Many of the Calgary Flames’ prospects either did not play or did not find the scoresheet this week. The best performances came from the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers, where William Stromgren erupted for four points, Cole Schwindt had a pair of assists, and Yan Kuznetsov and Ilya Solovyov each recorded a point.
Arseni Sergeev continued his excellent play for the University of Connecticut in the NCAA.
You may already know the answer to our weekly question, but I’m self-obligated to ask it anyway: did Jake Boltmann get a point?
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
- The Wranglers went 0–2 without Dustin Wolf tending the net this week, losing 4–3 to the Coachella Valley Firebirds and 7–3 to the Bakersfield Condors. Despite these losses, there were positives to take away.
- First and foremost, Stromgren—who had four points on the year entering this week—added four assists, doubling his points totals. Take a look at this one:
- Wolf didn’t play this week as he was recalled and with the Flames.
- Adding a point each to their totals: Kuznetsov scored his third goal of the season and Solovyov added his fifth assist. Neither have been huge point-producers at the AHL level, so it’s nice to see both produce at a point through two games this week.
- Schwindt—whose last name I always have to spellcheck at least three times because it has too many consonants—had a pair of assists this week. Schwindt was recalled by the Flames yesterday, with Dillon Dube and Martin Pospisil out for the time being. Check out this assist he picked up while on his knees:
- Lucas Ciona makes the cut this week, not for his point contributions, but for the 17 penalty minutes he racked up against the Firebirds. His fighting major in the second period earned him a two-minute instigator penalty and a 10-minute misconduct for instigating.
- Rory Kerins had a pair of goals this week, including the one you just watched. Here’s his other one, where you’ll also see Solovyov’s assist:
BCHL
- No games for Cade Littler this week. He’s looking fine for the BCHL’s Penticton Vees with 13 points in 15 games.
ECHL
- Wow, so empty here! It’s probably a good sign that none of the Flames prospects are playing in the ECHL.
Europe
- Topi Ronni scored another goal and three assists in two games in the Finnish U20 this week.
- Axel Hurtig went scoreless in one game in the Swedish J20. He boasts a respectable seven points through 15 games.
- No games for Yegor Yegorov or Daniil Chechelev this week. On the one hand, Yegorov has looked excellent this year; on the other hand, Chechelev is hoping to see more game action and improve on a rough start in the VHL.
NCAA
- He’s on the board! I am excited to inform you that Jake Boltmann scored his first point of the year this week. Congratulations, Jake! It was a secondary assist on Notre Dame’s opening goal in their 4–1 win over Penn State on January 19.
- No points for Aydar Suniev this week. He sports 17 points through 21 games this year and has been a big part of UMass’ offence.
- Arseni Sergeev continued his elite play, stopping 43 of 44 shots to earn a 2–1 win over New Hampshire on Sunday. His save percentage on the year is up to 0.925. Oh, and there’s this:
QMJHL
- Etienne Morin picked up four assists this week and could be starting to heat up again. He’s up to 33 points in 36 games for the Moncton Wildcats.
WHL
- Parker Bell picked up two assists in three games this week for the Tri-City Americans. He’s been a nice surprise all season.
- Samuel Honzek scored two points (1–1) in two games for the Vancouver Giants. He’s consistently been above a point per game since return from injury last month.
- The cool streak continues for Jaden Lipinski this week, as he didn’t register a point for the Giants through two games.
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)
- Matt Coronato: 42.6 (Same)
- Martin Pospisil: 39.9 (Same)
- Rory Kerins: 31.5 (Same)
Overall regular season totals for Flames prospects
Forwards
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | NHLe | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parker Bell | LW | 35 | 19 | 18 | 37 | 1.06 | 19 | 26.2 | Tri-City Americans | WHL |
| Lucas Ciona | LW | 33 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0.09 | 46 | 3.6 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Matt Coronato | RW/LW | 27 | 12 | 17 | 29 | 1.07 | 8 | 42.6 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Mathias Emilio Pettersen | C/LW | 37 | 7 | 19 | 26 | 0.70 | 12 | 27.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Samuel Honzek | LW/C | 11 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 1.18 | 4 | 29.2 | Vancouver Giants | WHL |
| Ben Jones | C | 37 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 0.65 | 26 | 25.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Rory Kerins | C/LW | 29 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 0.79 | 4 | 31.5 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Adam Klapka | RW | 33 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 0.64 | 42 | 25.5 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Jaden Lipinski | C | 43 | 12 | 26 | 38 | 0.88 | 41 | 21.8 | Vancouver Giants | WHL |
| Cade Littler | C | 14 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 0.79 | 10 | 17.5 | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders | USHL |
| 15 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 0.87 | 12 | 9.3 | Penticton Vees | BCHL | ||
| Ilya Nikolayev | C | 20 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0.25 | 6 | 10.0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Martin Pospisil | C/W | 6 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 1.00 | 6 | 39.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Topi Ronni | C | 19 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.11 | 4 | 4.1 | Tappara | Liiga |
| 11 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 1.73 | 24 | N/A | Tappara U20 | U20 SM-sarja | ||
| Cole Schwindt | C/RW | 37 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 0.54 | 10 | 21.5 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| William Stromgren | LW | 34 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 0.24 | 10 | 9.6 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Aydar Suniev | LW | 21 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 0.81 | 19 | 26.1 | 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 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.05 | 20 | 1.6 | Notre Dame | NCAA |
| Axel Hurtig | LHD | 15 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0.47 | 29 | N/A | Rogle BK J20 | J20 Nationell |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | Rogle BK | SHL | ||
| 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.25 | 0 | N/A | Kristianstads IK | HockeyEttan | ||
| Yan Kuznetsov | LHD | 33 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 0.24 | 13 | 9.6 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Etienne Morin | LHD | 36 | 8 | 25 | 33 | 0.92 | 14 | 21.4 | Moncton Wildcats | QMJHL |
| Jeremie Poirier | LHD | 4 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 1.75 | 0 | 69.7 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Ilya Solovyov | LHD | 29 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 0.24 | 18 | 9.6 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
Goalies
| Player | Position | GP | GAA | SV% | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arseni Sergeev | G | 8 | 2.22 | 0.925 | University of Connecticut | NCAA |
| Dustin Wolf | G | 23 | 2.27 | 0.929 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Yegor Yegorov | G | 19 | 1.93 | 0.931 | MHK Dynamo Moskva | MHL |
| Daniil Chechelev | G | 1 | 3.10 | 0.889 | Ryazan-VDV | VHL |
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.
