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
Recently announced that they will be pausing until January 3.
WHL
Currently not playing, but expecting to start January 8.
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.
Some training camps have already begun, including Kansas City.
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 started with nine teams currently going.
The Big-10 is a go.
Atlantic Hockey are playing exclusively against teams from their own divisions, but have allowed Long Island University to join their conference.
Hockey East is a go, but numerous games have been cancelled.
The ECAC is down to four teams with the Ivey League schools not participating as of now.
ushl
The league is a go, but cases are still a growing concern.
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 but there are strong rumours of the league pausing for Christmas as early as the end of this week.
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
Demetrios Koumontzis (F) – Arizona State University
| Time Period | GP | G | A | P | NHLe |
| Season Total | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 9.1 |
| This Week | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
In his new book, One Game At a Time, Harnarayan Singh uses the phrase “team noo tha chaa chaheedhee ai” which translates to “the team needs a cup of chai to wake up”. Demetrios Koumontzis did not start the season off well with ASU, but appears to have had his chai, coming alive in the second weekend of games. He scored two goals to pick up the victory in game one of ASU’s sweep of the University of Wisconsin.
A very up and down prospect, he was once referred to by GM Brad Treliving as the most improved player at training camp a couple seasons back, but had a rough sophomore year last year. This season feels like a make or break year for him. Whether he has a chance to play professionally likely hinges on his performance this year.
He seems determined to make it. Read our interview with him here.
Johannes kinnvall (D) – HV-71
| Time Period | GP | G | A | P | NHLe |
| Season Total | 12 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 57.0 |
| This week | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Signed last year alongside Connor Mackey, Kinnvall felt a little like an afterthought. With much of the media attention surrounding Mackey along with Kinnvall having at least one more season in Sweden, he was not discussed much at the time.
This season he has been nothing short of electrifying. Putting up huge numbers in the SHL, he sits first among defenceman in goals and third in points. While a lot of his points have come on the powerplay, he has tremendous offensive upside and the potential to quarterback a powerplay once he comes over to North America next season.
The big question surrounding him has been his defence, but as we broke down earlier in the week, it seems to be improving. Watch to see if he can continue to produce at this pace.
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 | 4.9 | AIK | Allsvenskan |
| 8 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 0 | AIK | U20 Nationell | |||
| Francis, Ryan | C | 15 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 32.6 | 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 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.1 | Arizona State Sun Devils | NCAA |
| Mattson, Mitchell | C | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 20.5 | Michigan State Spartans | NCAA |
| Nikolayev, Ilya | C | 12 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 16.0 | Loko Yaroslavl | MHL |
| 17 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 16.5 | Buran Voronezh | VHL | ||
| Nodler, Josh | C | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13.7 | 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 |
| 15 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 2 | 1 | HC Kosice | Slovakia | |||
| Ruzicka, Adam | C/RW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Sveningsson, Filip | LW | 15 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 9.8 | MODO Hockey | Allsvenskan |
| Tuulola, Eetu | RW | 11 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10.7 | Västerviks IK | Allsvenskan |
| 4 | 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 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.0 | SKA St Petersburg | KHL |
Defensemen
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | PPG | SHG | NHLe | Team | League |
| Boltmann, Jake | RHD | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Lincoln Stars | USHL |
| Kinnvall, Johannes | RHD | 12 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 57.0 | HV-71 | SHL |
| Kuznetsov, Yan | LHD | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16.1 | 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 | 15 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 24.8 | St. John Sea Dogs | QMJHL |
| Poolman, Colton | LHD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Solovoyov, Ilya | LHD | 23 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8.6 | Dynamo Minsk | KHL |
| Valimaki, Juuso | LHD | 19 | 2 | 17 | 19 | 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 | 12 | 2.52 | 0.914 | 6 | 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
- Jeremie Poirier was named the QMJHL Defenceman of the Month for November. He had four goals and six assists in just seven games. While his offense is off the charts, his defensive game could use some work.
- Another two points for Juuso Valimaki who stays a point-per-game player in Liiga. His stint in Finland could come to an end sooner rather than later with training camps expected to start soon.
- Sticking with Finland, SaiPa has kept Eetu Tuulola on their top line, but he still has not recorded a point. Hopefully he’ll have better luck in Stockton if and when they get going.
- Last week, Mitchell Mattson got his first NCAA goal in his third year at Michigan State. This week he got his second. Maybe a late bloomer for the Flames.
- Sticking with the boys at Michigan State, sophomore Josh Nodler is currently centering the top line and getting a bunch of time on the top powerplay unit, all as the second youngest player on the entire team. He is still searching for his first goal of the season.
- With Team Russia’s camp starting soon, a number of SKA St Petersburg players are out of the lineup. This has allowed Dmitri Zavgorodny to get some much needed playing time. No points this weekend, however.
- No games for Yan Kuznetsov or Ilya Solovyov. Kuznetsov’s UConn was off this weekend due to scheduling issues in Hockey East while Solovyov was held out of the lineup due to poor play. The former is heading to Team Russia’s World Junior Camp, while the latter Belarusian will need to regain his form.
- Finally, off the ice, Rory Kerins picked up a 3-2 win against the Swift Current Broncos in the Memorial eCup (in EA Sports’ NHL 21). He is through to the second round.
Which prospects are you most excited about? Let us know below in the comments or on social media.
Photo credits: Sun Devil Hockey
