The Calgary Flames’ prospects had yet another huge week and, in a time of rebuild, all eyes should be on them. If you’re not already enamoured with Hunter Brzustewicz and his potential in the NHL, now is the time! The blueliner leads all players in the OHL in assists, and put up seven more points this week. He looks just incredible.
Outside of the American blueliner, all three WHL prospects had multipoint weeks, including six points from Parker Bell.
The Calgary Wranglers had a mixed week, with a surprising prospect leading the way in points. They are desperately shorthanded right now, between call-ups and injuries.
Did Jake Boltmann score this week? Did Daniil Chechelev win a game of hockey in Russia? Did Aydar Suniev have a multi-point week? One of these things is true. Take a look below for all this and more.
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 1–0–2 this week, beating the Abbotsford Canucks but then losing in overtime and a shootout to the Canucks and Manitoba Moose respectively.
- The big challenge with the Wranglers continues to be manpower. The team has lost Connor Zary, Jakob Pelletier, Walker Duehr and more to the Flames, as well as Ilya Solovyov, Jeremie Poirier and more to injuries. Throw in the number of veterans that the team has lost in the last two years, including Nick DeSimone and Matthew Phillips, as well as the revolving door of call-ups. The Wranglers have had to make the most of the guys they have had.
- You absolutely have to give credit to Trent Cull and the coaching staff for making do with what they have. Unlike last season—when the team had three players in the top-50 in league scoring—this season, only rookie Matt Coronato is in the top-50, sitting 34th with 37 points on the year. The team has had to rely much more on scoring by committee than ever before.
- Speaking of Coronato, the forward had one more assist this week.
- It was a good week for William Stromgren, who had a goal and two assists this week. Take a look at the goal here:
- I wouldn’t go so far as to say he’s heating up, but he clearly is struggling less than he was before.
- One player who has quietly been excellent is Rory Kerins, who added another goal this week. Take a look at his goal here:
- He has been playing very light minutes all season, but has quietly been very impressive. According to data from InStatHockey, Kerins has the sixth-best game score per 60 in the league right now, behind only Coronato on the team.
- Also on the list is Adam Klapka, who featured in his 100th AHL game this week.
- Wolf followed up a very forgettable call-up to the Flames with an excellent two games in the AHL. He is clearly too good for that league and deserves a real look in the NHL. Ideally, he deserves a look where he doesn’t face multiple odd-man rushes and giveaways in his own zone.
BCHL
- A goal and an assist for Cade Littler in the BCHL. He probably should be putting up more points and probably shouldn’t be in the BCHL anymore. He is NCAA-bound next season.
ECHL
- Wow, so empty here! It’s probably a good sign that none of the Flames prospects are playing in the ECHL.
- In any other year, Lucas Ciona would probably have been sent to the ECHL for more minutes. He continues to struggle in the AHL, featuring in just one game this week. He simply has not made the impact he did at the WHL level last season. On a depleted Wranglers squad, a prospect not playing is a big red flag. Three points in 41 games is a big yikes.
Europe
- A goal and five assists for Topi Ronni in the J20. He has struggled to make an impact in the Liiga, but leads the J20 in points-per-game among players who have played more than 10 games.
- No games this week for Yegor Yegorov in Russia.
- One assist for Axel Hurtig this week.
- No points this week for Joni Jurmo. His numbers don’t jump off the page, but the Flames will likely try him in North America once his season ends in the spring.
- Daniil Chechelev played in the VHL and allowed five goals against. This saw his numbers come crashing down. Not great.
NCAA
- Hooray for Jake Boltmann! The blueliner had an assist this week to double his point total on the season. Take a look at the assist here:
- Goals in back-to-back shifts for Aydar Suniev at UMass. Take a look at the goals here:
- No games this week for Arseni Sergeev at UConn.
OHL
- Everyone needs to learn how to spell Hunter Brzustewicz! The blueliner had three goals and four assists for Kitchener and now sits sixth in scoring in the league. Only one defenceman is ahead of him in points, but Brzustewicz leads the entire league in assists this season.
- Take a look at this goal he scored and the impeccable celly after.
QMJHL
- A big week for Etienne Morin with four assists for Moncton. The defenceman sits fifth in the league in scoring and fourth in points-per-game.
WHL
- A massive week for Parker Bell out in Tri-City. The forward had two goals and four assists for the struggling Americans.
- At just over a point-per-game, Bell sits third on his team with 48 points in 47 games. He does have a -12 rating, which is pretty on par for the team.
- Three assists this week for Samuel Honzek. His numbers aren’t outstanding, but he sits above a point-per-game in this injury-shortened season.
- A goal and an assist for Jaden Lipinski in Vancouver. He has taken massive strides this season, nearly at the same number of points as he had all of last season. Lipinski is also second on the team in points.
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: 41.0 (Same)
- Martin Pospisil: 39.9 (Same)
- Hunter Brzustewicz: 36.8 (Same)
Overall regular season totals for Flames prospects
Forwards
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | NHLe | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parker Bell | LW | 47 | 23 | 25 | 48 | 1.02 | 34 | 24.3 | Tri-City Americans | WHL |
| Lucas Ciona | LW | 41 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0.07 | 48 | 3.2 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Matt Coronato | RW/LW | 36 | 14 | 23 | 37 | 1.03 | 19 | 41.0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Samuel Honzek | LW/C | 22 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 1.09 | 10 | 29.0 | Vancouver Giants | WHL |
| Ben Jones | C | 48 | 15 | 16 | 31 | 0.65 | 32 | 25.5 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Rory Kerins | C/LW | 39 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 0.64 | 6 | 27.5 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Adam Klapka | RW | 42 | 11 | 15 | 26 | 0.62 | 52 | 27.1 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Jaden Lipinski | C | 54 | 16 | 31 | 47 | 0.87 | 53 | 22.3 | Vancouver Giants | WHL |
| Cade Littler | C | 14 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 0.79 | 10 | 17.5 | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders | USHL |
| 23 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 0.91 | 12 | 9.4 | Penticton Vees | BCHL | ||
| Ilya Nikolayev | C | 24 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0.25 | 8 | 10.8 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Mathias Emilio Pettersen | C/LW | 48 | 7 | 22 | 29 | 0.60 | 27 | 25.5 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Martin Pospisil | C/W | 6 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 1.00 | 6 | 39.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Topi Ronni | C | 22 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.09 | 6 | 3.3 | Tappara | Liiga |
| 15 | 9 | 19 | 28 | 1.87 | 38 | N/A | Tappara U20 | U20 SM-sarja | ||
| Cole Schwindt | C/RW | 42 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 0.52 | 27 | 19.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| William Stromgren | LW | 44 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 0.27 | 12 | 8.8 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Aydar Suniev | LW | 27 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 0.78 | 21 | 24.5 | 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 | 26 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.08 | 20 | 1.1 | Notre Dame | NCAA |
| Hunter Brzustewicz | RHD | 55 | 11 | 67 | 78 | 1.42 | 18 | 36.8 | Kitchener Rangers | OHL |
| Axel Hurtig | LHD | 20 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 0.45 | 31 | N/A | Rogle BK J20 | J20 Nationell |
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | Rogle BK | SHL | ||
| 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.25 | 0 | N/A | Kristianstads IK | HockeyEttan | ||
| Joni Jurmo | LHD | 41 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0.12 | 10 | 4.8 | KooKoo/Ilves | Liiga |
| Yan Kuznetsov | LHD | 44 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 0.25 | 21 | 11.2 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Etienne Morin | LHD | 44 | 9 | 31 | 40 | 0.91 | 27 | 20.5 | Moncton Wildcats | QMJHL |
| Jeremie Poirier | LHD | 4 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 1.75 | 0 | 69.7 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Ilya Solovyov | LHD | 38 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 0.27 | 30 | 11.2 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
Goalies
| Player | Position | GP | GAA | SV% | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arseni Sergeev | G | 11 | 2.45 | 0.921 | University of Connecticut | NCAA |
| Dustin Wolf | G | 30 | 2.25 | 0.928 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Yegor Yegorov | G | 20 | 1.94 | 0.932 | MHK Dynamo Moskva | MHL |
| Daniil Chechelev | G | 5 | 3.10 | 0.908 | Ryazan-VDV | VHL |
| 1 | 3.10 | 0.880 | Vityaz Moscow Region | KHL |
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!
