Yet another huge week from the Calgary Flames’ prospects across the world. Walker Duehr headed back to Stockton after featuring in one game against the Ottawa Senators, while Adam Ruzicka was called up. Demetrios Koumontzis had a big week in Arizona, while across the pond in Sweden, Emil Heineman had three goals this week. Lots to chat about this week for prospects across the system. Let’s break it all down.
Welcome to the TWC Calgary 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.
Want to see where all the Flames’ prospects are playing this year? Check out our map visualization here:
Standout Performer
Jeremie Poirier: Saint John Sea Dogs
| GP | G | A | P | P/GP | NHLe | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This week | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1.3 | N/A |
| Season total | 23 | 6 | 16 | 23 | 1 | 23.3 |
What an enormous week for Jeremie Poirier, who recorded four points in the Sea Dogs’ three games this week. He started out by having three assists in the first two games of the week, but in the third game last night against the Halifax Mooseheads, he scored an incredible goal. This gave him sole possession of the Sea Dogs’ all-time scoring record for defencemen, which is particularly impressive considering the Sea Dogs were once the home of Ottawa Senators’ top defenceman Thomas Chabot.
Poirier was intitally expected to be a first-round pick in the draft two years back, but his two-way play was a big concern for many teams. When the Flames took him in the third round, he was a very exciting pick in that spot, but if he wanted to progress to the NHL, he would need to work on his complete game. Happily for the Flames, he has substantially improved his two-way play, being one of the Sea Dogs’ top defencemen in spite of no longer playing with defensive stalwart William Villeneuve.
This week’s goal was flashes of his offensive skill, which is shown below:
His skating is through the roof, and his hands and hockey sense is out of this world. Poirier is one of the most dynamic skaters in the Flames system at this point, and currently is third in the QMJJHL in points by a defenceman.
He has taken huge strides in his development over the past two years, which has led to the Flames offering him an entry-level contract this past summer. It will be super interesting to see if he can continue to play at this level when he moves to the AHL next season, but it seems as though the future is very bright for the Flames defensive prospect.
This and that
QMJHL
- It wasn’t just Poirier who had a huge week. All of the Flames QMJHL prospects had multi-point weeks this week.
- Teammate Ryan Francis had a goal and two assists, including an excellent pass which led to the Sea Dogs’ overtime win over the Halifax Mooseheads last night. He has found his way to the team’s third line, which helps provide a very balanced attack for the Sea Dogs.
- Francis is currently 22nd in the league in points-per-game.
- On that, the Dogs are being linked to Elliot Desnoyer, the 19-year-old forward for Halifax, who currently has 34 points in 19 games this year. He would be a huge add for the Memorial Cup hosts.
- Cole Huckins also had a huge week, notching two goals and two assists for Acadie Bathurst. Of note, the Titan removed their head coach Mario Durocher and hired Jason Clarke. We’ll learn how that affects prospect usage later on.
- Cameron Whynot also notched two assists this past week, which is great to see for a defenceman. He sits 26th in scoring among defencemen in the league right now, and is currently playing on the top pairing for the Mooseheads.
AHL
- Stockton had two games this week: a 3–2 overtime win over the Colorado Eagles, and a 5–1 drubbing at the hands of Eagles.
- Dustin Wolf was in net for the win, and saw his numbers improve marginally. Among goalies that have played at least five games, Wolf sits second in the league.
- Adam Werner saw his numbers take a trip downwards after the Eagles game. He currently has a 0.882 save percentage in six contests. Wolf has played his way into the starting job.
- Because of COVID protocol, Stockton’s game against Bakersfield has been postponed. Currently, Matthew Phillips is in protocol for the team. Hopefully it’s just a false positive.
- Ups and downs this week as Walker Duehr returns from a stint in Calgary and Adam Ruzicka is called up to the Flames. Duehr featured in one game for the big club, while Ruzicka has yet to make it onto the ice.
- The big story in Stockton has and continues to be Jakob Pelletier, who notched another two goals this week, including his league-leading fourth game-winning goal for the Heat. He probably deserves ice time in Calgary at some point.
- Martin Pospisil has come back from injury, and notched a goal and an assist this week. Great to see him back to form.
- Connor Zary continues to struggle, sitting with just the one goal and a -7 stat line.
- On the blueline, questions continue to be asked of Yan Kuznetsov, who featured in just one of the team’s two games. If the Flames do end up sending Juuso Valimaki down or when Johannes Kinnvall is back healthy, the question will become whether it is better for him to be in Saint John for the rest of the year. Ilya Solovyov played in both of the heat’s games this week.
- Stick taps to Duehr, Emilio Pettersen, and Glenn Gawdin for recording points this week in Stockton.
NCAA
- Most of the Flames prospects in the NCAA were off this week for American Thanksgiving.
- A big week for Demetrios Koumontzis at ASU this week. He has found his way to the top line on the team, and notched two goals and an assist this week.
- Koumontzis has had a really interesting college career. Initially touted as one of the team’s top college prospects as a rookie, he dropped off substantially in his sophomore season. He currently is rocking a 0.5 PPG at this point, but likely will need to up that a bit if he is hoping for an entry-level contract from the Flames.
- The only other prospect on the ice from the NCAA were Matthew Coronato and Harvard but they dropped a tight 1–0 decision at the hands of UNH.
- Coronato did not record a shot on goal, but did have two blocks and was 50% in the faceoff dot. The good news is he has been promoted to the top power play unit, but Harvard was unable to beat the UNH netminder. They probably need to work on getting more chances in tight if they want to move up the ECAC standings.
- Notre Dame sits 8th in USCHO’s NCAA rankings, while Harvard sits 17th. . Because the NCAA is divided into different divisions, this ranking helps set a standard for how teams are doing across the country.
OHL
- Jack Beck continues to be sidelined due to injury. Despite this, he still sits 17th in points-per-game league wide.
- Rory Kerins recorded a goal and three assists this week for Soo. This includes a beautiful tic-tac-toe play with teammate Tye Kartye. Kerins sits eighth in league scoring in the OHL right now.
- The Greyhounds will be looking to add this season, and the Anaheim Ducks’ first round pick Mason McTavish could be the guy they go out and get. If so, it would be a huge boost to the surging team. McTavish currently has four goals in two games so far in the OHL after putting up a goal and two assists in nine NHL games.
Swedish hockey
- Big week for one of the Flames’ Swedish prospects. After a strong week in the Champions League last week, Emil Heineman followed it up with three goals this week in the SHL. He has found a nice spot on Leksands’ second line on the left wing. This will likely be his last year in Sweden before making the jump up to the AHL next year.
- William Stromgren only had one game, but did not record a point.
USHL
- I’m not sure what’s in the water in Kearney, Nebraska, but the Flames’ two prospects are absolutely lighting it up with the Tri-City Storm. Ilya Nikolayev had a goal on the power play along with two assists this past week. He has remained as the team’s top line centre since quite early in the season.
- Arseni Sergeev also picked up a win this week in net. His numbers took a bit of a step back, but he remains the top netminder in the league by a wide margin.
WHL
- Cole Jordan remains sidelined with an illness. The team has continued to list him as week-to-week.
- Perhaps more interesting is Lucas Ciona who did not have a point this week. He remains the Seattle Thunderbirds’ top line centre, but somehow cannot get a point. At the same time, his linemate Connor Roulette is riding a seven-game point streak.
ECHL
- Daniil Chechelev has taken Kansas City by storm. He has stolen the team’s top netminding job, but unfortunately went 0–1–1 this past week.
- This should not be cause for concern at this point, as one was a rough four goals on 29 shots regulation loss while the other was a four goal on a whopping 51 shot overtime loss. More games will give a better idea of the netminder’s potential.
NHLe Leaderboard
NHLe is a metric used to estimate a player’s offensive output at the NHL level from their point totals in their respective league. Here are the Flames current top-5 (bracketed numbers denote movement from previous week)
- Adam Ruzicka (AHL): 49.0
- Jakob Pelletier (AHL): 45.0 (-1)
- Glenn Gawdin (AHL): 43.0
- Rory Kerins (OHL): 40.3
- Jack Beck (OHL) 37.1 (+1)
Overall regular season totals for all Flames prospects
Forwards
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | NHLe | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Beck | LW/RW | 12 | 11 | 6 | 17 | 1.42 | 6 | 37.6 | Ottawa 67’s | OHL |
| Lucas Ciona | LW | 17 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 0.5 | 42 | 13.1 | Seattle Thunderbirds | WHL |
| Matthew Coronato | RW | 9 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 1.1 | 0 | 25.5 | Harvard Crimsons | NCAA |
| Walker Duehr | RW | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0.6 | 4 | 22.7 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Mathias Emilio Pettersen | C/LW | 13 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0.3 | 2 | 12.4 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Lucas Feuk | C/W | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.2 | 0 | N/A | Vasterviks IK | HockeyAllsvenskan |
| C/W | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.4 | 14 | N/A | Nybro IF | HockeyEttan | |
| Ryan Francis | RW/C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| RW/C | 11 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 1.4 | 8 | 32.3 | St John Sea Dogs | QMJHL | |
| Glenn Gawdin | C/RW | 13 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 1.1 | 16 | 43.0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Emil Heineman | LW/RW | 23 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 0.4 | 14 | 19.1 | Leksands IF | SHL |
| LW/RW | 8 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0.6 | 0 | N/A | Leksands IF | Champions HL | |
| Cole Huckins | C | 20 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 0.9 | 41 | 21.0 | Acadie Bathurst Titans | QMJHL |
| Rory Kerins | C/LW | 21 | 11 | 21 | 32 | 1.5 | 4 | 40.3 | Soo Greyhounds | OHL |
| Justin Kirkland | C/W | 15 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0.4 | 16 | 15.9 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Demetrios Koumontzis | LW | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 0.5 | 6 | N/A | Arizona State Sun Devils | NCAA |
| Mitchell Mattson | C | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.3 | 2 | 7.1 | Michigan State Spartans | NCAA |
| Ilya Nikolayev | C | 15 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 1.1 | 25 | 23.7 | Tri-City Storm | USHL |
| Josh Nodler | C/RW | 14 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 0.8 | 2 | 21.6 | Michigan State Spartans | NCAA |
| Jakob Pelletier | C/LW | 15 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 1.1 | 4 | 45.0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Matthew Phillips | C/RW | 14 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 0.9 | 8 | 37.1 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Luke Philp | C/RW | 15 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 0.5 | 6 | 21.1 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Martin Pospisil | C/W | 9 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0.7 | 16 | 26.7 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Adam Ruzicka | C | 13 | 10 | 6 | 16 | 1.2 | 2 | 49.0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| William Stromgren | LW | 24 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 0.9 | 8 | N/A | Rogle BK J20 | J20 Nationell |
| LW | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3.0 | 0 | N/A | Rogle BK | Champions HL | |
| LW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Rogle BK | SHL | |
| Tuulola, Eetu | RW | 10 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0.3 | 15 | 12.0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Connor Zary | C | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.2 | 4 | 12.0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Dmitri Zavgorodny | W/C | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Defensemen
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | NHLe | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jake Boltmann | RHD | 13 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 0.5 | 10 | 14.7 | Notre Dame | NCAA |
| Cole Jordan | LHD | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Moose Jaw Warriors | WHL |
| Johannes Kinnvall | RHD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Yan Kuznetsov | LHD | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Connor Mackey | LHD | 15 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0.3 | 13 | 10.8 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Jeremie Poirier | LHD | 22 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 1.0 | 14 | 24.1 | St. John Sea Dogs | QMJHL |
| Colton Poolman | LHD | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.2 | 6 | 6.8 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Ilya Solovyov | LHD | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Cameron Whynot | LHD | 19 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 0.6 | 30 | 13.5 | Halifax Mooseheads | QMJHL |
Goalies
| Player | Position | GP | GAA | SV% | Record | Shutouts | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chechelev, Daniil | G | 4 | 3.23 | 0.902 | 1-2-1 | 0 | Kansas City Mavericks | ECHL |
| Tyler Parsons | G | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0-0 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
| Arseni Sergeev | G | 12 | 1.25 | 0.949 | 11-1-0 | 3 | Tri-City Storm | AHL |
| Dustin Wolf | G | 2.19 | 0.932 | 7-0-2 | 0 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Want to know more?
Still want to know more about the Flames prospects? Check out our interviews with a number of prospects down below:
Which prospects are you most excited about? Let us know below in the comments or on social media.
