Prospects

Calgary Flames Prospect Roundup: Sergeev steals the show for the Storm, Kerins picks up five more

The Calgary Flames’ best prospects continue to be at the top of their game. Rory Kerins picked up a boatload more points while Arseni Sergeev picked up two more wins. When the Heat were shorthanded, both Glenn Gawdin and Matthew Phillips were there to rescue the situation. A number of other prospects picked up points this week, including a few we rarely talk about. Let’s dive right into it.


Welcome to the TWC Calgary Flames prospect update. Each week, we’ll take a dive into how the Flames’ prospects have done in their respective leagues. We have defined a prospect as a skater who has played fewer than 65 NHL games, and is younger than 25 years of age. All data is from QuantHockey and EliteProspects. We also use an NHLe calculator built by Christian Roatis (@Croatis) which is used to estimate a player’s equivalent point total in the NHL based on how they are performing in their respective league. The calculator uses the difficulty of the given league combined with the ease at which a player puts up points to determine the NHLe.

Want to see where all the Flames’ prospects are playing this year? Check out our map visualization here:


Standout Performer

Arseni Sergeev: Tri-City Storm (USHL)

GPGAASV%RecordShutouts
This week20.560.9682–0–01
Season total241.520.93421–3–05

Water is wet, sky is blue, and Arseni Sergeev is the best goalie in the USHL. What was initially thought would be just a hot start has quickly turned into Sergeev leading the league in every major statistical category and usurping his partner as virtually the team’s only netminder.

This weekend, Sergeev started both of the team’s two games on back-to-back nights. In the first, he picked up a 15 save shutout over the Fargo Force. In the second game, he played just over 45 minutes, stopping 15 of 16 shots but was ejected from the contest due to a hit to the head of an opposing forward. The Storm ended up winning that one as well by a 4–1 score over the Omaha Lancers. For his performance, he was named the USHL’s Goalie of the Week for the third time this season.

The one word that describes Sergeev to this point has been consistency. He has been a steady presence in the crease for Tri-City, and was how the Storm’s President of Hockey Operations/head coach Anthony Noreen described him, “Arsenii has been as consistent as I have seen at this level. He made some big saves both nights and did everything he could to give us a chance to win.

Sergeev has only allowed four goals against in a game once this season and has the same number of shutouts as he does games allowing three or more goals with five. This is an incredible accomplishment for the seventh-round pick from the NAHL.

This season has been phenomenal to watch for the young netminder, but the next one and the one subsequent in the NCAA will be key to knowing more about whether he is the real deal or just a flash in the pan. Best case scenario the Flames have two excellent netminders in their prospect stables going forward. Worst case, Sergeev is but a passing fad like Tyler Parsons and the Flames go back to the goalie well in drafts to come. For now, let’s just enjoy his success.

This and that

USHL

  • Elsewhere in the USHL, Ilya Nikolayev continues to put up points like they’re going out of style. He is back on the top line and had a goal and an assist. Check out his goal here:

AHL

  • The Stockton Heat went 1–1–0 this week. Picking up a big win on Sunday against the Tuscon Roadrunners, but losing to the Henderson Silver Knights. The loss was Wolf’s second loss of the year, while Adam Werner was impressive in the team’s win.
  • The COVID bug has hit the team this week. Luke Philp, Colton Poolman, Martin Pospisil, Justin Kirkland, and Jakob Pelletier all missed at least one game this week due to the virus. Hopefully they are all back in the lineup soon.
  • With so many players out of the lineup, they needed their best players to be at their best and they were. Matthew Phillips led the way with two goals and an assist for the Heat, while Glenn Gawdin had two as well. Here are clips of one of each of their goals:
  • And where is Matthew Phillips on his goal? Muscling around right in front of the net and creating chances. He simply does not quit in high-danger areas despite his size. It is incredible that he has yet to see time with the big club this season.
  • Stick taps to Justin Kirkland, Walker Duehr, Eetu Tuulola, Connor Mackey, and Mathias Emilio Pettersen for picking up points this week. Kirkland and Tuulola have both been on heaters of late.
  • Johannes Kinnvall has yet to be medically cleared to play in Stockton, however he is a prospect with the potential to make a huge mark in the second half of the year. He brings a ton of offence to the lineup and is a right handed defenceman, something this organization lacks.

QMJHL

  • The Q is on pause until at least February 1 due to capacity restrictions in arenas. The league is particularly dependent on gate revenue to operate.
  • If this carries on much longer, there is a real risk that games will simply be cancelled, not just postponed. This is bad news for teams with lots of new faces and playoff ambitions (read: every team with a Flames’ prospect) as it gives them less time to develop a cohesive structure.
  • This is a big problem going into the Memorial Cup as teams from the Q will be facing off against the rest of the CHL who have been playing all year long. This could pose an especially big problem for the host Saint John Sea Dogs.

KHL

  • No points this week for Dmitri Zavgorodniy in Russia. He has been skating on the second line for Sochi and is one of the youngest players on his team.

NCAA

  • No points this week for Matthew Coronato. He was not selected to play for Team USA at the Olympics, despite playing well in all situations for Harvard as a rookie.
  • He will have a big weight on his shoulders as Harvard loses Nick Abruzzese and Sean Farrell to the Olympics next month. Coronato will be called on to provide more offence in their absence.
  • Josh Nodler has been bumped down to the second line for Michigan State. He had no points this week.
  • One big surprise, Mitchell Mattson featured in both games for MSU and even recorded an assist.
  • Demetrios Koumontzis remains sidelined with an injury. Hopefully he’s back for ASU soon.

Swedish hockey

ECHL

  • Daniil Chechelev has been sent back down to the ECHL from Stockton, but has not let it get him down. The Russian netminder picked up two more wins this week in Kansas City.
  • While he did not play in the team’s Star Wars Night, he did say his favorite character from the franchise was Spider-Man. You simply cannot make this stuff up.
  • While Chech probably needs a refresher on the Star Wars franchise, he did get a refreshed look courtesy of some new equipment. Check out these fresh new pads:

WHL

  • Another assist this week for Lucas Ciona. He still sits around the half-point-per-game territory. Not bad for his D+1 season.
  • Cole Jordan logged another assist and a bucket full of penalty minutes this week. He was heralded by analytics people as a sneaky good pick for the Flames, and is one to watch this season and next.

OHL

  • How many more weeks can we say that Rory Kerins is not just good but elite. The 2020 sixth-round pick put up three more goals and two more assists for the Soo Greyhounds. Check out his goals here:
  • His shot, and more importantly his release, are out of this world. Kerins continues to push for the OHL lead in points. He sits just over 1.7 points-per-game as a 19-year-old, which puts him in very elite company as a prospect.
  • Jack Beck continues to be sidelined for the time being.

NHLe Leaderboard

NHLe is a metric used to estimate a player’s offensive output at the NHL level from their point totals in their respective league. Here are the Flames current top-5 (bracketed numbers denote movement from the previous week)

  1. Adam Ruzicka (AHL) 49.0 (Same)
  2. Rory Kerins (OHL): 45.3 (Same)
  3. Matthew Phillips(AHL): 42.6(+1)
  4. Jakob Pelletier (AHL): 41.0 (-1)
  5. Glenn Gawdin (AHL) 38.7 (Same)

Overall regular season totals for all Flames prospects

Forwards

PlayerPositionGPGAPP/GPPIMNHLeTeamLeague
Jack BeckLW/RW12116171.42637.6Ottawa 67’sOHL
Lucas CionaLW2859140.54812.4Seattle ThunderbirdsWHL
Matthew CoronatoRW1366120.92221.1Harvard CrimsonsNCAA
Walker DuehrRW2356110.51419.1Stockton HeatAHL
Mathias Emilio PettersenC/LW241670.3411.6Stockton HeatAHL
Lucas FeukC/W101120.20N/AVasterviks IKHockeyAllsvenskan
C/W1346100.820N/ANybro IFHockeyEttan
Ryan FrancisRW/C4000000Stockton HeatAHL
RW/C18617231.31229.8St John Sea DogsQMJHL
Glenn GawdinC/RW291216281.03538.7Stockton HeatAHL
Emil HeinemanLW/RW3084120.41619.5Leksands IFSHL
LW/RW84150.60N/ALeksands IFChampions HL
Cole HuckinsC241111220.94121.4Acadie Bathurst TitansQMJHL
Rory KerinsC/LW342236581.71245.3Soo GreyhoundsOHL
Justin KirklandC/W2976130.53217.9Stockton HeatAHL
Demetrios KoumontzisLW2347110.518N/AArizona State Sun DevilsNCAA
Mitchell MattsonC131230.225.0Michigan State SpartansNCAA
Ilya Nikolayev C27919281.02723.0Tri-City StormUSHL
Josh NodlerC/RW2457120.5413.7Michigan State SpartansNCAA
Jakob PelletierC/LW301120311.01241.0Stockton HeatAHL
Matthew PhillipsC/RW281317301.11042.6Stockton HeatAHL
Luke PhilpC/RW29810180.61024.7Stockton HeatAHL
Martin PospisilC/W2157120.62922.7Stockton HeatAHL
Adam RuzickaC13106161.2249.0Stockton HeatAHL
William StromgrenLW321014240.814N/ARogle BK J20J20 Nationell
LW11233.00N/ARogle BKChampions HL
LW1000000Rogle BKSHL
Tuulola, EetuRW2684120.52618.3Stockton HeatAHL
Connor ZaryC224590.4816.3Stockton HeatAHL
Dmitri ZavgorodnyW/C6000020Stockton HeatAHL
W/C100330019.8HC SochiKHL

Defencemen

PlayerPositionGPGAPP/GPPIMNHLeTeamLeague
Jake BoltmannRHD231890.42210.6Notre DameNCAA
Cole JordanLHD131230.2235.7Moose Jaw WarriorsWHL
Johannes KinnvallRHD0000000Stockton HeatAHL
Yan KuznetsovLHD12000000Stockton HeatAHL
LHD41230.8017.5St John Sea DogsQMJHL
Connor MackeyLHD31414180.63423.1Stockton HeatAHL
Jeremie PoirierLHD30923311.12024.9St. John Sea DogsQMJHL
Colton PoolmanLHD250550.2108.0Stockton HeatAHL
Ilya SolovyovLHD233250.288.8Stockton HeatAHL
Cameron WhynotLHD28312150.53212.6Halifax MooseheadsQMJHL

Goalies

PlayerPositionGPGAASV%RecordShutoutsTeamLeague
Chechelev, DaniilG133.330.8977-5-10Kansas City MavericksECHL
Tyler ParsonsG0000-0-00Stockton HeatAHL
Arseni SergeevG241.520.93421-3-05Tri-City StormUSHL
Dustin WolfG202.070.93116-2-20Stockton HeatAHL

Want to know more?

Still want to know more about the Flames prospects? Check out our interviews with a number of prospects down below:

Yan Kuznetsov

Ilya Solovyov

Dustin Wolf

Jeremie Poirier

Ryan Francis

Matthew Phillips

Demetrios Koumontzis

Jake Boltmann

Which prospects are you most excited about? Let us know below in the comments or on social media.

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