A look back at the Calgary Flames 2020 prospect rankings

We continue our path down memory lane, this time with a look back at the Flames 2020 prospect rankings. We’ll see many of the same names from our review of the 2021, 2022 and 2023 lists, however there are also a couple new names that show up as well.

In 2020, the Flames were only a couple years removed from a long rebuild and looking to shift into contender status. As such, there aren’t any blue-chip prospects on the 2020 list, and not a single player picked inside the top 15 of the draft.

#10 Jeremie Poirier

Fresh off being selected by the Flames in the third round of the 2020 draft, Jeremie Poirier makes his first appearance on the Flames top 10 prospect list at number 10. Poirier was a divisive prospect coming into the draft, which is why he slipped down to the third round despite his production in the QMJHL.

Poirier was coming off a 53-point season in the QMJHL as a 17-year-old, finishing second on his team in scoring from the blueline. Poirier was labelled a high-end but deeply flawed offensive defenceman at this time, which is why he didn’t rank higher. Since this ranking, he’s continued to rack up points in the QMJHL and eventually the AHL and has since become one of the Flames’ best blueline prospects as he rounds out his game.

#9 Matthew Phillips

Once again, Matthew Phillips appears on the Flames top 10 prospects list. In 2020 Phillips had just completed his second season in the AHL, four years after being selected in the sixth round by the Flames. His production that year started gaining him some attention as a legitimate prospect. With 33 points in 38 games as a 21-year-old, Phillips finished fifth on the Heat in scoring.

We all know how this story finished. Phillips would continue his ascension as a top prospect in the organization, eventually ranking in the top five on our yearly Flames prospect lists. He’d post back-to-back point-per-game seasons in the AHL in 2021–22 and 2022–23 but was given just three games with the Flames and left as a free agent last year.

#8 Glenn Gawdin

2020 was the highest peak for Glenn Gawdin as a Flames prospect. Signed as a free agent in 2017, Gawdin had his most successful pro season of his career in 2019–20, leading the Heat in scoring with 47 points in just his second year of pro hockey. Unfortunately, he could never capture that magic again and his ranking here is the highest he’d get.

Following the 2019–20 season, Gawdin would see just nine games with the Flames over the next two years and left the organization as a free agent in 2022. He’s since played just four games in the NHL and looks like a career AHLer at this point.

#7 Dimitry Zavgorodniy

Talk about a one-hit wonder. Dimitry Zavgorodniy rose all the way up to the seventh spot on the Flames top prospect list in 2020, and never appeared on the list again. A seventh-round pick in the 2018 draft, Zavgorodniy racked up points in the QMJHL during the 2019–20 season, putting up 67 points in just 40 games. With that said his production deserves to come with an asterisk as it was in large part due to his spot alongside QMJHL prodigy Alexis Lafreniere.

Following this ranking, Zavgorodniy made his debut in the AHL in 2020–21, putting up just four points in 29 games. The following year he managed just one point in 12 AHL games before leaving the organization to head to the KHL which is where he’s played ever since.

#6 Emilio Pettersen

Selected in the sixth round of the 2018 draft, the Emilio Pettersen hype was as high as ever in 2020. Pettersen was coming off a great season in the NCAA in 2019–20 with 35 points in 36 games, leading the University of Denver in scoring. At this point in time, it looked like the Flames may have found a gem late in the draft.

Pettersen continued his solid play over the next couple of years as a consistently strong player in the AHL, but year after year he failed to take a major step forward. Eventually, he was passed over by multiple similar forward prospects in the Flames pipeline and was dealt in an AHL-only deal back in March.

#5 Dustin Wolf

A year removed from being a seventh-round pick in the 2019 draft, Dustin Wolf skyrocketed up the organizational rankings on the back of a tremendous 2019–20 season in the WHL. Wolf posted a .935 save percentage and a 34–10–2 record, earning the WHL, CHL, and USA Hockey Goaltender of the Year awards.

Since this ranking, Wolf has continued to dominate at every level and had been widely considered the organization’s top prospect for multiple seasons before Zayne Parekh entered the fold this season. Until proven otherwise, Dustin Wolf remains the Flames goaltender of the future.

#4 Connor Mackey

The Connor Mackey era was truly something else. For multiple seasons he was considered one of the Flames’ very best prospects… until he wasn’t. In 2020 Mackey was just recently signed by the Flames out of the NCAA after a 24-point season from the backend, and he immediately became one of the top defence prospects in the organization.

The hype around Mackey continued over the next two years as he posted 52 points in 80 AHL games, and also skated in nine NHL games. The issue is he was never able to earn a full-time role in Calgary and by 2023 he was a regular healthy scratch and ended up traded to Arizona. He’s since managed just 21 NHL games.

#3 Jakob Pelletier

One year after being the Flames’ first pick of the 2019 draft, Jakob Pelletier was considered one of the best prospects in the entire organization. The then 19-year-old was coming off an 82-point season in the QMJHL in just 57 games. Following the ranking Pelletier lit up the QMJHL for one more season, before making the jump to the AHL in 2021–22 and earning a spot on the AHL’s All-Rookie team.

In what should’ve been his first full season in Calgary this past year, Pelletier suffered a major injury in preseason and managed just 31 games across the NHL and AHL. He’s still considered one of the best forward prospects in the organization, but time is now running out for the 23-year-old to prove he deserves a shot in the NHL.

#2 Connor Zary

The Flames’ first-round pick in 2020, Connor Zary immediately became the top forward prospect in the Flames pipeline, earning the number two spot on the top 10 rankings. Zary was fresh off an 86-point draft year in the WHL, finishing second on his team in scoring. The following year after this ranking Zary earned his first taste of AHL hockey.

Zary’s performance in the AHL over the years following 2020 were both up and down, but this past season he earned a full-time role in the NHL and never looked out of place. He’s now gone from a top prospect to a key player on the Flames roster.

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#1 Juuso Valimaki

Ouch. The hope for Valimaki’s future in Calgary was arguably never higher than it was in 2020. The 16th overall pick in the 2017 draft, Valimaki was coming off a major injury at the time of this ranking that cost him his entire 2019–20 season. With that said, in 2018–19 he made his NHL debut as a 21-year-old and that was enough to keep him at the top of the Flames prospect list in 2020.

Valimaki would dominate the Finnish league following this ranking, creating even more hype for the Flames’ top prospect. Unfortunately, Valimaki was just never able to earn a full-time role with the Flames over the two years after this ranking, and was eventually lost on waivers in 2022. He’s since become a full-time NHL defender in Arizona.

Plenty of change

The Flames have seen plenty of turnover on their top 10 prospect list in the last three years, with just four of the 10 names still in the organization. It’s clear the Flames were prioritizing winning over building for the future in 2021, as the team’s prospect depth was, in a word, bland.

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Joshua SerafiniAugust 21, 2024

6 minutes read