospect who continues to fight and claw his way to the top of game of hockey. As a once highly touted prospect Sasha Mutala fell to the mid rounds of the 2019 NHL entry draft and has done nothing but make a name for himself leading a poor Tri-City Americans squad.

Mutala leads on the ice in all situations and on the scoresheet with 48 points including 16 goals in 41 games, which he has already set a career high with several months left in the season. Mutala has 16 points more than the next closest teammate and his consistency is evidenced by a recent 12 game point streak.

Following the holiday break Mutala picked up right where he left off on that aforementioned streak with this goal in an eventual 7-3 loss to Kelowna. Mutala combines an energetic game with the work ethic which places him at the right place more often than not as seen in the goal below which gets the Americans on the board.

Mutala has been the engine of his Tri-City team the entire season as seen below with another goal to open his team’s scoring in a 4-3 loss to Seattle. He is in the top 10 of the WHL in shots on goal with 154 which works out to 3.75 shots per game on average. Mutala’s celebrations are fun too.

The Americans are unlikely to make the playoffs as they sit second to last in the WHL’s Western Conference with a 14-23-5 record. They had been more competitive through the first half of the season but sold off a couple players at the trade deadline and just concluded a brutal road trip where they were outscored 30-5 over four games. This misfortune could create opportunity for Mutala to sign a try-out agreement and join the Colorado Eagles once the WHL season concludes in mid-March. Even if he just joins for practice could be an invaluable experience for Mutala as he moves forward in hopes of receiving a NHL contract.