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
The AHL is planning to start on February 5, with 28 teams set to go. Three teams have opted out: The Charlotte Checkers (Florida Panthers), Milwalkee Admirals (Nashville Predators), and Springfield Thunderbirds (St. Louis Blues). As of now, St. Louis will be sharing the Utica Comets with the Vancouver Canucks, but no news on the other two.
There are four AHL teams that are moving their affiliates as well. With the NHL getting underway, expect AHL camps to get underway quickly.
QMJHL
The league is on pause until mid January. The league is looking at putting the Quebec teams in four bubbles to play games from January 29 to February 6. For teams in the Maritimes, the hope is that teams can begin playing as normal by January 21st.
WHL
After some delays, the WHL has committed to playing a 24 game season. There is no start date, but the expectation is that the league will start in mid February.
NCAA
Both the Big-10 and Hockey East are back at it again, but some teams are having issues with COVID-19.
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
The SHL and Allsvenskan are operational currently.
The J-20 Nationell has been cancelled due to numerous cases of COVID-19.
Prospect breakdown
Although there are numerous leagues on pause, the Flames have done what they can to get their players playing. With the AHL due to start shortly, expect many more Flames’ prospects to get started again. To learn more about the various leagues where the Flames players are playing, check out our guide on all major hockey leagues outside 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.
Standout Performer
Josh Nodler- Michigan State University
GP | G | A | P | PPG | SHG | NHLe | |
This week | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
Season | 12 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 18.2 |
After a horrific 9-0 drubbing at the hands of the University of Michigan, Nodler and Michigan State picked up a come from behind 3-2 victory. He picked up a secondary assist in the opening frame, but then sealed the deal with a beautiful goal to give the Spartans the victory.
Sitting second last in the Big10, it has not been a great season for The Spartans, but Nodler has been a bit of a bright spot. Centering the top line, Nodler leads his team in points, and is tied for third in the league in assists. He is also rocking a stellar .558 faceoff percentage. Not a bad find.
This and that
- Although most Flames players who were out on loan have since returned, Martin Pospisil remains in Slovakia after having contracted COVID-19. He is just shy of a point-per-game pace with HC Kosice.
- Speaking of point-per-game, Johannes Kinnvall has slowed down in the second half of this season. He picked up just one powerplay goal and one assist in his last six games.
- The Flames’ prospects picked up medals at the World Juniors. A gold medal for Dustin Wolf, who played mostly in a backup role for Team USA. He did not allow a goal against all tournament.
- Connor Zary and Jakob Pelletier finished with silver medals for Team Canada. Pelletier finished with three goals and four assists for seven points in seven games. Zary finished with two assists. Both showed incredible promise for Team Canada. Both joined Dustin Wolf at the Flames’ training camp following the tournament.
- Kuznetsov and Team Russia finished fourth at the tournament, after losing in the bronze medal game. He has headed back to UConn for the rest of the season since he has not been offered an ELC by the Flames, and thus was ineligible for training camp. He still looked very good in a defensive role for Team Russia.
- Lucas Feuk still remains with one goal for AIK. With the J-20 shutting down for the season, he has played the last few games with the big club but, per Ryan Pike of FlamesNation, he has since been loaned to Kalix HC of HockeyEttan. This is Sweden’s third division.
- Demetrios Koumontzis has been away from his club for the last couple weeks for undisclosed reasons. Expect him back at the weekend when the Sun Devils take on Wisconsin.
- Although he started the season in the USHL with the Lincoln Stars, Jake Boltmann has signed his national letter of intent and joined Notre Dame. He played his first two games for the team, and had two penalties and ended a plus one.
- Ilya Solovyov got his first goal in the KHL this season with Dynamo Minsk. Check it out below.
Overall totals for all Flames prospects
Forwards
Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | PPG | SHG | NHLe | Team | League |
Feuk, Lucas | LW | 14 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.1 | 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 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 18.2 | Arizona State Sun Devils | NCAA |
Mattson, Mitchell | C | 12 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9.1 | Michigan State Spartans | NCAA |
Nikolayev, Ilya | C | 16 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 12.9 | Loko Yaroslavl | MHL |
30 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 11.4 | Buran Voronezh | VHL | ||
Nodler, Josh | C | 12 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 18.2 | 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 |
12 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 2 | 1 | HC Kosice | Slovakia | |||
Ruzicka, Adam | C/RW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Sveningsson, Filip | LW | 26 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7.9 | 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 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Lincoln Stars | USHL |
2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Notre Dame | NCAA | ||
Kinnvall, Johannes | RHD | 23 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 38.2 | 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 | 32 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12.4 | 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 | 15 | 2.62 | 0.912 | 6 | 4 | 2 | HK Ryazan | VHL |
14 | 2.23 | 0.932 | 11 | 3 | 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 |
Which prospects are you most excited about? Let us know below in the comments or on social media.
Photo credits: MSU