Welcome to the inaugural TWC Flames prospect update. Each week, we’ll take a dive into how the Flames’ prospects have done in their respective leagues. With the ongoing pandemic, not every league is currently playing. Here is this week’s league status report:
AHL
Currently not playing. The most recent return date announced is February 5th, but it is likely tied to the NHL starting.
QMJHL
Currently ongoing, but there are persisting issues with the pandemic. Because of new restrictions, teams in red zones will bubble together and play against each other. Some teams have played numerous games, and others have only played a few. The league will have an extended holiday break of 15 days in December.
WHL
Currently not playing, but expecting to start in early January.
ECHL
Perhaps the most interesting, the ECHL has two start dates. 13 teams, including the Flames’ affiliate Kansas City Mavericks, will start on December 11th and will play a 72 game season. The remaining teams will play a 62 game season beginning January 15th, while the Atlanta Gladiators, the affiliate of the Boston Bruins have elected to voluntarily sit out this season. Standings will be determined by points percentage.
NCAA
The NCHC will play its season in a bubble in Omaha in December. The WCHA has not announced plans to resume play. The Big-10 and Atlantic Hockey are playing exclusively against teams from their own divisions, but have allowed Arizona State University and Long Island University respectively to join their conferences. Atlantic Hockey is further dividing into two separate divisions, who will play each other exclusively. Arizona State, meanwhile, plays exclusively on the road this season. Hockey East is projected to start later this month, while the ECAC is likely not starting until the new year.
Russian Leagues
Full steam ahead in Russia with all three leagues, MHL, VHL, and KHL currently operational. While there have been numerous cases of COVID-19, this has not slowed the league down much, with just the occasional game being cancelled.
Swedish Leagues
Ditto – full steam ahead in Sweden, despite case numbers rising.
Finnish Leagues
Ditto.
Swiss Leagues
Ditto.
Czech Leagues
Ditto.
With the ongoing pandemic, numerous Flames prospects have been loaned overseas to get some playing time in. To learn more about the various leagues where the Flames players are playing, check out our handy guide here.
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.
Let’s get into it.
This week’s highlights
Ryan Francis (C) – Cape Breton Eagles, QMJHL
| GP | G | A | P | NHLe | |
| Season Total | 12 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 29.1 |
| This week | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
Francis has been bringing it all season. While he has not scored as many goals as some others in the Q, he is tenth in the league in scoring and fifth in assists. A fifth round pick, Francis set up a teammate with a nifty assist and also popped in a beautiful shorthanded goal this week.
His coach, Jake Grimes, talked about his impressive work ethic and drive to be better game in and game out here.
Jeremie Poirier (D) – Saint John Seadogs
| GP | G | A | P | NHLe | |
| Season Total | 12 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 21.3 |
| This week | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
Poirier scored a beauty against the Halifax Mooseheads this week. Sneaking down from the blueline, he was able to put one past the goaltender shortside. However, in the same game he was too cute at the point, giving the puck away on a two-on-none chance that ended up in the back of his own net. While his offensive game has him fifth in the league amongst defencemen, his defensive game can use some refinement.
Overall totals for all flames prospects
Forwards
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | NHLe | Team | League |
| Feuk, Lucas | LW | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4.9 | AIK | Allsvenskan |
| 8 | 2 | 8 | 10 | N/A | AIK | U20 Nationell | ||
| Francis, Ryan | C | 12 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 29.1 | Cape Breton Eagles | QMJHL |
| Gawdin, Glenn | C/RW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | EHC Visp | Swiss League | ||
| Kerins, Rory | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Soo Greyhounds | OHL | |
| Kirkland, Justin | LW/RW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL | |
| Koumontzis, Demetrios | LW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Arizona State Sun Devils | NCAA | |
| Mattson, Mitchell | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Michigan State Spartans | NCAA | |
| Nikolayev, Ilya | C | 12 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 16.0 | Loko Yaroslavl | MHL |
| 10 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 12.5 | Buran Voronezh | VHL | ||
| Nodler, Josh | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Michigan State Spartans | NCAA | |
| Pelletier, Jakob | C/LW | 7 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 33.3 | Val-d’Or Foreurs | QMJHL |
| Pettersen, Emilio | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL | |
| Phillips, Matthew | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL | |
| Philp, Luke | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL | |
| Pospisil, Martin | C/LW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL | |
| Ruzicka, Adam | C/RW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL | |
| Sveningsson, Filip | LW | 9 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9.8 | MODO Hockey | Allsvenskan |
| Tuulola, Eetu | RW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL | |
| 11 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10.7 | Västerviks IK | Allsvenskan | ||
| Zary, Connor | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Kamloops Blazers | WHL | |
| Zavgorodny, Dmitri | C/RW | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 39.6 | SKA St Petersburg | KHL |
Defencemen
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | NHLe | Team | League |
| Boltmann, Jake | RHD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | University of Minnesota | NCAA | |
| Kinnvall, Johannes | RHD | 8 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 67.2 | HV-71 | SHL |
| Kuznetsov, Yan | LHD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | UConn Huskies | NCAA | |
| Lerby, Carl-Johan | LHD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL | |
| Mackey, Connor | LHD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL | |
| Poirier, Jeremie | LHD | 11 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 21.3 | St. John Sea Dogs | QMJHL |
| Poolman, Colton | LHD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL | |
| Solovoyov, Ilya | LHD | 15 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8.9 | Dynamo Minsk | KHL |
| Valimaki, Juuso | LHD | 12 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 34.0 | Ilves | Liiga |
| Yelesin, Alexander | RHD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Goalies
| Position | GS | GAA | SV% | W | L | SHO | Team | League | |
| Chechelev, Daniil | G | 3 | 1.44 | .954 | 3 | 0 | 2 | HK Ryazan | VHL |
| 11 | 2.00 | .938 | 10 | 1 | 0 | Russkie Vityazi Chekhov | MHL | ||
| Parsons, Tyler | G | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Wolf, Dustin | G | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Everett Silvertips | WHL |
| Zagidulin, Artyom | G | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0Stockton Heat | AHL |
| 4 | 4.24 | 0.869 | 1 | 3 | 0 | Metallurg Magnitogorsk | KHL |
Three players to watch next week
- Johannes Kinnvall has been off to a blistering start in the SHL, Sweden’s top league. Scouts have raved about his offensive ability, but worry about his defensive game, which has been quite weak this season. While his NHLe is off the charts, and he is currently the third most productive defenceman in the league, watch his numbers to see if he can continue this torrid pace.
- Daniil Chechelev was in net for a rough loss (however he was brought in midway through in relief) but has been nearly unbeaten in both the VHL and MHL. Watch to see if this can continue.
- On the other side, Artyom Zagidulin cannot string wins together. While he is playing in the KHL, watch to see if he can find some consistency in the crease.
