While the Calgary Flames continues to struggle, the Calgary Wranglers have just kept rolling. The Flames’ farm team picked up two more wins this week, and are getting scoring from up and down their lineup. Cole Schwindt and Emilio Pettersen—two prospects that are really not on the radar—have started to heat up while Matthew Phillips and Connor Zary continue to look good.
Elsewhere, Matt Coronato continues to put points on the board for Harvard. He could be a very handy piece for the team if he signs at the end of his season. So much to break down this week—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.
Flames prospect happenings
AHL
- The Wranglers went 2–1–0 this week, picking up two wins over the Colorado Eagles but suffering a setback against the Abbotsford Canucks mid last week.
- Emilio Pettersen led the way for the Wranglers with three goals for the team. He has been quietly having a heck of a season, and is quietly looking like he can reach a ceiling of becoming an NHLer. I’m not sold on him being an NHLer as of yet, but he did take a big step forward this season.
- Cole Schwindt added a goal and an assist this week. He had been quiet for a long time before hitting the scoresheet this week.
- Matthew Phillips had three points and continues to lead the team in points.
- Connor Zary also had a big week, adding a goal and three assists. He’s not yet NHL ready, but is moving in the right direction. The big former WHL centre is someone that very much fits Darryl Sutter’s mold.
- Walker Duehr joins Jakob Pelletier and Dennis Gilbert (not a prospect) in Calgary this week. He has quietly turned into a depth NHLer this season, which is huge to see from an undrafted prospect signed out of the NCAA. He is the first South Dakotan to play in the NHL ever.
- Jeremie Poirier again had a huge week, adding four assists in three games. It’s great to see him producing at the AHL level, but a recurring theme is that his defence is the big issue.
- Congratulations to Ilya Solovyov for adding his first goal of the season as he played overtime hero in the first game against Colorado. The 2020 seventh-round pick is a well-rounded blueliner who could be a serviceable depth defenceman if all goes well.
- Dustin Wolf sits third among AHL goalies in save percentage. He has a better GAA than either netminder ahead of him, and has played more games this season than the two ahead of him have combined.
BCHL
- Two goals two assists for Cade Littler this week. Great to see from the 2022 seventh-rounder.
ECHL
- No points this week for Lucas Feuk. He has been a body for Rapid City this season.
- Both Ilya Nikolayev and Rory Kerins are out of the lineup due to injuries.
Europe
- No points and no games for Topi Ronni this week in Finland.
- William Stromgren had a game on the fourth line, but then was elevated to the top line for Brynas this week. He picked up an assist in that second game, and looked decent. Great to see him earning some bigger minutes and more responsibility as a young player.
- Former Stockton Heat defenceman Johannes Kinnvall also plays for Brynas. He was the seventh defenceman for the team in their last game.
NCAA
- A goal and an assist for Matt Coronato this week at Harvard. Take a look at his goal here:
- The more you watch Coronato, the more exciting of a prospect he looks. His skating and hands are on full display in this sequence, and if he does sign with the Flames at the end of Harvard’s season, he could be an important piece for this team going into the playoffs.
- One assist for Demetrios Koumontzis this week. He has been playing defense for ASU of late.
- No points for Josh Nodler or Jake Boltmann this week. Arseni Sergeev also did not appear in any games this week.
OHL
- Three more assists this week for Jack Beck. He continues to look excellent for the Ottawa 67’s.
- The 67’s are the first team in the Eastern Conference to clinch a playoff spot. They are one of the favorites to win the OHL this season.
QMJHL
- A goal and an assist for Cole Huckins this week. He’s been playing in the middle six for Sherbrooke this season, but has played on both wings which is a big plus for his utilization down the road.
- No points for Cam Whynot in Halifax.
WHL
- A goal and three assists for Lucas Ciona in Seattle. The forward is playing on one of the most stacked WHL teams in recent memory, and were the team not as deep as they are, he would undoubtedly be on the team’s top line.
- Parker Bell is back in the lineup. After a very nasty hit, the winger returned to action this week but did not hit the scoresheet.
- Cole Jordan will be out for the rest of the season.
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: 49.0 (Same)
- Jakob Pelletier: 43.4 (Same)
- Connor Zary: 36.7 (Same)
- Emilio Pettersen 33.1 (NEW)
- Lucas Ciona: 32.9 (Same)
Overall regular season totals for Flames prospects
Forwards
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | NHLe | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Beck | LW/RW | 31 | 6 | 28 | 34 | 1.11 | 12 | 29.1 | Ottawa 67’s | OHL |
| Parker Bell | LW | 42 | 21 | 30 | 51 | 1.21 | 51 | 30.0 | Tri-City Americans | WHL |
| Lucas Ciona | LW | 48 | 24 | 40 | 59 | 1.34 | 63 | 32.9 | Seattle Thunderbirds | WHL |
| Matthew Coronato | RW | 27 | 19 | 13 | 30 | 1.19 | 12 | 27.3 | Harvard Crimsons | NCAA |
| Walker Duehr | RW | 41 | 15 | 11 | 26 | 0.63 | 36 | 25.1 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Mathias Emilio Pettersen | C/LW | 41 | 15 | 19 | 34 | 0.83 | 31 | 33.1 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Lucas Feuk | C/W | 37 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 0.27 | 14 | N/A | Rapid City Rush | ECHL |
| Cole Huckins | C | 53 | 24 | 24 | 48 | 0.91 | 61 | 21.2 | Sherbrooke Phoenix | QMJHL |
| Ben Jones | C | 49 | 11 | 29 | 40 | 0.82 | 33 | 32.7 | 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 | 39 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 0.31 | 57 | 12.4 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Demetrios Koumontzis | LW/D | 31 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 0.45 | 27 | 13.0 | Arizona State Sun Devils | NCAA |
| Cade Littler | C | 42 | 23 | 28 | 51 | 1.21 | 22 | 12.9 | 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 | 26 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0.19 | 6 | 6.1 | UMass | NCAA |
| Jakob Pelletier | C/LW | 33 | 16 | 20 | 36 | 1.09 | 22 | 43.4 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Matthew Phillips | C/RW | 44 | 26 | 28 | 54 | 1.23 | 8 | 49.0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Martin Pospisil | C/W | 20 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 0.50 | 24 | 19.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Topi Ronni | C | 21 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0.15 | 2 | 8.2 | Tappara | Liiga |
| 5 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 1.80 | 4 | N/A | Tappara U20 | U20 SM-sarja | ||
| Cole Schwindt | C/RW | 48 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 0.56 | 17 | 22.3 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| William Stromgren | LW | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3.00 | 0 | N/A | Rogle BK J20/Brynas IF J20 | J20 Nationell |
| LW | 38 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 0.21 | 8 | 10.4 | Brynas IF | SHL | |
| Connor Zary | C | 50 | 15 | 31 | 46 | 0.92 | 53 | 36.7 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Defencemen
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | NHLe | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jake Boltmann | RHD | 32 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0.16 | 46 | 4.4 | Notre Dame | NCAA |
| Cole Jordan | LHD | 17 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 0.41 | 15 | 10.2 | Moose Jaw Warriors | WHL |
| Yan Kuznetsov | LHD | 42 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 0.26 | 18 | 10.4 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Jeremie Poirier | LHD | 47 | 5 | 27 | 28 | 0.68 | 24 | 27.1 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Ilya Solovyov | LHD | 46 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 0.24 | 22 | 9.6 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Cameron Whynot | LHD | 45 | 3 | 21 | 24 | 0.53 | 16 | 12.3 | Halifax Mooseheads | QMJHL |
Goalies
| Player | Position | GP | GAA | SV% | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daniil Chechelev | G | 33 | 3.46 | 0.896 | Kansas City Mavericks | ECHL |
| G | 1 | 3.69 | 0.879 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL | |
| Arseni Sergeev | G | 16 | 2.59 | 0.916 | University of Connecticut | NCAA |
| Dustin Wolf | G | 39 | 2.16 | 0.929 | 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.
Photo from @CalgaryWranglers on Twitter.
