Prospects

Calgary Flames Prospect Roundup: Kerins, Nikolayev just keep putting points on the board

Another big week for the Calgary Flames’ prospects. Both Ilya Nikolayev and Rory Kerins had at least five points, and both are inside the top 10 in scoring in their respective leagues. Dustin Wolf picked up three of a possible four points for the playoff-bound Stockton Heat, and was helped on with goals from Connor Zary, Matthew Phillips and more. Injury issues continue to plague the Flames’ prospects in the QMJHL but not Ryan Francis, who can’t stop putting points on the board.

So much to dive into this week!


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

Rory Kerins – Soo Greyhounds

GPGAPPPGNHLe
This week31562.0N/A
Season total6541721131.746.1

Rory Kerins just continues to dazzle on the ice. He added a goal and four more primary assists this week for the Soo Greyhounds. Take a look at his goal here:

Watch #23 on the play—he is everywhere. Kerins has this incredible ability to never give up on a play. His tenacity all over the offensive zone helped Soo get that goal, and even more than that it was his ability to just be at the right place at the right time to score. Remind you of another smaller sixth-round pick for the Flames from the OHL that currently sits fourth in team scoring?

Kerins currently sits second in OHL scoring with 113 points in 65 games. With just three games left in the season, Kerins already sits 169th all-time in points in a single OHL season. This puts him ahead of every current Flame who played in the OHL, including comparable Andrew Mangiapane.

It is just so incredible to see how the Flames are able to identify high upside players from the OHL and have them develop into league-leading forwards. Kerins will take his trade to the AHL next season, having signed his ELC last season. Expect him to try to continue to make an impact at that level. The jump is big, but if Kerins can continue to be an impact forward, he could be looking like another late round steal for the Flames.

This and that

OHL

  • The Flames’ other OHL prospect Jack Beck played just one game of hockey. He and the Ottawa 67’s got demolished by the Hamilton Bulldogs in it.
  • However, it was Beck’s birthday yesterday. Many happy returns!

QMJHL

  • The Flames’ prospects in the Q are going through some injury issues. Cam Whynot has been in and out of the lineup this week, and did not record any points.
  • Yan Kuznetsov remains sidelined with an undisclosed injury.
  • Jeremie Poirier is back in the lineup after missing a few games. He had two more assists this week, and sits 42nd in league-scoring. He is also seventh in defensive scoring in the Q. He is going to be fun to watch next season in Stockton.
  • Cole Huckins is also back in the lineup after a long absence from the team due to what appears to be off-ice issues. He started as an extra forward, but played yesterday on the second line left wing. He had no points this week.
  • Finally, Ryan Francis simply won’t stop putting up points. This week he added a goal and two more assists. Take a look at the goal here:
  • An absolutely sensational goal from the forward who should earn an ELC this season. Expect him in Stockton next season.
  • Some interesting news from the Q: the Quebec Government has threatened to unsanction the league if they do not remove fighting completely. This is an evolving story which may ahve a ripple effect across the CHL.

NCAA

  • The NCAA season is officially over.
  • Off the ice, the Michigan State Spartans have relieved their head coach of his duties. This is where Josh Nodler and Mitchell Mattson played. Nodler, as you may recall from last week, will be at UMass next year.

USHL

  • Ilya Nikolayev just keeps putting points on the board. The forward put up a goal and four more assists from the Tri-City Storm. He sits tenth in league scoring on the top team in the USHL. He is very good.
  • Expect him to earn a role in Stockton next year, but probably not on an NHL contract. The USHL is a fine league, but he will probably need a good season or two to adapt to the game at that level.
  • Arseni Segeev played in seven periods of hockey this weekend. He picked up a shootout loss in the first game, came in in relief for his partner in the third period of the second game, then won a wild 7–5 third game of the weekend.
  • The final game helped the Storm set two records: the first for most goals in a single season with 233, and the second for the most penalty minutes in a game this year with 78. They also clinched the Western Division title in the USHL.

AHL

  • The Stockton Heat picked up three of a possible four points this week, picking up a 3–2 shootout win and dropping a 6–5 shootout loss.
  • Connor Zary picked up a big goal on the power play again this week. He has really come alive of late. Check out his goal here:
  • As always Matthew Phillips continues to put points up. He added another goal this week. Take a look here:
  • Phillips sits eighth in points in the entire league. Jakob Pelletier did not record any points this week, but still sits 17th in the league in points.
  • The Heat got multi-point weeks from Justin Kirkland (2 goals), Luke Philp (2 assists), and Martin Pospisil (3 assists). Kirkland has been particularly good for the Heat this season, and is up to 20 goals on the year.
  • Stockton lost Juuso Valimaki, Connor Mackey, and Adam Ruzicka to the Calgary Flames. Mackey in particular has been excellent in his stint with the Flames, making it very hard to justify taking him out of the lineup.
  • Ilya Solovyov is currently out injured. He is listed as week-to-week.
  • Dustin Wolf played both games this week, and currently sits fourth in save percentage in the entire league.

Swedish hockey

  • Lucas Feuk and Vasby are through to the next round of the playoffs in the HockeyEttan. They play Hammers in the next round.
  • William Stromgren and Rogle BK finished fourth in the J20 playoffs. They lost to Djurgardens in the semis then lost the third-place game to Orebro.
  • Stromgren also featured in one SHL playoff game, as Rogle beat Oskarshamn in the quarterfinals. They now play Farjestad in the semis.

ECHL

  • Daniil Chechelev picked up a tough loss in the ECHL, where he has found himself in the backup role for the team. However, he was recalled by Stockton this week, and should hopefully get into his first AHL game this time around.

WHL

  • No points this week for Cole Jordan in Moose Jaw. He probably needs a some rest and a good reset in advance of next season.
  • Lucas Ciona was back in the lineup for Seattle. He did not have any points.

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 the previous week)

  1. Adam Ruzicka (AHL) 49.8 (Same)
  2. Rory Kerins (OHL): 46.1 (Same)
  3. Matthew Phillips(AHL): 43.4 (Same)
  4. Jakob Pelletier (AHL) 37.9 (Same)
  5. Glenn Gawdin (AHL): 33.1 (Same)

Overall regular season totals for Flames prospects

Forwards

PlayerPositionGPGAPP/GPPIMNHLeTeamLeague
Jack BeckLW/RW341921401.21431.3Ottawa 67’sOHL
Lucas CionaLW511715320.67715.6Seattle ThunderbirdsWHL
Matthew CoronatoRW341818361.11424.3Harvard CrimsonsNCAA
Walker DuehrRW511010200.42615.5Stockton HeatAHL
Mathias Emilio PettersenC/LW521012220.41616.7Stockton HeatAHL
Lucas FeukC/W101120.20N/AVasterviks IKHockeyAllsvenskan
C/W311217290.914N/AVasby IKHockeyEttan
C/W50220.40N/ANybro IFHockeyEttan
Ryan FrancisRW/C4000000Stockton HeatAHL
RW/C452035551.23228.9St John Sea DogsQMJHL
Glenn GawdinC/RW571433470.87133.1Stockton HeatAHL
Cole HuckinsC311213250.15318.9Acadie Bathurst TitansQMJHL
Rory KerinsC/LW6541721131.74346.1Soo GreyhoundsOHL
Justin KirklandC/W582022420.76728.7Stockton HeatAHL
Demetrios KoumontzisLW2347110.518N/AArizona State Sun DevilsNCAA
Mitchell MattsonC231230.1163.5Michigan State SpartansNCAA
Ilya Nikolayev C542245671.27927.5Tri-City StormUSHL
Josh NodlerC/RW3678150.4411.5Michigan State SpartansNCAA
Jakob PelletierC/LW592630561.02237.9Stockton HeatAHL
Matthew PhillipsC/RW572834621.11643.4Stockton HeatAHL
Luke PhilpC/RW582122430.71129.5Stockton HeatAHL
Martin PospisilC/W39716230.67123.5Stockton HeatAHL
Adam RuzickaC16119201.3249.8Stockton HeatAHL
William StromgrenLW441323360.818N/ARogle BK J20J20 Nationell
LW11233.00N/ARogle BKChampions HL
LW6000000Rogle BKSHL
Eetu TuulolaRW531310230.44617.1Stockton HeatAHL
Connor ZaryC481212240.53219.9Stockton HeatAHL
Dmitri ZavgorodniyW/C100110.144.0Stockton HeatAHL
W/C100330019.8HC SochiKHL

Defencemen

PlayerPositionGPGAPP/GPPIMNHLeTeamLeague
Jake BoltmannRHD40112130.3289.0Notre DameNCAA
Cole JordanLHD332790.3366.7Moose Jaw WarriorsWHL
Johannes KinnvallRHD160880.5419.9Stockton HeatAHL
Yan KuznetsovLHD12000000Stockton HeatAHL
LHD192680.4810.2St John Sea DogsQMJHL
Connor MackeyLHD53531360.78327.1Stockton HeatAHL
Jeremie PoirierLHD581338510.93820.5St. John Sea DogsQMJHL
Colton PoolmanLHD54012120.2168.8Stockton HeatAHL
Ilya SolovyovLHD463470.2226.0Stockton HeatAHL
Cameron WhynotLHD45413170.4488.8Halifax MooseheadsQMJHL

Goalies

PlayerPositionGPGAASV%RecordSOTeamLeague
Daniil ChechelevG303.640.88012-12-51Kansas City MavericksECHL
Tyler ParsonsG0000-0-00Stockton HeatAHL
Arseni SergeevG392.080.91827-6-16Tri-City StormUSHL
Dustin WolfG432.280.92532-6-30Stockton HeatAHL

Want to know more?

Still want to know more about the Flames prospects? Check out our interviews with a number of prospects down below:

Yan Kuznetsov

Ilya Solovyov

Dustin Wolf

Jeremie Poirier

Ryan Francis

Matthew Phillips

Demetrios Koumontzis

Jake Boltmann

Which prospects are you most excited about? Let us know below in the comments or on social media.

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