The Flames are in their final week before the NHL Trade Deadline and should look very different after the week is out. There are likely to be more new prospects joining the team, and they already added one this week in Artyom Grushnikov. While he had no points this week, he did play big minutes for his new team.
One of the Flames’ Vancouver Giants prospects had a big week, while the other simply did not. Surprisingly, it’s not the one you probably thought it was. It’s time to start worrying about Samuel Honzek’s production this season.
Jake Boltmann did not record any points this week, but Notre Dame also didn’t play any games.
There’s so much to discuss, 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 welcomed a new face to their team in Artyom Grushnikov, who came over in the Chris Tanev deal. He played in his first two games this week but had no points.
- A big, big welcome back to Jeremie Poirier, who is back after missing months on the IR. He looked not-great in his first game back—but he was also out of action for months—so that is to be expected. That should change in due time. In his last game, he was on the ice for three of the Wranglers’ five goals for, as well as being on the ice when they had the goalie pulled as well as on the power play in overtime where they scored.
- What a week for Lucas Ciona, who had two goals and a fight. He really has not been good at all this season, but to see him start to put points on the board is huge.
- Two goals and four assists for Adam Klapka this week, who has been very good. He is probably due for a call-up again before the end of the season.
- An assist for Rory Kerins in one game, who was then scratched in his next game. His play has been very good but he has somehow not earned the trust of his coach to this point.
- Two goals and an assist for William Stromgren as well. Good to see him starting to put points on the board.
BCHL
- No games this week for Cade Littler as he deals with an injury. Hopefully he’s back on his feet soon.
ECHL
- Wow, so empty here! It’s probably a good sign that none of the Flames prospects are playing in the ECHL.
Europe
- A goal and an assist for Axel Hurtig in the J20. He also played three games in the SHL but had no points.
- The Calgary Hitmen currently own his North American rights, and given they are part of the CSEC umbrella, expect him to be in North America next season.
- Only one game and no points for Joni Jurmo in Finland.
- No games for either Yegor Yegorov or Daniil Chechelev. Chechelev has really not been good in his time in Russia.
- One game and no points for Topi Ronni.
NCAA
- Another big week for Aydar Suniev, who had a goal and two assists for UMass. He has been playing on the wing of the team’s top line.
- Arseni Sergeev featured in one game and saw his stats remain almost exactly the same as they were the previous week.
- No games this week for our good friend Jake Boltmann.
OHL
- Another big week for Hunter Brzustewicz, who had a goal and three assists for the Kitchener Rangers.
- His 84 points this season ties him with former Flame Al McInnes for second in the Rangers’ all-time scoring record among defencemen. He needs just eight more points to tie the record. The Rangers have eight more games left in the season, and if he stays healthy, he should be able to beat this record.
QMJHL
- No points this week for Etienne Morin. He continues to be very good for the Moncton Wildcats.
WHL
- What a massive week for Jaden Lipinski in Vancouver. The 2023 fourth-round pick had a goal and five assists this week for the Giants as he continues to play on the top line.
- Just a goal and an assist for Samuel Honzek for the Giants. He continues to play on the wing of the second line, so not with Lipinski.
- It’s becoming time to worry about Honzek’s production. While he has only played 27 games, he is still playing on the wing and is only at a point-per-game pace as a first-round pick.
- For reference, first-round pick Connor Zary had 24 points in 15 games in his D+1 year. It’s starting to get worrisome how Honzek’s production has looked this season.
- A quiet week for Parker Bell, who had just one assist this week.
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)
- Connor Zary: 66.6 (+1)
- Jeremie Poirier: 46.6 (-1)
- Matt Coronato: 43.0 (Same)
- Martin Pospisil: 39.9 (Same)
- Hunter Brzustewicz: 37.1 (Same)
Overall regular season totals for Flames prospects
Forwards
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | NHLe | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parker Bell | LW | 51 | 27 | 26 | 53 | 1.04 | 34 | 26.2 | Tri-City Americans | WHL |
| Lucas Ciona | LW | 44 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0.12 | 50 | 2.8 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Matt Coronato | RW/LW | 40 | 15 | 27 | 42 | 1.05 | 19 | 43.0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Samuel Honzek | LW/C | 27 | 9 | 18 | 27 | 1.00 | 12 | 25.8 | Vancouver Giants | WHL |
| Ben Jones | C | 53 | 19 | 17 | 36 | 0.65 | 34 | 24.7 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Rory Kerins | C/LW | 43 | 12 | 16 | 28 | 0.67 | 6 | 26.3 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Adam Klapka | RW | 47 | 13 | 18 | 31 | 0.61 | 59 | 23.5 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Jaden Lipinski | C | 59 | 17 | 38 | 55 | 0.93 | 55 | 21.8 | Vancouver Giants | WHL |
| Cade Littler | C | 14 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 0.79 | 10 | 17.5 | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders | USHL |
| 24 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 0.88 | 14 | 9.4 | Penticton Vees | BCHL | ||
| Ilya Nikolayev | C | 26 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0.23 | 8 | 9.2 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Mathias Emilio Pettersen | C/LW | 53 | 7 | 23 | 30 | 0.56 | 31 | 23.1 | 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 |
| 18 | 9 | 20 | 29 | 1.61 | 40 | N/A | Tappara U20 | U20 SM-sarja | ||
| Cole Schwindt | C/RW | 47 | 14 | 14 | 28 | 0.57 | 27 | 22.7 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| William Stromgren | LW | 49 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 0.27 | 12 | 10.4 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Aydar Suniev | LW | 31 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 0.81 | 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 | 28 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.07 | 20 | 2.3 | Notre Dame | NCAA |
| Hunter Brzustewicz | RHD | 59 | 12 | 72 | 84 | 1.42 | 18 | 37.1 | Kitchener Rangers | OHL |
| Artyom Grushnikov | LHD | 47 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0.11 | 32 | 4.4 | Calgary Wranglers/Texas Stars | AHL |
| Axel Hurtig | LHD | 23 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 0.43 | 31 | N/A | Rogle BK J20 | J20 Nationell |
| 7 | 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 | 45 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0.11 | 14 | 4.1 | KooKoo/Ilves | Liiga |
| Yan Kuznetsov | LHD | 49 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 0.25 | 21 | 9.6 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Etienne Morin | LHD | 49 | 9 | 32 | 41 | 0.84 | 27 | 20.3 | Moncton Wildcats | QMJHL |
| Jeremie Poirier | LHD | 6 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 1.20 | 0 | 46.6 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Ilya Solovyov | LHD | 38 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 0.26 | 30 | 10.4 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
Goalies
| Player | Position | GP | GAA | SV% | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arseni Sergeev | G | 13 | 2.77 | 0.912 | University of Connecticut | NCAA |
| Dustin Wolf | G | 33 | 2.39 | 0.924 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Yegor Yegorov | G | 25 | 2.46 | 0.917 | 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!
