Another big week for the Calgary Flames’ prospects. Ryan Francis, Jeremie Porier and the Saint John Sea Dogs are soaring up the QMJHL standings. Closer to home, the Stockton Heat’s 8 game winning streak finally came to an end, but there were a number of huge performances from the team. Lots to get into this week.
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. 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.
On a solemn note before the prospect update: A harrowing tragedy occurred in the MHL earlier this week. TWC extends our deepest condolences to the friends and family of Dinamo’s Timur Faizutdinov.
STANDOUT PERFORMER
Ryan Francis – Saint John Sea Dogs
GP | G | A | P | PPG | SHG | NHLe | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
This week | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
Season | 18 | 10 | 19 | 29 | 4 | 1 | 37.5 |
Did Ryan Francis deserve to be the Standout Performer last week after his four goal outburst? Yes absolutely. Did he continue to put up points like they were going out of style? Also yes, ab-so-lutely. Ryan Francis is fast becoming one of the Flames’ most prolific forward prospects, after another four point week.
Since joining the Saint John Sea Dogs from the Cape Breton Eagles at the Trade Deadline, Francis’ play has been bananas. He was named the QMJHL’s Player of the Week, and has been lighting it up across the board. As beautiful as his four goals were last game, he has shown his pass-first mentality more this week, with four assists this week. Becoming a more dangerous player by being known as both a passer and a shooter was something that Francis mentioned in his chat with us earlier in the season. Since moving over to the Sea Dogs, he has shown that.
While his pace will undoubtedly slow down, it will be interesting to see where he ends the season. He currently sits sixth in the league in points per game, and is looking more and more like a steal for the Flames.
Heat Update
When last we wrote, the Heat were on a six game winning streak and there seemed to be no stopping them. They continued this week with an overtime win over the Manitoba Moose, then another win over Manitoba in regulation, and finally their eight game winning streak came to an end in a 4-2 loss to Manitoba.
While the winning streak is now over, there were a number of key moments this week. First, Artyom Zagidulin has looked like a heck of a netminder for the Heat. Although he had a rough outing for the Flames earlier in the season, he was the difference-maker in the first win against Manitoba, stopping 22 of 24 shots he faced. He also kept the Heat close in their loss to the Moose, stopping 37 of 40 shots against. Check out a great save he made on a breakaway:
The Heat unfortunately had to send Connor Zary back to the Kamloops Blazers for his WHL season. While he will undoubtedly look to light things up in BC, the Heat will definitely miss his presence on their top line. Mathias Emilio Pettersen was elevated to the role, and has looked quite good so far. He put up a goal and an assist this week.
Finally, some good news, some bad news, and some mixed news to end this week for the Heat. Good news, last year’s sixth round pick, Rory Kerins finally found his way into the lineup. Although he has yet to find the back of the net, the fact that he is getting into professional games is great for his development. Bad news, this came at the expense of Eetu Tuulola, who drew out of the lineup for one game. He and Kerins both played in the loss to Manitoba on the fourth line. Finally, Dmitri Zavgorodny has yet to record a point this season, but he has had some great looks this week. This hopefully won’t last too long.
This and that
- Ilya Nikolayev picked up a goal and an assist in Loko Yaroslavl’s wins over Dinamo St Petersburg last week.
- This week marked the end of the season for the Flames’ NCAA prospects. Yan Kuznetsov (UConn), Josh Nodler (MSU), Mitchell Mattson (MSU), and Jake Boltmann (ND) all lost in the first round of their respective playoffs. We broke down how their seasons went here.
- It was a big week for a number of Heat prospects, especially Matthew Phillips, who put up three goals this week. He is slowly outgrowing the AHL.
- Another huge week for Glenn Gawdin, who has really found his feet this week. He picked up the overtime winner in the first game against the Moose, and has four points in his last five games.
- Both Martin Pospisil and Luke Philp also had multi-point weeks with Philp recording a goal and two assists, whole Pospisil had two goals and an assist.
- One player who has quieted down substantially has been Adam Ruzicka, who only had one assist this week. He put up a team-leading six shots in the loss to Manitoba this week.
- Finally, one player who has really heated up of late has been Jeremie Poirier. He picked up an overtime winning goal this week to go along with three assists this week. His offensive play has never been an issue, but his defensive game is a work in progress. This has been a team-wide problem for Saint John, so it is hard to figure out whether it is a systemic problem or a player one.
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 | |||
17 | 12 | 6 | 18 | 0 | 0 | Kalix HC | HockeyEttan | |||
Francis, Ryan | C | 18 | 10 | 19 | 29 | 4 | 1 | 37.5 | Saint John Seadogs | QMJHL |
Gawdin, Glenn | C/RW | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 22.8 | 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 |
2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL | ||
Kirkland, Justin | LW/RW | 11 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 14.5 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Koumontzis, Demetrios | LW | 22 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 12.4 | Arizona State Sun Devils | NCAA |
Mattson, Mitchell | C | 21 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5.5 | Michigan State Spartans | NCAA |
Nikolayev, Ilya | C | 21 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 12.7 | Loko Yaroslavl | MHL |
37 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 10.9 | Buran Voronezh | VHL | ||
Nodler, Josh | C | 27 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 11.6 | Michigan State Spartans | NCAA |
Pelletier, Jakob | C/LW | 22 | 8 | 23 | 31 | 2 | 0 | 32.8 | Val-d’Or Foreurs | QMJHL |
Pettersen, Mathias Emilio | C | 11 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 32.6 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Phillips, Matthew | C | 11 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 50.7 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Philp, Luke | C | 11 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 29.0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Pospisil, Martin | C/LW | 11 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 36.2 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
22 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 2 | 1 | HC Kosice | Slovakia | |||
Ruzicka, Adam | C/RW | 11 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 64.8 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Sveningsson, Filip | LW | 49 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 8.4 | 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 | ||
10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 | Stockton Heat | AHL | ||
Zary, Connor | C | 9 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 31.0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Zavgorodny, Dmitri | C/RW | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.0 | SKA St Petersburg | KHL |
11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
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 |
19 | 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 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12.9 | UConn Huskies | NCAA |
Lerby, Carl-Johan | LHD | 10 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 15.9 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Mackey, Connor | LHD | 11 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 18.1 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Poirier, Jeremie | LHD | 18 | 6 | 14 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 25.9 | St. John Sea Dogs | QMJHL |
Poolman, Colton | LHD | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Solovoyov, Ilya | LHD | 41 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 14.5 | Dynamo Minsk | KHL |
Yelesin, Alexander | RHD | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 | 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 |
19 | 2.49 | 0.924 | 11 | 7 | 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 |
3 | 3.24 | 0.895 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL | ||
Zagidulin, Artyom | G | 3 | 3.34 | 0.908 | 2 | 1 | 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: Saint John Sea Dogs