Jacob Battaglia slowed down this week, making way for Etienne Morin to grab the spotlight. Morin had a big week in the QMJHL, grabbing eight points in four games. Very impressive showing by the defenceman!
Calgary Wranglers forwards Rory Kerins and Jakob Pelletier were also flying this week. Both had five points, with Kerins scoring a hat trick in one game and two goals in another.
There’s so much to discuss; let’s dive in!
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
- The Wranglers went 3–0–0 this week on the strength of big performances from Kerins and Pelletier.
- One thing of note early on is the Wranglers are not getting a lot of production from their blue line. Jonathan Aspirot—listed as D/LW on EliteProspects—has three points, while the rest of the blue line has combined for three points. That will have to change if the Wranglers expect to have any sustained success this year.
- The Wranglers kicked off the week on Wednesday with a 3–1 win over the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Kerins scored all three goals for the Wranglers, with Pelletier assisting on two of them. Here’s the goal that got the ball rolling:
- The Wranglers followed that up with a pair of wins this weekend over the Henderson Silver Knights: a 5–3 victory Friday followed by a 4–0 win Saturday.
- Kerins once again opened the scoring for the Wranglers on Friday on a nice one-touch pass from Pelletier:
- It was 26-year-old Walker Duehr who stole the show in Saturday’s shutout win with a hat trick of his own and four points. While he’s no longer considered a prospect for our purposes, this was a great performance I felt was worth highlighting.
- Lucas Ciona picked up a couple of points this week and now has three in five games.
- Ilya Nikolayev also got on the board with a couple of points of his own; he has two in five games now.
- William Stromgren—who was superb in the second half of last season—is finally on the board. He’s got one point through five games. Let’s hope he doesn’t take as long to get going this year!
Europe
- The 23-year-old Nikita Okhotyuk continues to get big responsibilities in the KHL. He continues to receive top three minutes among defencemen on his team, hovering around 18 to 20 per game.
- Okhotyuk’s coaches clearly trust him in his own zone, as evidenced by his shorthanded usage. His shorthanded time on ice this week was 1:34 (second among CSKA dmen), 2:04 (second), and 3:39 (third).
- Daniil Chechelev finally saw action in the VHL this week and probably wishes he didn’t. He played a little less than half a game and was shelled for four goals on 12 shots. He carries an 8.05 goals against average and a .750 save percentage into his next game, whenever that is.
- In the MHL, Kirill Zarubin started yesterday’s 3–2 loss. He allowed three goals on 40 shots, posting a 3.04 GAA and 92.5 SV% in the game. Despite the loss, he improved to a 3.30 GAA and .909 SV% on the year.
NCAA
- Trevor Hoskin collected a goal and two points in as many games this week. He’s up to two goals and three points in four games to start the year.
- Through two games, Aydar Suniev was held to just one assist. He still has five goals and seven points in five games and should continue to feature as UMass’ top scoring threat.
OHL
- It was a tough week for the Jacob Battaglia and the Kingston Frontenacs. Battaglia was held to just one assist in three games, while the Fronts dropped all three games in overtime.
- The Fronts are back at it Thursday, visiting the Peterborough Petes as they try to end their four-game losing skid and get back in the win column.
- The Brampton Steelheads won 3–2 in a shootout on Friday, then lost 3–2 in overtime the next night. Luke Misa was held scoreless in the contests as his early struggles continue.
- The Ottawa 67’s didn’t fare well this week, going 0–1–2. Henry Mews picked up a trio of apples, though, and now has seven points in nine games. Here’s a nice pass to find his teammate and even up the score against the Steelheads on Friday:
- The 67’s haven’t won a game since they beat Battaglia and the Frontenacs on October 6.
- The Saginaw Spirit, on the other hand, went 2–1–0, with Zayne Parekh scoring twice and adding an assist. He’s up to nine points in eight games and sits fifth in points by a defenceman.
QMJHL
- Over in the Q, Matvei Gridin had a pair of assists through three games and now has seven points in nine games.
- The star of the week among Flames prospects: Etienne Morin. After a respectable five points through his first five games, Morin took off with eight assists in four games this week, helping the Moncton Wildcats to a 3–1–0 week.
- Morin had four assists in a 7–1 win over the Chicoutimi Saguenéens on Friday.
WHL
- Andrew Basha had a goal and two points in as many games for the Medicine Hat Tigers this week. Both points came in a 6–3 win over the Moose Jaw Warriors on Friday.
- Watch as #34 draws three opposing players to him, then dishes it to an open teammate:
- Hunter Laing scored a goal and two points in three games this week. He now has five goals and eight points in 11 games.
- Jaden Lipinski was sent back to the Vancouver Giants and picked up an assist yesterday. Unbelievably, he had no points in his team’s 10–1 win over the Prince Albert Raiders on Saturday. At least he won 11 of 20 faceoffs to go 55% on the draws.
- On defence, Axel Hurtig picked up an assist on Wednesday and helped the Calgary Hitmen to a 2–0–1 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 five (bracketed numbers denote movement from the previous week):
- Rory Kerins: 63.8 (+1)
- Jakob Pelletier: 63.8 (+1)
- Aydar Suniev: 45.1 (-2)
- Jacob Battaglia: 42.4 (Same)
- Etienne Morin: 33.5 (New)
Overall regular season totals for Flames prospects
Forwards
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | NHLe | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Basha | LW | 9 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 1.22 | 10 | 30.2 | Medicine Hat Tigers | WHL |
| Jacob Battaglia | RW/LW | 10 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 1.60 | 4 | 42.4 | Kingston Frontenacs | OHL |
| Parker Bell | LW | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Lucas Ciona | LW | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0.60 | 12 | 23.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Matvei Gridin | RW | 9 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0.78 | 7 | 18.2 | Shawinigan Cataractes | QMJHL |
| Trevor Hoskin | C/RW | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0.75 | 0 | N/A | Niagara University | NCAA |
| Rory Kerins | C/LW | 5 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 1.60 | 4 | 63.8 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Hunter Laing | C | 11 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 0.73 | 7 | 18.1 | Prince George Cougars | WHL |
| Jaden Lipinski | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.50 | 2 | 12.4 | Vancouver Giants | WHL | ||
| Cade Littler | C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | N/A | U. of North Dakota | NCAA |
| Luke Misa | C | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0.33 | 0 | 8.7 | Brampton Steelheads | OHL |
| Ilya Nikolayev | C | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.40 | 2 | 15.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Jakob Pelletier | LW/C | 5 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 1.60 | 2 | 63.8 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| William Stromgren | LW | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.20 | 2 | 8.0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Aydar Suniev | LW | 5 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 1.40 | 4 | 45.1 | UMass | NCAA |
Defencemen
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | NHLe | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hunter Brzustewicz | RHD | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.20 | 0 | 8.0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Artyom Grushnikov | LHD | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 0.0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Axel Hurtig | LHD | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.22 | 0 | 5.4 | Calgary Hitmen | WHL |
| Eric Jamieson | LHD | 9 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0.44 | 2 | 10.9 | Everett Silvertips | WHL |
| Joni Jurmo | LHD | Calgary Wranglers | AHL | |||||||
| Yan Kuznetsov | LHD | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.20 | 4 | 8.0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Henry Mews | RHD | 9 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0.78 | 12 | 20.7 | Ottawa 67’s | OHL |
| Etienne Morin | LHD | 9 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 1.44 | 6 | 33.5 | Moncton Wildcats | QMJHL |
| Nikita Okhotyuk | LHD | 18 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0.17 | 16 | 11.2 | CSKA Moskva | KHL |
| Zayne Parekh | RHD | 8 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 1.13 | 12 | 29.9 | Saginaw Spirit | OHL |
| Jeremie Poirier | LHD | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 0.0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Ilya Solovyov | LHD | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.50 | 2 | 19.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
Goalies
| Player | Position | GP | GAA | SV% | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daniil Chechelev | G | 1 | 8.05 | .750 | Yunison-Moskva | VHL |
| Waltteri Ignatjew | G | 1 | 3.00 | .914 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Arseni Sergeyev | G | 3 | 1.98 | .928 | Penn State U. | NCAA |
| Yegor Yegorov | G | 3 | 4.18 | .837 | HK Tambov | VHL |
| 2 | 2.41 | .917 | MHK Tambov | NMHL | ||
| Kirill Zarubin | G | 6 | 3.30 | .909 | 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!
