While most eyes are on the NHL Trade Deadline, the Calgary Flames’ prospects continue to shine. Both Parker Bell and Lucas Ciona had huge weeks for their respective teams, and are helping secure playoff spots as well.
The Calgary Wranglers had a very rough week, but a number of players were exceptional in spite of the results. They still sit at the top of the AHL’s Pacific Division, one point up on the Coachella Valley Firebirds, who are the farm team of the Seattle Kraken.
So much to talk about this week, let’s get 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 Calgary Wranglers had a very forgettable week, dropping all three of their games to the Henderson Silver Knights. Yikes!
- Emilio Pettersen had a strong week for the Wranglers, putting in two goals and an assist. It’s great to see him coming into his own as a prospect. Check out one of his goals here:
- Matthew Phillips had two assists this week. His 56 points this season puts him fifth in the AHL this season. It seems unthinkable that he still hasn’t found his way into the NHL in any real capacity for the Flames this season.
- Two goals this week for Connor Zary. He’s developed into a really strong player for the Wranglers this year. Expect him to be an NHLer sooner than later.
- A goal and an assist for Yan Kuznetsov this week. He’s not much of a point-producer, being more of a defensive defenceman, but he’s really coming into his own of late. Take a look at his goal here:
- Dustin Wolf saw action twice this week, and saw his numbers go up a touch. His 0.928 save percentage puts him third in the AHL, and has played in more games than the two netminders ahead of him have collectively. He also leads the league in shutouts with four.
- Daniil Chechelev also featured in a game this week, but was unable to pick up the win.
BCHL
- No points for Cade Littler this week.
ECHL
- A goal and an assist for Lucas Feuk for Rapid City. He’s been very fine for the ECHL side this year.
- Both Ilya Nikolayev and Rory Kerins remain injured.
- The Rush had a fantastic ad campaign this week. Take a look at it here:
Europe
- Topi Ronni played one game in the U20 SM-sarja, but did not record any games. He didn’t play in Liiga this week.
- William Stromgren played three games in the SHL this week, but did not record any points. He featured on the top line and second line, but then bumped down to the bottom line for the third game.
NCAA
- One assist this week for Matt Coronato at Harvard. The Crimson sit second in the ECAC in points this season.
- A goal and an assist for Demetrios Koumontzis this week for ASU. Take a look at his goal here:
- He’s around a half-point-per-game this season, which is low for a forward, but given he has transitioned to being a defenceman, that’s not bad at all. For reference, Connor Mackey in his final season at Mankato was about a 2/3 point-per-game and was one of the most coveted free agents in his year. For what it’s worth, I still don’t think Koumontzis is signed by the Flames when his rights expire at the end of this season.
- No points for Jake Boltmann this week.
- Arseni Sergeev played one game this week, and saw his numbers rise. His 0.919 save percentage puts him fifth in Hockey East. For a rookie, these numbers are very good.
OHL
- Two more assists this week for Jack Beck. He’s mostly playing on the second line for the very deep 67’s squad. Expect him to earn an ELC at the end of the season.
QMJHL
- A goal and an assist for Cole Huckins at Sherbrooke this week. He’s just under a point-per-game this season.
- No points for Cam Whynot. He missed a game due to illness this week, but should be back on the ice soon.
WHL
- Welcome back Parker Bell. The forward prospect had three assists this week for the Tri-City Americans. He has been mostly playing on the team’s second line.
- Not to be outdone, Lucas Ciona had a goal and two assists this week for Seattle. The Thunderbirds are the deepest team in the WHL, and Ciona has made a very good home for himself on the second line.
- 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: 47.4 (Same)
- Jakob Pelletier: 43.4 (Same)
- Connor Zary: 36.3 (Same)
- Emilio Pettersen 33.1 (Same)
- Lucas Ciona: 32.4 (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 | 34 | 6 | 30 | 36 | 1.06 | 12 | 28.1 | Ottawa 67’s | OHL |
| Parker Bell | LW | 45 | 21 | 33 | 54 | 1.20 | 53 | 29.7 | Tri-City Americans | WHL |
| Lucas Ciona | LW | 51 | 25 | 42 | 67 | 1.31 | 79 | 32.4 | Seattle Thunderbirds | WHL |
| Matthew Coronato | RW | 29 | 19 | 14 | 31 | 1.14 | 12 | 26.2 | Harvard Crimsons | NCAA |
| Walker Duehr | RW | 41 | 15 | 11 | 26 | 0.63 | 36 | 25.1 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Mathias Emilio Pettersen | C/LW | 44 | 17 | 20 | 37 | 0.83 | 31 | 33.1 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Lucas Feuk | C/W | 40 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 0.30 | 16 | N/A | Rapid City Rush | ECHL |
| Cole Huckins | C | 55 | 25 | 25 | 50 | 0.91 | 63 | 21.2 | Sherbrooke Phoenix | QMJHL |
| Ben Jones | C | 52 | 11 | 30 | 41 | 0.79 | 45 | 31.5 | 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 | 41 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 0.29 | 509 | 11.6 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Demetrios Koumontzis | LW/D | 33 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 0.48 | 29 | 13.9 | Arizona State Sun Devils | NCAA |
| Cade Littler | C | 44 | 23 | 28 | 51 | 1.16 | 24 | 12.4 | 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 | 27 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0.19 | 8 | 6.1 | UMass | NCAA |
| Jakob Pelletier | C/LW | 33 | 16 | 20 | 36 | 1.09 | 22 | 43.4 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Matthew Phillips | C/RW | 47 | 26 | 30 | 56 | 1.19 | 8 | 47.4 | 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 |
| 6 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 1.50 | 4 | N/A | Tappara U20 | U20 SM-sarja | ||
| Cole Schwindt | C/RW | 51 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 0.53 | 19 | 21.1 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| William Stromgren | LW | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3.00 | 0 | N/A | Rogle BK J20/Brynas IF J20 | J20 Nationell |
| LW | 40 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 0.20 | 8 | 10.1 | Brynas IF | SHL | |
| Connor Zary | C | 53 | 17 | 31 | 48 | 0.91 | 57 | 36.3 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Defencemen
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | NHLe | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jake Boltmann | RHD | 34 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0.15 | 46 | 4.1 | Notre Dame | NCAA |
| Cole Jordan | LHD | 17 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 0.41 | 15 | 10.2 | Moose Jaw Warriors | WHL |
| Yan Kuznetsov | LHD | 45 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 0.29 | 18 | 11.6 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Jeremie Poirier | LHD | 50 | 5 | 28 | 33 | 0.66 | 31 | 26.3 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Ilya Solovyov | LHD | 49 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 0.22 | 24 | 8.8 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Cameron Whynot | LHD | 46 | 3 | 22 | 25 | 0.54 | 18 | 12.6 | Halifax Mooseheads | QMJHL |
Goalies
| Player | Position | GP | GAA | SV% | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daniil Chechelev | G | 35 | 3.46 | 0.896 | Kansas City Mavericks | ECHL |
| G | 2 | 3.37 | 0.881 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL | |
| Arseni Sergeev | G | 17 | 2.49 | 0.919 | University of Connecticut | NCAA |
| Dustin Wolf | G | 41 | 2.23 | 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.
Photo from @CalgaryWranglers on Twitter.
