Things are looking average for the Calgary Flames after they ended a two-game winning streak by earning just three out of a possible six points against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, and Montreal Canadiens. The Flames’ counterpart in the AHL is a completely different story though. The Calgary Wranglers won both games this weekend, outscoring their opponents 12–4 in the process.
Prospects in the AHL continue to be a bright spot for the organization, highlighted this week by Rory Kerins and Ben Jones. Kerins started the season late, but that hasn’t mattered as he’s up to four points in four games. Jones on the other hand—who has played every game for the Wranglers so far—doubled his point totals over just two games.
So much to get into 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
- Both Connor Zary and Martin Pospisil have remained with the Flames since being called up. Zary has a pair of goals and four points through five games; Pospisil has two goals and a lone helper in four games.
- Dustin Wolf got the call to the NHL this week and posted a 4.02 GAA and 0.895 save percentage in a 4–1 loss to the Senators. Wolf has since been reassigned to the Wranglers.
- Matt Coronato has been excellent since being reassigned to the AHL, scoring twice and adding a helper over the last two games. Since joining the Wranglers, he has three goals and four points in four games.
- Mathias Emilio Pettersen had a good week, adding a pair of goals and an assist to his totals. After scoring just two assists through his first eight games, he scored his first two goals of the season this weekend and now has five points through 10 games. Take a look at this beautiful short-side snipe:
- Rory Kerins continued his hot start, adding another two assists through two games. He’s up to four points (all assists) through four games after getting a late start to his season.
- Ben Jones scored two goals and an assist against the San Diego Gulls on November 10, and he followed that up with another two assists the very next night. He now has three goals and 10 points in 10 games, after starting the weekend with five points through eight games. Watch Jones take a shot from the top of the faceoff circle, then find the loose puck in the crease on the far side:
- Ilya Nikolayev suited up for his first game of the season and scored a nice goal in his debut. Take a look at this snipe:
ECHL
- The Rapid City Rush carried on their merry way without the help of any Flames prospects this week.
Europe
- Despite returning to his club, Topi Ronni has still not played another game. He’s currently sitting on a goal and two points through 12 games.
- Axel Hurtig’s squad has not played a game since November 4, and their next game is scheduled for November 18.
- Goaltender Yegor Yegorov has been out of the lineup for MHK Dynamo Moskva’s last three games, in favour of Ilya Podsukha.
NCAA
- Jake Boltmann finally got a couple more games under his belt. The bad news is his stats didn’t change, apart from adding two PIM. The good news is his plus-minus didn’t continue its downward trend and stayed at an unimpressive minus-six.
- On a more positive note, Aydar Suniev scored another goal. He’s scored four goals and added an assist through nine games this season. Check out his latest goal:
- Arseni Sergeev’s stats took a major hit this weekend. He was pulled from his team’s game on November 10 after allowing four goals on 12 shots through just two periods. His GAA spiked up to 2.82, and his save percentage dipped just below 0.900 and sits at 0.897.
QMJHL
- Etienne Morin, the Flames’ only prospect in the QMJHL, had one assist over two games and fell a smidge below a point-per-game pace. He has five goals and 13 points in 14 games for the Moncton Wildcats.
USHL
- Cade Littler—a top-scoring prospect for the Flames—has missed his team’s last three games due to injury, dating to November 5. He was on a heater with eight goals in 13 games prior to the injury.
WHL
- Another blow struck the Flames in the form of an injury to one of their top-scoring prospects. Parker Bell, who was off to a hot start with 12 points in 11 games, has now missed three straight games with an injury after taking a hard hit during a game against the Spokane Chiefs on November 4. So far, there is no word on how long he’ll be out of the lineup.
- Flames 2023 first-round pick Samuel Honzek still has not returned to game action as he recovers from an injury of his own.
- With Honzek and now Bell out, Jaden Lipinski is currently the only Flames prospect playing in the WHL. He added another goal and an assist over the last three games and is up to 12 points in 17 games. Watch Lipinski score right off the faceoff:
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)
- Jeremie Poirier: 69.7 (Same)
- Connor Zary: 66.6 (Same)
- Ben Jones: 39.9 (New)(Tie)
- Martin Pospisil: 39.9 (Same)(Tie)
- Matt Coronato: 39.9 (New)(Tie)
- Rory Kerins: 39.9 (Same)(Tie)
- Ilya Nikolayev: 39.9 (New)(Tie)
Overall regular season totals for Flames prospects
Forwards
| PLAYER | POSITION | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | NHLE | TEAM | LEAGUE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parker Bell | LW | 11 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 1.09 | 4 | 27.0 | Tri-City Americans | WHL |
| Lucas Ciona | LW | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.11 | 11 | 4.4 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Matt Coronato | RW/LW | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1.00 | 0 | 39.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Mathias Emilio Pettersen | C/LW | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0.50 | 2 | 19.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Samuel Honzek | LW/C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Vancouver Giants | WHL |
| Ben Jones | C | 10 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 1.00 | 6 | 39.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Rory Kerins | C/LW | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1.00 | 0 | 39.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Adam Klapka | RW | 10 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 0.80 | 18 | 31.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Jaden Lipinski | C | 17 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 0.71 | 20 | 17.6 | Vancouver Giants | WHL |
| Cade Littler | C | 13 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 0.85 | 10 | 18.8 | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders | USHL |
| Ilya Nikolayev | C | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.00 | 0 | 39.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Martin Pospisil | C/W | 6 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 1.00 | 6 | 39.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Topi Ronni | C | 12 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.17 | 4 | 6.3 | Tappara | Liiga |
| Cole Schwindt | C/RW | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0.50 | 6 | 19.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| William Stromgren | LW | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.22 | 4 | 8.8 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Aydar Suniev | LW | 9 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0.56 | 0 | 18.0 | UMass | NCAA |
| Connor Zary | C | 6 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 1.67 | 2 | 66.6 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
Defencemen
| PLAYER | POSITION | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | NHLE | TEAM | LEAGUE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jake Boltmann | RHD | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | Notre Dame | NCAA |
| Axel Hurtig | LHD | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.50 | 0 | N/A | Rogle BK J20 | J20 Nationell |
| Yan Kuznetsov | LHD | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.20 | 2 | 8.0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Etienne Morin | LHD | 14 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 0.93 | 6 | 21.7 | Moncton Wildcats | QMJHL |
| Jeremie Poirier | LHD | 4 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 1.75 | 0 | 69.7 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Ilya Solovyov | LHD | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0.38 | 6 | 15.1 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
Goalies
| PLAYER | POSITION | GP | GAA | SV% | TEAM | LEAGUE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arseni Sergeev | G | 6 | 2.82 | 0.897 | University of Connecticut | NCAA |
| Dustin Wolf | G | 6 | 2.34 | 0.924 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Yegor Yegorov | G | 9 | 2.48 | 0.914 | MHK Dynamo Moskva | MHL |
Following the prospects
Staying up to date with the development of prospects is no easy task. Follow along throughout the season for the latest happenings in the entire Flames’ development pipelines!
Photo from @AHLWranglers.
