With the Saint John Sea Dogs out of the playoffs and the AHL season over, there are only three Flames prospects still going currently. Thankfully, they are three of the most promising in Dustin Wolf, Connor Zary and Jakob Pelletier, and all three have been performing above expectations all season long. Let’s break it all down.
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.
This and that
- Let’s start with the Stockton Heat, who mercifully ended their season this past week. They finished at the bottom of the North Division, going 11-17-2 in 30 games.
- The Heat lost their final game 2-1 in overtime, with Eetu Tuulola scoring the only goal shorthanded. Backup netminder Andrew Shortridge was incredible in the game, stopping 35 of 37 shots. While not a Flames prospect, he finished the season with a 0.952 save percentage in three games and could be in the cards for a contract with Stockton. His performance could make the conversation in the crease very interesting next season.
- Matthew Phillips and Luke Philp both played in each of the Heat’s 30 games, and both were impactful over the course of the season. Friend of the Blog Phillips in particular was excellent and deserves a look at the NHL level.
- While there are a number of decisions still to be made, it appears that Carl-Johan Lerby will not be back in Stockton. He has signed a contract with the Malmo Redhawks, where Rasmus Andersson played and his father currently is the head coach.
- The Heat’s blueline situation going into next season probably precipitated this decision. Expect Yan Kuznetsov, Ilya Solovyov, Johannes Kinnvall and Connor Mackey to eat up the majority of the minutes on the Heat’s blueline, and fight for a spot in the NHL.
- Going west, things still look very good for Dustin Wolf, who picked up two more wins this week. He has regained his title as the Top Goalie in the WHL with a 0.941 save percentage. However, the all-time shutout record still eludes him. The team has three games left, and he would need three shutouts to beat the record.
- Some bad news out of the Dub- Connor Zary took a head shot in a game against Price George and has been out the last few games. Here’s hoping he’ll be back on the ice soon.
- Finally, moving to the east, Jakob Pelletier and the Val d’Or Foreurs are through to the next round of the playoffs, Captain Jakob Pelletier had a goal and four assists in three games.
- Unfortunately, the Saint John Sea Dogs could not advance out of the New Brunswick Play-in round. In what was almost certainly his final playoffs of his junior career, Friend of the Blog Ryan Francis had four goals and six assists through six games. Expect the Flames to offer him an entry-level deal soon.
- Fellow Sea Dog Jeremie Poirier had four goals and five assists in the six games. He will be back for one more season in the Q.
Overall regular season totals for all Flames prospects
Forwards
Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | PPG | SHG | NHLe | Team | League |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Duehr, Walker | RW | 28 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 17.2 | Minnesota State | NCAA |
5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL | ||
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 | 32 | 16 | 34 | 50 | 5 | 2 | 37.3 | Saint John Seadogs | QMJHL |
Gawdin, Glenn | C/RW | 22 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 23.5 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | EHC Visp | National League | ||
Heineman, Emil | LW | 43 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 14.8 | Leksands IF | SHL |
Kerins, Rory | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Soo Greyhounds | OHL |
4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL | ||
Kirkland, Justin | LW/RW | 16 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 17.4 | 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 | 28 | 13 | 30 | 43 | 4 | 0 | 35.8 | Val-d’Or Foreurs | QMJHL |
Pettersen, Mathias Emilio | C | 29 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 19.2 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Phillips, Matthew | C | 30 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 27.9 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Philp, Luke | C | 30 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 22.6 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Pospisil, Martin | C/LW | 14 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 31.3 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
22 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 2 | 1 | HC Kosice | Slovakia | |||
Ruzicka, Adam | C/RW | 27 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 28.9 | 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 | ||
29 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 9.6 | Stockton Heat | AHL | ||
Zary, Connor | C | 9 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 31.0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
15 | 6 | 18 | 24 | 2 | 1 | 39.6 | Kamloops Blazers | |||
Zavgorodny, Dmitri | C/RW | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.0 | SKA St Petersburg | KHL |
29 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5.5 | 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 | 32 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 33.6 | HV-71 | SHL |
Kuznetsov, Yan | LHD | 16 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12.9 | UConn Huskies | NCAA |
6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL | ||
Lerby, Carl-Johan | LHD | 22 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 12.7 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Mackey, Connor | LHD | 27 | 3 | 13 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 23.6 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Poirier, Jeremie | LHD | 33 | 9 | 28 | 34 | 5 | 0 | 26.1 | St. John Sea Dogs | QMJHL |
Poolman, Colton | LHD | 21 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 11.4 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Solovoyov, Ilya | LHD | 41 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 14.5 | Dynamo Minsk | KHL |
Yelesin, Alexander | RHD | 28 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10.0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Goalies
Player | Position | GP | GAA | SV% | Record | Shutouts | Team | League |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chechelev, Daniil | G | 21 | 2.58 | 0.912 | 8-7-3 | 2 | HK Ryazan | VHL |
19 | 2.49 | 0.924 | 11-7-1 | 0 | Russkie Vityazi Chekhov | MHL | ||
Parsons, Tyler | G | 1 | 5.00 | 0.800 | 0-1-0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Wolf, Dustin | G | 19 | 1.83 | 0.941 | 15-3-0 | 4 | Everett Silvertips | WHL |
3 | 3.24 | 0.895 | 2 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL | ||
Zagidulin, Artyom | G | 6 | 2.86 | 0.911 | 3-3-0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
5 | 4.24 | 0.869 | 1-3-0 | 0 | Metallurg Magnitogorsk | KHL |
Which prospects are you most excited about? Let us know below in the comments or on social media.
Photo Credit: Kamloops Blazers