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. The Canadian Division, where the Stockton Heat will play, will not start right away as there is no agreement for Ontario AHL teams to play yet. Hopefully this will all get sorted out soon.
QMJHL
Quebec teams played their first weekend in a “Protected Environment”. Four bubbles were set up with three teams in each. Starting January 30th for a week, there will be three bubbles with four teams in each. Nova Scotia teams have also resumed playing, but New Brunswick teams still await the all-clear from health officials.
There have been some positive tests in the Q, and some games have been cancelled. Jakob Pelletier and Val d’Or’s next game against Victoriaville has just been cancelled.
WHL
After some delays, the WHL has committed to playing a 24 game season. Alberta-based teams have gotten the go ahead to start the season, but no news from other jurisdictions. They will start February 26th.
OHL
Still no news on a start date.
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
Jakob Pelletier- Val d’Or Foreurs
| GP | G | A | P | PPG | SHG | NHLe | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This week | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Season | 11 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 33.9 |
After an incredible World Juniors and a strong stint with the Flames at training camp, Jakob Pelletier is back to his scoring ways with Val d’Or. The former first round pick put up a goal and two assists in two games this week in the QMJHL, and has looked very very impressive.
The Foreurs have established themselves as one of the top teams in the league, and currently sit third in points percentage. They have made a number of major moves at the deadline, acquiring Samuel Poulin and Nathan Legare, both Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks, among others. Pelletier played with both at the weekend, and the line found instant chemistry, combining for a whopping nine points.
Pelletier is absolutely a prospect to watch right now. Not only is he on a superstar team, he has been impressive on his own. He is currently 11th in the league in points-per-game, he will be looking to run his way up the scoring charts.
This and that
- It is hard to overstate just how good Friend of the Blog Yan Kuznetsov has been for UConn. Just 18 years old, he is playing top pairing minutes and just keep putting up points in spite of not playing on the powerplay. He is quickly looking like a great pick by the Flames in the second round.
- It has been a very forgettable season for the Flames prospects in the Big-10. Jake Boltmann is off to a pretty poor season, stats wise. He has no points through 8 games with Notre Dame, but his defensive game has apparently been quite good so far.
- Michigan State’s Josh Nodler and Mitchell Mattson had no points this week but both moved up the depth chart. Nodler moved from the second to the first line, while Mattson elevated from the fourth to third lines. However, MSU lost both games this weekend.
- It has been a long season for ASU. They started the season playing 58 of 70 days on the road and are now home for a well deserved break. They then head back out on a 22 day roadtrip to close the season. It is hard to expect much from Friend of the Blog Demetrios Koumontzis and company this season, and the fact that they are playing hockey at all is a miracle.
- Heading across the pond, there is good news and bad news from Johannes Kinnvall in Sweden. Good news, he put up a goal and an assist this week. Bad news, he picked up a bit of a knock that should keep him out of the lineup for the next couple of weeks. He has slowed down from the tear he was on at the start of the season.
- In Russia, Daniil Chechelev played another game, but lost in extra time. His numbers have stabilized of late in the VHL, Russia’s second highest league.
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 | J-20 Nationell | |||
| 7 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | Kalix HC | HockeyEttan | |||
| Francis, Ryan | C | 15 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 32.6 | Saint John Seadogs | 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 | 16 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 15.4 | Arizona State Sun Devils | NCAA |
| Mattson, Mitchell | C | 18 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6.1 | Michigan State Spartans | NCAA |
| Nikolayev, Ilya | C | 16 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 12.9 | Loko Yaroslavl | MHL |
| 34 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 10.1 | Buran Voronezh | VHL | ||
| Nodler, Josh | C | 18 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 13.7 | Michigan State Spartans | NCAA |
| Pelletier, Jakob | C/LW | 11 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 33.9 | 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 |
| 22 | 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 | 33 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 7.2 | 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 |
| 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Notre Dame | NCAA | ||
| Kinnvall, Johannes | RHD | 29 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 37.1 | HV-71 | SHL |
| Kuznetsov, Yan | LHD | 8 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 17.1 | 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 | 35 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 11.3 | 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
| Player | Position | GP | GAA | SV% | W | L | SO | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chechelev, Daniil | G | 21 | 2.58 | 0.912 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 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: nhl.com
