JJ Piccinich continued the red-hot start to his sophomore season over the weekend, scoring three goals in a pair of road games in Iowa. The USHL took notice Monday, naming the Youngstown Phantoms forward its CCM Offensive Player.

This is the first time that Piccinich, who is currently ranked second in the USHL with six goals in as many games, has captured the league’s weekly honor.

“This is a tremendous testament to our league and a tremendous testament to JJ and the time he’s put into developing and becoming a better, more complete hockey player,” head coach Anthony Noreen said. “We’ve always known the goal-scoring was there, but his overall game has really developed and I think that’s why we’re seeing the early scoring output.”

Piccinich, 17, racked up three goals and added an assist as the Phantoms went winless over a short two-game road trip, dropping a 4-3 contest to the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders Friday and falling to the Waterloo Black Hawks 6-3 Saturday. The Paramus, N.J. native tallied a pair of goals Friday, including his league-leading fourth on the power play in the loss to the rival RoughRiders. The following night, Piccinich picked up the Phantoms’ first tally Saturday and grabbed a helper on rookie Maxim Letunov‘s third goal of the season later in the game.