What a week for the Calgary Flames’ prospects. Nearly every prospect will be in their league’s playoffs this season, with the Calgary Wranglers becoming the first AHL team to clinch a playoff spot.
Matt Coronato and the Harvard Crimson are also through to the second round of the playoffs in the ECAC. He was particularly impressive this week for the Crimson and continues to be on the team’s top line.
Elsewhere, all of the Flames’ CHL prospects who played this week found their names on the scoresheet. Maybe the prospect pool isn’t as bad as many say it is.
There’s so much to talk about this week, let’s dive 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
- What a great week for the Calgary Wranglers. Not only are they in the middle of a five-game winning streak, but they also clinched a playoff spot in the AHL. They are the top team in the league with a four point lead over the Toronto Marlies.
- Cole Schwindt had a heck of a week, where he put up three goals including this one:
- Schwindt has had a very slow season, not being as exciting as many expected when he was traded in the Matthew Tkachuk deal. It’s great to see his numbers starting to trend upwards.
- Connor Zary also had a heck of a week, putting up four assists this week. He’s just under a point-per-game this season, which is a huge step forward from last season’s disappointment.
- Two Wranglers’ defencemen had goals this week including Yan Kuznetsov, who scored this beauty:
- And Ilya Solovyov who had this one:
- Jeremie Poirier did not add a goal, but had two assists this week.
- Dustin Wolf saw his numbers go up this week, and he’s currently the best goalie in the AHL. He should be in the running for the AHL’s MVP.
BCHL
- Two goals, four assists this week for Cade Littler in the BCHL. Great to see him performing like this, but the true test will be how he does in the NCAA next season.
ECHL
- No points this week for Lucas Feuk. A shame.
- Both Ilya Nikolayev and Rory Kerins remain injured.
Europe
- No points this week for WIlliam Stromgren. He has remained with the SHL side for the time being, but has mostly been a fourth line/13th forward role.
- No games this week for Topi Ronni this week.
- On the one hand, it’s hard to really know what either prospect will be at this point, and particular with them being in Europe, it’s especially hard to know what their development will look like. That being said, it’s hard to get excited about either with their meager minutes and even smaller point totals in the top leagues. There were substantially better players available in the second round when both were selected, and both picks left most observers scratching their heads.
NCAA
- Two assists this week for Matt Coronato as Harvard easily took down Princeton in the opening round of the playoffs. They’re headed to the semi-finals in Lake Placid.
- One assist for Demetrios Koumontzis at ASU. He’s in his fifth and final season in the NCAA, but is unlikely to be signed at the end of the season.
- Josh Nodler, Jake Boltmann, and Arseni Sergeev all have had their seasons ended.
- Sergeev’s UConn lost a heartbreaker by a 2–1 score this weekend, but he was outstanding for the team as a rookie. If he can continue to develop the way he has this season, the Flames may have another outstanding netminder in their system.
OHL
- Two goals and an assist for Jack Beck in Ottawa including this beauty.
- The Flames’ sixth round pick from 2021 is up to 41st in the league in points-per-game despite missing a good chunk of the year with injuries. He’s likely to earn an entry-level contract.
QMJHL
- A goal and two assists for Cole Huckins this week in Sherbrooke. He’s just shy of a point-per-game.
- Cam Whynot is out for a few weeks after breaking his foot blocking a shot. Take a look at what happened here:
WHL
- A goal and two assists for Parker Bell in Tri-City this week. He’s been very good this season.
- Just one goal this week for Lucas Ciona. They are a heavy favourite in the WHL’s playoffs this year.
- 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: 43.4 (Same)
- Jakob Pelletier: 43.4 (Same)
- Connor Zary: 35.3(Same)
- Lucas Ciona 30.5 (NEW)
- Emilio Pettersen 30.3 (-1)
- Ben Jones: 30.3 (-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 | 40 | 10 | 34 | 44 | 1.11 | 14 | 29.1 | Ottawa 67’s | OHL |
| Parker Bell | LW | 51 | 22 | 38 | 60 | 1.18 | 61 | 29.2 | Tri-City Americans | WHL |
| Lucas Ciona | LW | 57 | 27 | 43 | 70 | 1.23 | 83 | 30.5 | Seattle Thunderbirds | WHL |
| Matthew Coronato | RW | 31 | 19 | 16 | 35 | 1.13 | 12 | 25.9 | Harvard Crimsons | NCAA |
| Walker Duehr | RW | 41 | 15 | 11 | 26 | 0.63 | 36 | 25.1 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Mathias Emilio Pettersen | C/LW | 51 | 18 | 21 | 39 | 0.76 | 35 | 30.3 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Lucas Feuk | C/W | 43 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 0.28 | 16 | N/A | Rapid City Rush | ECHL |
| Cole Huckins | C | 59 | 26 | 28 | 54 | 0.92 | 72 | 21.4 | Sherbrooke Phoenix | QMJHL |
| Ben Jones | C | 59 | 14 | 31 | 45 | 0.75 | 49 | 30.3 | 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 | 48 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 0.31 | 68 | 12.4 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Demetrios Koumontzis | LW/D | 37 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 0.49 | 29 | 14.2 | Arizona State Sun Devils | NCAA |
| Cade Littler | C | 47 | 25 | 35 | 60 | 1.28 | 24 | 13.6 | 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 | 54 | 28 | 31 | 59 | 1.09 | 10 | 43.4 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Martin Pospisil | C/W | 20 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 0.50 | 24 | 19.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Topi Ronni | C | 22 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0.23 | 2 | 8.2 | Tappara | Liiga |
| 7 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 1.43 | 4 | N/A | Tappara U20 | U20 SM-sarja | ||
| Cole Schwindt | C/RW | 58 | 14 | 16 | 30 | 0.52 | 21 | 20.7 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| William Stromgren | LW | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3.00 | 0 | N/A | Rogle BK J20/Brynas IF J20 | J20 Nationell |
| LW | 45 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 0.18 | 8 | 9.4 | Brynas IF | SHL | |
| Connor Zary | C | 60 | 18 | 35 | 53 | 0.88 | 57 | 35.3 | Stockton Heat | AHL |
Defencemen
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | NHLe | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jake Boltmann | RHD | 37 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0.14 | 48 | 3.8 | Notre Dame | NCAA |
| Cole Jordan | LHD | 17 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 0.41 | 15 | 10.2 | Moose Jaw Warriors | WHL |
| Yan Kuznetsov | LHD | 52 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 0.31 | 22 | 12.4 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Jeremie Poirier | LHD | 57 | 7 | 32 | 39 | 0.68 | 37 | 27.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Ilya Solovyov | LHD | 56 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 0.23 | 30 | 8.7 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Cameron Whynot | LHD | 48 | 3 | 22 | 25 | 0.52 | 18 | 12.1 | Halifax Mooseheads | QMJHL |
Goalies
| Player | Position | GP | GAA | SV% | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daniil Chechelev | G | 36 | 3.59 | 0.892 | Kansas City Mavericks | ECHL |
| G | 2 | 3.37 | 0.881 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL | |
| Arseni Sergeev | G | 19 | 2.61 | 0.912 | University of Connecticut | NCAA |
| Dustin Wolf | G | 47 | 2.22 | 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
