It was a huge week for the Flames’ prospects. Dustin Wolf and Matthew Phillips played a big role in the AHL’s All-Star Classic, as they and head coach Mitch Love won the game for the Pacific Division. Both Matt Coronato and Lucas Ciona tallied twice this week for their respective clubs, and both teams made headlines this week for different reasons. Cole Huckins continues to put points on the board but the eyebrows are still raised around his future. We also have a brand new Prospect of the Week, someone who probably should be earning even more headlines than he already is. Let’s dive right into it.
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.
Prospect of the Week: Jack Beck – Ottawa 67’s
I was expecting to be talking about Jack Beck a lot more at the beginning of the season, but the Flames prospect has spent a ton of time on the shelf this season with an injury. However, now that he is back, the hype train can continue again. Beck went off this week. In three games, the 2021 sixth-round pick put up two goals and four assists and puts him back above the 1.10 point-per-game pace. Take a look at his two goals which came against the Flint Firebirds.
Of his four assists, this one is perhaps the most impressive:
Beck is well on his way to earning an entry-level contract with the Flames, which should come at the end of this season. He has been just outstanding for the 67’s, and has found a role on the team’s second line. The Barber Poles are an exceptionally deep team this season, with numerous prospects and projected high picks on their roster. Expect them to make a ton of noise in the OHL’s playoffs, and for Beck to be right in the thick of it.
Flames prospect happenings
AHL
- The Wranglers had a mixed-bag of a week on the ice, dropping a 5–1 decision to the Bakersfield Condors then picking up a valuable 2–1 win the next night.
- The first game was much closer than the scoreline suggested, but the Wranglers left Dustin Wolf out to dry in the third period and allowed the game to get completely away from them.
- The second game was close all the way through until Walker Duehr scored off a beautiful feed from Matthew Phillips with just seconds left in the game.
- Phillips finished the week with two assists, while Duehr had a goal and an assist in this one.
- Jeremie Poirier was really not great in the 5–1 loss, and was scratched for the second game. The Wranglers have had him on a short leash this season, and have been unafraid to put him in the press box to continue growing his game. He will undoubtedly get there, but the process will be slow.
- Oscar Dansk got run through by a Condors skater in the second game, and was forced to leave midway through. Dustin Wolf featured then in both games. The Wranglers have called Daniil Chechelev up to the team.
- Then the Wranglers sent Matthew Phillips and Dustin Wolf to the All-Star game in Laval. They were joined by Coach Mitch Love as the three representatives of the team at the games.
- Wolf was named as the co-MVP of the tournament and the Pacific Division won the finals with a 1–0 shutout win over the Atlantic Division. He shared the honours with Luke Dostal, with whom he shared the net in the victory.
BCHL
- Cade Littler is injured and did not play this week. Hopefully he’s back on the ice soon.
ECHL
- Rory Kerins has been placed on the IR by the Rush. He’s not expected back anytime soon unfortunately.
- No points for Lucas Feuk, but Ilya Nikolayev added an assist this week.
QMJHL
- What a resurgence Cole Huckins has been on this season. After a disasterous end to last season and a very slow start to this season, the 2021 third-round pick had five points this week and is slowly climbing up to around the point-per-game mark.
- I am not convinced that the Flames offer him a contract after this season. The stories surrounding his conduct last season were bizarre and it seems like more of a headache than its worth to have him in the organization. Unless he completely blows the barn doors off towards the end of the season, I don’t see him as being a lock for an ELC.
- One more assist for Cam Whynot this week. He’s been a steady half-point-per-game guy this season.
WHL
- Newly named Captain Lucas Ciona continued his point producing ways, adding two goals and an assist in two games this week.
- Seattle is already an incredibly deep team, and just added Dylan Guenther, who was sent back to junior from the Arizona Coyotes. They currently have 10 drafted players in the lineup, as well as Tij Iginla, who allegedly has a famous father.
- Parker Bell is still out injured. Prayers for a speedy recovery after a very nasty hit the other week.
- Cole Jordan will be out for the rest of the season.
NCAA
- Two goals this week for Matt Coronato at Harvard. Both goals came in the semi-final of the Beanpot, the annual Boston Tournament. Harvard let a 3–1 lead slip out of their fingers, but managed to win the game in overtime. Take a look at Coronato’s goals here
- Harvard will play Northeastern University for the championship next week. The Crimson have not been in the final since 2017, so this is a very big deal for the team.
- One assist for now-defenceman Demetrios Koumontzis. He has more points as a defenceman than actual blueliner Jake Boltmann, who is stuck at four on the year.
- It’s probably not worth beating the dead horse, but the longer you watch Boltmann’s numbers stuck where they are, the more perplexing the pick looks. Sandpaper defensive defenceman were the descriptors used when he was drafted, but being a sophomore with less than a point in every seven games in really not good.
- No points this week for Josh Nodler at UMass. Another pick that simply is not panning out.
- Arseni Sergeev did not play this week for UConn.
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)
- Matthew Phillips: 50.2 (Same)
- Jakob Pelletier: 43.4 (Same)
- Connor Zary: 37.9 (Same)
- Lucas Ciona: 33.7 (+1)
- Ben Jones: 33.5 (-1)
Overall regular season totals for Flames prospects
Forwards
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | NHLe | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Beck | LW/RW | 25 | 6 | 22 | 28 | 1.12 | 12 | 29.7 | Ottawa 67’s | OHL |
| Parker Bell | LW | 40 | 21 | 30 | 51 | 1.28 | 49 | 31.7 | Tri-City Americans | WHL |
| Lucas Ciona | LW | 42 | 21 | 36 | 57 | 1.36 | 57 | 33.7 | Seattle Thunderbirds | WHL |
| Matthew Coronato | RW | 23 | 16 | 11 | 27 | 1.17 | 12 | 26.9 | Harvard Crimsons | NCAA |
| Walker Duehr | RW | 35 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 0.60 | 24 | 23.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Mathias Emilio Pettersen | C/LW | 36 | 11 | 18 | 29 | 0.81 | 16 | 32.3 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Lucas Feuk | C/W | 32 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 0.31 | 14 | N/A | Rapid City Rush | ECHL |
| Cole Huckins | C | 48 | 21 | 23 | 44 | 0.92 | 59 | 21.4 | Sherbrooke Phoenix | QMJHL |
| Ben Jones | C | 43 | 10 | 26 | 36 | 0.84 | 31 | 33.5 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Rory Kerins | C/LW | 31 | 15 | 16 | 31 | 1.00 | 6 | N/A | Rapid City Rush | ECHL |
| 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.33 | 0 | 13.2 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL | ||
| Adam Klapka | RW | 33 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 0.30 | 51 | 12.0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Demetrios Koumontzis | LW/D | 29 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 0.45 | 27 | 11.8 | Arizona State Sun Devils | NCAA |
| Cade Littler | C | 38 | 18 | 24 | 42 | 1.11 | 22 | 11.8 | Wenatchee Wild | BCHL |
| Ilya Nikolayev | C | 32 | 10 | 16 | 26 | 0.81 | 27 | N/A | Rapid City Rush | ECHL |
| 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL | ||
| Josh Nodler | C/RW | 25 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0.20 | 6 | 6.4 | UMass | NCAA |
| Jakob Pelletier | C/LW | 33 | 16 | 20 | 36 | 1.09 | 22 | 43.4 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Matthew Phillips | C/RW | 38 | 24 | 24 | 48 | 1.26 | 8 | 50.2 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Martin Pospisil | C/W | 20 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 0.50 | 24 | 19.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Topi Ronni | C | 17 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.12 | 2 | 7.8 | Tappara | Liiga |
| 4 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 1.75 | 4 | N/A | Tappara U20 | U20 SM-sarja | ||
| Cole Schwindt | C/RW | 42 | 10 | 13 | 23 | 0.55 | 13 | 21.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| William Stromgren | LW | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3.00 | 0 | N/A | Rogle BK J20/Brynas IF J20 | J20 Nationell |
| LW | 34 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 0.21 | 8 | 10.7 | Brynas IF | SHL | |
| Connor Zary | C | 44 | 14 | 28 | 42 | 0.95 | 47 | 37.9 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Defencemen
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | NHLe | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jake Boltmann | RHD | 30 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0.13 | 46 | 3.5 | Notre Dame | NCAA |
| Cole Jordan | LHD | 17 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 0.41 | 15 | 10.2 | Moose Jaw Warriors | WHL |
| Yan Kuznetsov | LHD | 36 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 0.31 | 16 | 12.4 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Jeremie Poirier | LHD | 41 | 4 | 22 | 26 | 0.63 | 18 | 25.1 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Ilya Solovyov | LHD | 40 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 0.23 | 20 | 9.2 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Cameron Whynot | LHD | 43 | 3 | 21 | 24 | 0.56 | 16 | 13.0 | Halifax Mooseheads | QMJHL |
Goalies
| Player | Position | GP | GAA | SV% | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daniil Chechelev | G | 33 | 3.46 | 0.896 | Kansas City Mavericks | ECHL |
| Arseni Sergeev | G | 15 | 2.57 | 0.917 | University of Connecticut | NCAA |
| Dustin Wolf | G | 34 | 2.19 | 0.928 | Calgary Wranglers | 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.
