We finish off our look back at Flames prospect lists of years past with the 2019 top 10 group. Coming off a historic and surprising 2018-19 season, the Flames went from pretender to contender overnight and boasted a decent stable of young talent in their system at the same time. Then general manager Brad Treliving believed the crop to be so strong that he infamously refused to part with any of his top prospects at the trade deadline that season.
Unfortunately, that now looks like quite a massive mistake given how that season ended. Now five years removed from the summer of 2019, just two of the top 10 prospects from 2019 still remain in the organization. In fact, only four of the 10 are even still in the NHL.
#10 Martin Pospisil
The roller coaster career of Martin Pospisil should be studied. A year removed from being selected in the fourth round of the 2018 draft, Pospisil was considered a fringe top 10 prospect in the organization in 2019. He was coming off a huge D+1 year in the USHL in 2018-19 with 63 points, however the USHL isn’t considered at the same level as the CHL or NCAA. Still, his numbers earned him a spot in the top 10.
Pospisil fell off the radar a bit over the next couple seasons due to various injuries to the point he wasn’t considered a top prospect anymore. However, this past season in 2023-24 he finally made his NHL debut six years after being drafted and immediately became a fan favourite and mainstay on the Flames. He now looks like an important fixture in the Flames’ bottom-six for years to come.
#9 Alexander Yelesin
If you need help remembering who Alexander Yelesin is, you’re not alone. Signed out of the KHL following the 2018-19 season, the 23-year-old Yelesin was coming off a strong season in Russia from the blueline. With that said, Yelesin’s time as a prospect in Calgary ended being quite short.
Over the next two years he played just four games in the NHL and 66 games in the AHL, never really fully settling in. He ended up heading back to Russia for the 2021-22 season just two years after being signed. He hasn’t played in North America since.
#8 Adam Ruzicka
A fourth-round selection in the 2017 draft, Adam Ruzicka was coming off his final OHL season in 2019, posting 78 points in 65 games. He was also coming off a third straight season representing Slovakia in the WJC. Never considered a blue chipper, Ruzicka always got by on his combination of size and skill which is why he was considered a top prospect for the Flames.
Over the next couple years, Ruzicka posted great numbers in the AHL, earning a regular spot with the Flames in 2022-23. It seemed like the organization had found a diamond in the rough after he posted 20 points in 44 games that season, but everything went downhill after that. He was eventually lost on waivers this past season after failing to impress in Calgary. He was quickly dismissed by the his new team due to off-ice issues.
#7 Dmitry Zavgorodniy
It’s incredibly rare to see a seventh-round pick show up in a team’s top prospects list, but Dmitry Zavgorodniy’s solid 2018-19 season in the QMJHL earned him a spot here. He registered 64 points in 67 games that year, finishing fourth on his team in scoring. The following year he took an even bigger step forward, putting up 67 points in just 40 games.
It all ended up being a pretty big flash in the pan though, likely due to the influence of QMJHL phenom Alexis Lafreniere playing alongside Zagorodniy in Rimouski. Following his junior career, he made the jump to the AHL in 2020, but struggled to produce much of anything. Across two seasons in the minors he put up just five points and ended up leaving for the KHL in 2022 which is where he has played since.
#6 Filip Sveningsson
It’s either a great sign or a terrible sign that two seventh round picks rank as some of your top prospects. Filip Sveningsson, a seventh round pick in the 2017 NHL draft, had an impressive 2018-19 season which earned him a spot here. He was coming off a 27 point season in Sweden’s second best league and looked like a potential late round find.
The hype lasted all of one year as Sveningsson registered just four points in the SHL the next year and then just 14 points in Sweden’s second division in 2020-21. Following that season the Flames let him walk without a contract and he’s played in Europe ever since.
#5 Emilio Pettersen
A sixth round pick in 2018, Emilio Pettersen didn’t take long to make a name for himself in the organization. He posted 30 points in 40 games in his D+1 season in 2018-19 and immediately became one of the top prospect in the organization.
Pettersen continued to impress with an even better season in 2019-20 and then a couple solid years in the AHL. The problem is Pettersen never took the next step towards the NHL and after a few years in the organization he had already been bumped way down the depth chart. This past season he was shipped to Texas in an AHL only deal.
#4 Matthew Phillips
Another top 10 prospect list of years past, another appearance from Matthew Phillips. Back in 2019, Phillips was just 21 years old and coming off his first season in the AHL in which he posted 38 points in 65 games. Despite being a sixth round pick all the way back in 2016, Phillips became a household name in 2019.
We all know how the next part of the story goes. Phillips just got better and better in the AHL, besting his previous year point totals year after year. Despite this he earned just three games with the Flames and following the 2022-23 season he decided to sign elsewhere in free agency. He’s since played 31 games in the NHL.
#3 Jakob Pelletier
The Flames’ first round pick in 2019, Jakob Pelletier immediately became one of the best prospects in the organization after being drafted. Over the next couple years he dominated the QMJHL to the tune of 125 points in 85 games before making the jump to the AHL in 2021. He immediately made an impact at the pro level, earning a spot on the AHL’s all-rookie team in 2021-22.
His 2022-23 season was even more impressive as he posted 37 points in 35 AHL games and earned 24 games with the Flames. Unfortunately, this past season, Pelletier suffered a major injury which nearly cost him his entire season. There’s still plenty of potential here, but Pelletier needs to make a statement this season to remain a top prospect in the organization.
#2 Dillon Dube
A second round selection in 2016, Dillon Dube was coming off his debut season in the NHL in 2019. He also posted 39 points in 37 games in the AHL that same year and earned his spot as the top forward prospect in the organization.
Dube made the full-time jump to the NHL the following season in 2019-20. He remained a mainstay on the Flames over the next few years, but never developed into anything more than a middle-six winger. This past season he was released from the organization due to being charged with sexual assault in the Hockey Canada investigation.
#1 Juuso Valimaki
A first round pick in the 2017 draft, Juuso Valimaki was by far the best prospect in the organization, and it wasn’t particularly close, either. Valimaki was coming off his first taste of AHL and NHL action in 2018-19 at the age of 21 and looked like a potential top-four defenceman.
Over the next few years, Valimaki dealt with some major injuries that hampered his development. He was also slowly bumped down the NHL depth chart year after year due to a lack of production and was eventually lost on waivers in 2022 just three years after earning the number one spot on the 2019 prospect list. He has since turned into a decent middle-pairing defender in the NHL.
