Another week of hockey is in the books, and with it comes some prospect updates.
The puck doesn’t drop for the Calgary Wranglers until Friday, meaning a big group of Calgary Flames prospects haven’t played yet. The Flames saw some good production from their OHLers this week, led by Jacob Battaglia’s four-point performance Friday night. Not to be overshadowed is Zayne Parekh’s four-point week, headlined by a three-assist game.
Over in the WHL, Hunter Laing had a productive three-point week. And in the NCAA, Aydar Suniev scored a hat trick to start his sophomore season.
So much to discuss; let’s dive into it!
Welcome to The Win Column’s 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
- We are still patiently waiting for the AHL season to start. Most of the Flames’ prospects are with the Wranglers now, and their season will begin Friday evening in Calgary. They host the Abbotsford Canucks at 7:00 pm MDT.
- The Flames placed a trio of players on waivers today: forwards Jakob Pelletier and Cole Schwindt, as well as goaltender Devin Cooley. If they clear waivers, they’ll be assigned to the Wranglers.
- Seeing former first-round pick Pelletier on waivers is shades of Juuso Valimaki. He’s been good enough in the AHL and is young enough at just 23, so it’s likely another team will take a chance and scoop him up for free.
- The decision has been made in goal: Dustin Wolf and Daniel Vladar are the Flames’ goaltenders, at least to start. Cooley had a good preseason but ultimately was the odd man out. If he clears, he should be the Wranglers’ starter.
- Undrafted free agent signing Waltteri Ignatjew is likely to play backup to Cooley in his first season in North America, but that could change throughout the year.
Europe
- Nikita Okhotyuk scored his first career KHL goal this week for CSKA Moskva. Not known for his offensive contributions, it’s nice to see Okhotyuk on the board early in the season.
- Goaltender Yegor Yegorov had another rough outing in the VHL but improved his goals against average to 4.18 and his save percentage to .837.
- Yegorov’s uninspiring start saw him sent to the NMHL—Russia’s second level of junior hockey—where he posted a 3.00 GAA and .889 SV% in a winning effort yesterday.
NCAA
- Trevor Hoskin—a 2024 fourth-round pick—began his NCAA season for Niagara University with just one shot on goal in yesterday’s 3–2 overtime loss.
- Aydar Suniev—part of last year’s return for Tyler Toffoli—showed off his scoring ability in UMass’ season-opener, recording a hat trick. Check out the various ways he hit twine:
- The North Dakota Fighting Hawks started their season with a 4–1 loss on Saturday. Cade Littler was a minus-one and didn’t even record a shot on goal. They’ll look to get back in the win column against Providence this Saturday.
- Areseni Sergeyev and Penn State kicked off their season on the right note. It was a hard-fought 4–3 overtime win over the Alaska Fairbanks.
OHL
- Jacob Battaglia was the first star of Friday night’s game. He scored a goal and four points in the Kingston Frontenacs’ 9–0 win over the North Bay Battalion. He also faced off against Henry Mews and the Ottawa 67’s yesterday and scored his team’s fourth goal in a 5–4 overtime loss.
- Mews added a pair of assists in Ottawa’s 6–3 win over the Battalion Saturday night to move up to a point per game on the season. Against Battaglia, Mews assisted on his own team’s fourth goal. He’s up to four assists in four games to start the year.
- Here’s a look at both players’ contributions yesterday:
- The Flames’ 2024 fifth-rounder—Luke Misa—went scoreless through three games this week for the Brampton Steelheads.
- Zayne Parekh found his stride for the Saginaw Spirit, dropping four assists through two games. Three came in the Spirit’s 5–4 shootout win over the Sarnia Sting Friday night.
- Parekh should have another big year in the OHL, especially if 2025 top prospect Michael Misa continues to rip up the junior league.
QMJHL
- Over in the QMJHL, Matvei Gridin played two games, scoring a goal in yesterday’s win. He’s up to three points through four games, but it would be nice to see the 2024 first-rounder be more productive in junior hockey.
- Meanwhile, Etienne Morin played two games, scoring his second goal of the season and adding a helper. He now has three points through four games for the Moncton Wildcats.
WHL
- Andrew Basha had a relatively quiet week, adding one assist in two games. He’s up to three points in four games for the Medicine Hat Tigers.
- The Tigers are now 1–4–0, with 16-year-old Gavin McKenna leading the charge. They’ll need more from their veteran players. That includes Basha, who’s starting his fourth season with the team.
- On to the Prince George Cougars, Hunter Laing had a solid week with three points in as many games. The Cougars face the Portland Winterhawks on Tuesday night in what looks to be a great matchup. Here’s a look at Laing’s goal:
- On defence, Eric Jamieson had no points in two games for the Everett Silvertips.
- Axel Hurtig played three games for the Calgary Hitmen and recorded his first point—an assist—in yesterday’s win over the Vancouver Giants.
- Neither is known for putting up gaudy numbers, so don’t put too much stock in this.
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 five (bracketed numbers denote movement from the previous week):
- Aydar Suniev: 96.7 (New)
- Jacob Battaglia: 63.6 (-1)
- Zayne Parekh: 35.2 (New)
- Henry Mews: 26.5 (+1)
- Hunter Laing: 19.8 (-3)
Overall regular season totals for Flames prospects
Forwards
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | NHLe | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Basha | LW | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0.75 | 4 | 18.6 | Medicine Hat Tigers | WHL |
| Jacob Battaglia | RW/LW | 5 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 2.40 | 4 | 63.6 | Kingston Frontenacs | OHL |
| Parker Bell | LW | Calgary Wranglers | AHL | |||||||
| Lucas Ciona | LW | Calgary Wranglers | AHL | |||||||
| Matvei Gridin | RW | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0.75 | 7 | 17.5 | Shawinigan Cataractes | QMJHL |
| Trevor Hoskin | C/RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0 | Niagara University | NCAA |
| Rory Kerins | C/LW | Calgary Wranglers | AHL | |||||||
| Hunter Laing | C | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0.80 | 2 | 19.8 | Prince George Cougars | WHL |
| Jaden Lipinski | C | Calgary Wranglers | AHL | |||||||
| Cade Littler | C | U. of North Dakota | NCAA | |||||||
| Luke Misa | C | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0.60 | 0 | 15.9 | Brampton Steelheads | OHL |
| Ilya Nikolayev | C | Calgary Wranglers | AHL | |||||||
| William Stromgren | LW | Calgary Wranglers | AHL | |||||||
| Aydar Suniev | LW | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3.00 | 2 | 96.7 | UMass | NCAA |
Defencemen
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | NHLe | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hunter Brzustewicz | RHD | Calgary Wranglers | AHL | |||||||
| Artyom Grushnikov | LHD | Calgary Wranglers | AHL | |||||||
| Axel Hurtig | LHD | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.20 | 0 | 5.0 | Calgary Hitmen | WHL |
| Eric Jamieson | LHD | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.25 | 2 | 6.2 | Everett Silvertips | WHL |
| Joni Jurmo | LHD | Calgary Wranglers | AHL | |||||||
| Yan Kuznetsov | LHD | Calgary Wranglers | AHL | |||||||
| Henry Mews | RHD | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1.00 | 2 | 26.5 | Ottawa 67’s | OHL |
| Etienne Morin | LHD | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0.75 | 2 | 15.6 | Moncton Wildcats | QMJHL |
| Nikita Okhotyuk | LHD | 12 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.17 | 10 | 11.2 | CSKA Moskva | KHL |
| Zayne Parekh | RHD | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1.33 | 0 | 35.2 | Saginaw Spirit | OHL |
| Jeremie Poirier | LHD | Calgary Wranglers | AHL | |||||||
| Ilya Solovyov | LHD | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
Goalies
| Player | Position | GP | GAA | SV% | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daniil Chechelev | G | Yunison-Moskva | VHL | |||
| Waltteri Ignatjew | G | Calgary Wranglers | AHL | |||
| Arseni Sergeyev | G | 1 | 2.86 | .897 | Penn State U. | NCAA |
| Yegor Yegorov | G | 3 | 4.18 | .837 | HK Tambov | VHL |
| 1 | 3.00 | .889 | MHK Tambov | NMHL | ||
| Kirill Zarubin | G | 4 | 3.84 | .886 | AKM Tula | MHL |
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!
