Just two more games remain in the regular season for the Calgary Wranglers as they get set for the playoffs. They have many additional bodies fighting for minutes in the lineup, and with the Flames’ season ending soon, there will be even more back and ready to compete in the next round.
Elsewhere, only Hunter Brzustewicz continues in the post-season. His Kitchener Rangers played three games, and the Flames’ blueliner has three points so far.
The rest of the Flames’ prospects are done for the year, but there is still much to discuss. Let’s jump into it.
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 lost both of their games this week to the Abbotsford Canucks, both by a 3–1 score. They only have two more games, and both are against the Canucks this weekend.
- Rory Kerins was the sole prospect to score this week for the Wranglers, and he continues to impress in his first full season with the team. Given his production, it is a little surprising how much time he spent in the ECHL last season.
- Cole Schwindt was the only prospect to pick up an assist this week. He hasn’t been bad this season, but he hasn’t been good enough to merit a real NHL look.
- Adam Klapka earned a call-up to the Flames this week, great to see him earn a second stint in the NHL.
- The Flames signed Waltterri Ignatjew to a one-way contract out of Sweden. The Finnish netminder carried Mora IK all season, playing 45 games and putting up a 0.918 save percentage. This was the most games played by any goalie in the league by some distance, and he finished fourth in save percentage.
- The Wranglers likely will need another goalie next season. Oscar Dansk’s contract is up at the end of the year, and Dustin Wolf likely starts the year in the NHL. While they do have Connor Murphy, who has been quite good in 14 games this year, they likely need more strength in net.
- The Wranglers are playoff-bound and will likely finish seventh in the playoff standings. If this remains the case, they will face the Tucson Roadrunners in the first round, which is a best-of-three series. The teams split their season series 2–2.
BCHL
- Cade Littler is done for the season after suffering an upper-body injury. All the best in your recovery, Cade!
ECHL
- Ilya Nikolayev had three assists this week for the Rapid City Rush! Great to see him contributing for the team, but he is clearly too good for this level.
- He has been called up to the Wranglers finally, but given the number of bodies the team has, do not expect him to have regular minutes. A really tough situation for him to be in right now.
Europe
- All the Flames’ European prospects are done for the season.
- What happens next for Axel Hurtig is going to be interesting. The Calgary Hitmen own his North American rights, and there is a very good chance that he will play next season in the WHL with them.
NCAA
- All the Flames’ prospects are done in the NCAA.
- Aydar Suniev will be back with UMass next season.
- Arseni Sergeev will be playing with Penn State next season after transferring from UConn.
- The Flames have until August to sign Jake Boltmann, or they lose his rights. Smart money would say this is the end of the road for the former third-round pick.
OHL
- Hunter Brzustewicz had a goal and two assists this week, but the Kitchener Rangers are down 3–0 in their first round series against the London Knights. London is a very strong side, which does not bode well for the Rangers.
QMJHL
- Etienne Morin and the Moncton Wildcats were swept by the Chicoutimi Saguenéens. He is now with the Wranglers on an amateur tryout but is expected to be back in the QMJHL next season.
WHL
- All three of the Flames’ WHL prospects are done for the season, and all three are now in the AHL with the Wranglers. Bell and Honzek will likely be there next season, while Lipinski likely needs one more season in the WHL before making the jump.
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 (Same)
- Matt Coronato: 41.8 (Same)
- Martin Pospisil: 39.9 (Same)
- Hunter Brzustewicz: 36.3 (Same)
- Adam Klapka: 28.3 (Same)
Overall regular season totals for Flames prospects
Forwards
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | NHLe | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parker Bell | LW | 59 | 33 | 31 | 64 | 1.08 | 38 | 26.7 | Tri-City Americans | WHL |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL | ||
| Lucas Ciona | LW | 55 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0.11 | 82 | 4.4 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Matt Coronato | RW/LW | 40 | 15 | 27 | 42 | 1.05 | 19 | 41.8 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Riley Damiani | C | 66 | 11 | 13 | 24 | 0.36 | 36 | 15.1 | Calgary Wranglers/Texas Stars | AHL |
| Samuel Honzek | LW/C | 33 | 10 | 21 | 31 | 0.94 | 18 | 23.3 | Vancouver Giants | WHL |
| Ben Jones | C | 70 | 21 | 22 | 43 | 0.61 | 52 | 25.1 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Rory Kerins | C/LW | 53 | 16 | 16 | 32 | 0.60 | 8 | 24.3 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Adam Klapka | RW | 64 | 21 | 24 | 45 | 0.70 | 88 | 28.3 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Jaden Lipinski | C | 67 | 24 | 42 | 66 | 0.99 | 55 | 24.5 | Vancouver Giants | WHL |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL | ||
| 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 | ||
| Sam Morton | C | 11 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0.45 | 5 | 17.6 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Ilya Nikolayev | C | 29 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0.21 | 8 | 8.4 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| C | 6 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 1.33 | 14 | N/A | Rapid City Rush | ECHL | |
| Martin Pospisil | C/W | 6 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 1.00 | 6 | 39.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Cole Schwindt | C/RW | 64 | 14 | 21 | 35 | 0.55 | 31 | 21.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| William Stromgren | LW | 66 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 0.38 | 16 | 15.5 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Aydar Suniev | LW | 36 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 0.69 | 25 | 22.2 | 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 | 30 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.07 | 22 | 2.3 | Notre Dame | NCAA |
| Hunter Brzustewicz | RHD | 67 | 13 | 79 | 92 | 1.37 | 24 | 36.3 | Kitchener Rangers | OHL |
| Artyom Grushnikov | LHD | 62 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0.10 | 40 | 4.0 | Calgary Wranglers/Texas Stars | AHL |
| Axel Hurtig | LHD | 27 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 0.41 | 35 | N/A | Rogle BK J20 | J20 Nationell |
| 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0 | Rogle BK | SHL | ||
| 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.25 | 0 | N/A | Kristianstads IK | HockeyEttan | ||
| Joni Jurmo | LHD | 46 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0.11 | 14 | 4.1 | KooKoo/Ilves | Liiga |
| Yan Kuznetsov | LHD | 61 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 0.20 | 27 | 8.0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Etienne Morin | LHD | 58 | 12 | 37 | 49 | 0.84 | 31 | 19.6 | Moncton Wildcats | QMJHL |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL | ||
| Jeremie Poirier | LHD | 21 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 0.62 | 20 | 24.1 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Ilya Solovyov | LHD | 50 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 0.28 | 34 | 11.2 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
Goalies
| Player | Position | GP | GAA | SV% | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arseni Sergeev | G | 16 | 2.70 | 0.913 | University of Connecticut | NCAA |
| Dustin Wolf | G | 35 | 2.43 | 0.923 | 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 | ||
| Waltteri Ignatjew | G | 45 | 2.34 | 0.918 | Mora IK | HockeyAllsvenskan |
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.
