Welcome to the 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 December 4.
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 begin its season in a bubble in Omaha in December before moving on to regular games in January.
The WCHA has not announced plans to resume play, but numerous teams have opted out.
The Big-10 is a go, starting this past weekend.
Atlantic Hockey are playing exclusively against teams from their own divisions, but have allowed Long Island University to join their conference. Long Island was due to play West Point, but there have been concerns with COVID-19.
Hockey East is projected to start this weekend.
The ECAC is down to four teams with the Ivey League schools not participating as of now.
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 – numerous teams including HV-71 have had to cancel games.
The J-20 Nationell has been postponed due to numerous cases of COVID-19.
Finnish Leagues
Ongoing despite rising case numbers
Swiss Leagues
Ditto.
Prospect breakdown
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 guide on all major hockey leagues outsite of North America.
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
Jeremie Poirier (d) – Saint John SeaDogs, QMJHL
| GP | G | A | P | NHLe | |
| Season Total | 14 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 23.3 |
| This week | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
As if he wasn’t off to a blistering start already, Poirier pulled off a sensational hat trick, scoring three beautiful goals. Saint John went on to win the game in a shootout (although he could not score there). A second incredible week in a row for him- someone to keep an eye on this season.
Overall totals for all Flames prospects
Forwards
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | PPG | SHG | NHLe | Team | League |
| Feuk, Lucas | LW | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.92 | AIK | Allsvenskan |
| 8 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 0 | AIK | U20 Nationell | |||
| Francis, Ryan | C | 14 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 29.9 | Cape Breton Eagles | QMJHL |
| Gawdin, Glenn | C/RW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | EHC Visp | National League | ||
| Kerins, Rory | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Soo Greyhounds | OHL |
| Kirkland, Justin | LW/RW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Koumontzis, Demetrios | LW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Arizona State Sun Devils | NCAA |
| Mattson, Mitchell | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Michigan State Spartans | NCAA |
| Nikolayev, Ilya | C | 12 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 16.0 | Loko Yaroslavl | MHL |
| 12 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 13.0 | Buran Voronezh | VHL | ||
| Nodler, Josh | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Michigan State Spartans | NCAA |
| Pelletier, Jakob | C/LW | 9 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 33.6 | Val-d’Or Foreurs | QMJHL |
| Pettersen, Emilio | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Phillips, Matthew | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Philp, Luke | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Pospisil, Martin | C/LW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Ruzicka, Adam | C/RW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Sveningsson, Filip | LW | 12 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7.4 | MODO Hockey | Allsvenskan |
| Tuulola, Eetu | RW | 11 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10.73 | Västerviks IK | Allsvenskan |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | SaiPa | Liiga | ||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -Stockton Heat | -AHL | ||
| Zary, Connor | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Kamloops Blazers | WHL |
| Zavgorodny, Dmitri | C/RW | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 39.56 | SKA St Petersburg | KHL |
Defensemen
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | PPG | SHG | NHLe | Team | League |
| Boltmann, Jake | RHD | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Lincoln Stars | USHL |
| Kinnvall, Johannes | RHD | 8 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 67.2 | HV-71 | SHL |
| Kuznetsov, Yan | LHD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | UConn Huskies | NCAA |
| Lerby, Carl-Johan | LHD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Mackey, Connor | LHD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Poirier, Jeremie | LHD | 14 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 23.3 | St. John Sea Dogs | QMJHL |
| Poolman, Colton | LHD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Solovoyov, Ilya | LHD | 18 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11.0 | Dynamo Minsk | KHL |
| Valimaki, Juuso | LHD | 14 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 37.1 | Ilves | Liiga |
| Yelesin, Alexander | RHD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Goalies
| Position | GP | GAA | SV% | W | L | SO | Team | League | |
| Chechelev, Daniil | G | 8 | 2.73 | 0.906 | 3 | 1 | 2 | HK Ryazan | VHL |
| 11 | 2.00 | 0.938 | 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 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| 5 | 4.24 | 0.869 | 1 | 4 | 0 | Metallurg Magnitogorsk | KHL |
This and that
- Glenn Gawdin has been recalled to Calgary in advance of the NHL season. Given how little he ended up playing, hopefully he had fun in Switzerland
- Demetrios Koumontzis, who we spoke with the other week, had a rough week this week. His team was lambasted in both games against Michigan, only scoring one goal and putting just 30 some shots on net between the two games. Koumontzis bobbled the puck at the line in one of the games and it ended up in the back of his net. Looking for better luck against Michigan State next weekend, where he will play against Mitchell Mattson and Josh Nodler.
- Jake Boltmann’s Lincoln Stars started their season with a 3-2 overtime loss. He was on the ice for both goals for, but did not pick up a point.
- Jakob Pelletier and Connor Zary will be at Team Canada’s selection camp this week, battling for a roster spot for the World Junior’s. Pelletier is coming off a two assist game for Val d’Or and has a five game point streak.
Which prospects are you most excited about? Let us know below in the comments or on social media.
Photo credits: Saint John Seadogs
