As the title suggests, Luke Misa had an incredible week in the OHL. He popped off for four goals and three assists in two games this weekend. Still in the OHL, Jacob Battaglia and Henry Mews each had four points.
Over in the WHL, Andrew Basha improved his stock with a five-point week. Jaden Lipinski is scoring at a point-per-game clip, and Hunter Laing is flirting with that level, too.
Etienne Morin’s two-assist game yesterday has him sitting 22nd in QMJHL scoring and second among all defencemen.
Overall, a lot of the Calgary Flames’ prospects were productive this week, making it an exciting time to be a fan. 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 Calgary Wranglers went 3–0–0 this week, winning some low-scoring games. They outscored their opponents 7–4.
- Matt Coronato was reassigned to the AHL this week. He’ll provide a boost to the scoring going forward.
- Rory Kerins contributed a goal and two points, bringing his season totals up to eight goals and 10 points in eight games. Check out the patience as he helps out on Martin Frk’s first goal as a Wrangler:
- Jakob Pelletier has yet to score a goal this season, but he’s pacing the scoring for the Wranglers—along with Kerins—with 10 points in eight games.
- Pelletier has already proven he’s too good for the AHL, but the Flames have a logjam on the wings that sees Pelletier and Coronato relegated to the farm.
- Offence from the blue line continues to be a problem for the Wranglers. Yan Kuznetsov and Jeremie Poirier each picked up a point, but that’s it. The six defence prospects have a combined five points so far.
- Exacerbating this problem is the fact the Flames also have a logjam on defence. Joni Jurmo has yet to play a game this season, and Ilya Solovyov suited up for just his third and fourth games of the year this week.
- In goal, Waltteri Ignatjew was lights out on Friday, stopping 30 of 32 shots on goal in the Wranglers’ 3–2 win over the Colorado Eagles. He did allow Matthew Phillips to get on the board, but we’ll forgive this transgression. Ignatjew has a 2.50 goals against average and a .925 save percentage through two games. He’s been mighty impressive when called upon, but starter Devin Cooley isn’t letting that happen too often.
Europe
- Nikita Okhotyuk continues logging big minutes in the KHL. His 17:24 of time on ice at even strength was fourth on the team in Wednesday’s 7–0 win, and his 1:44 TOI shorthanded was second. In Friday’s 4–3 overtime loss, his 21:20 TOI at 5v5 was second, his 1:34 TOI shorthanded was third, and he had an impressive five blocked shots (second).
- Daniil Chechelev had another rough outing in the VHL, but not as bad as the last. He improved to a 5.28 GAA and a .822 SV% but is now 0–2–0 to start the year. Yunison-Moskva has a pair of goaltenders outplaying him at the moment, so he’ll be hard-pressed to see a lot of action.
- On a more positive note, Yegor Yegorov remains undefeated for MHK Tambov in the NMHL. His numbers dipped slightly this week—2.46 GAA and a .906 SV%—but he’s doing what he needs to do to get his team the wins.
NCAA
- It’s this year’s 2024 fourth-round pick who impressed the most this week. Trevor Hoskin had a goal and four points in two games, pushing his totals to three goals and seven points in six games.
- Another day, another goal for Aydar Suniev. He had two points this week but is now just under a goal per game, with six in seven. That’s half as many goals as he scored through 36 games last season. Suniev leads UMass in goal scoring and sits second in points.
- Arseni Sergeyev had a great week for Penn State. He’s up to 4–1–0 on the season with a sparkling 1.79 GAA and 0.928 SV%.
OHL
- I can’t say enough good things about Jacob Battaglia’s on-ice performance thus far. Another three goals and one assist push him to 10 in each category on the year. He’s up to a team-leading 20 points in 13 games for the Kingston Frontenacs. Take a look at this nasty snipe:
- The real story this week: Luke Misa’s standout performances. He was the second star in both Friday’s 6–4 loss and yesterday’s 10–1 win, with two goals and an assist and two goals and two assists, respectively. This brings Misa up to a respectable 10 points in 11 games, which is much more in line with our expectations of him.
- Henry Mews had an impressive week of his own, with four assists in three games. He now has 11 assists in 12 games but has yet to score a goal this season. Mews runs the offence from the point so effectively:
- The Saginaw Spirit’s Zayne Parekh has been a menace in the OHL this year. Another three points brings him up to 12 in 11 games. While the offensive production has taken a bit of a dip from last season, his penalties in minutes has seen an uptick. Parekh has 18 PIM through 11 games and is well on pace to surpass last season’s 64.
QMJHL
- Matvei Gridin had three assists in two games for the Shawinigan Cataractes. He’s up to 10 points in 11 games after a somewhat slow start to the season.
- On defence, Etienne Morin has been piling up points seemingly at will lately. Another goal and four points brings his season totals up to four and 17, respectively, in 12 games.
WHL
- Riding shotgun to someone like Gavin McKenna is a recipe for success, and that’s been the case for Andrew Basha. The Calgary product scored another two goals and five points in three games this week and now has 16 points in 12 games. Wouldn’t they make a great duo in Calgary?
- One prospect we don’t talk about enough is Hunter Laing. His numbers don’t jump off the page, but he’s quietly been a steady producer so far. He picked up two points in two games this week and now has 10 in 13 games on the season.
- After being sent back to the juniors, Jaden Lipinski had one point through his first two games for the Vancouver Giants. Well, in his next two, he had three points. He has yet to score a goal this season, but that will come now that he’s settling in with some familiar faces.
- Eric Jamieson’s production has been a welcome surprise. I didn’t have high expectations for him, but another two points this week brings him to six in 13 games for the Everett Silvertips. He also made a few trips to the sin-bin this week, piling up 10 PIM in four games after having just two in his first nine games.
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: 49.8 (Same)
- Jakob Pelletier: 49.8 (Same)
- Aydar Suniev: 41.6 (Same)
- Jacob Battaglia: 40.8 (Same)
- Etienne Morin: 33.1 (Same)
Overall regular season totals for Flames prospects
Forwards
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | NHLe | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Basha | LW | 12 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 1.33 | 14 | 32.9 | Medicine Hat Tigers | WHL |
| Jacob Battaglia | RW/LW | 13 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 1.54 | 6 | 40.8 | Kingston Frontenacs | OHL |
| Parker Bell | LW | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.14 | 0 | 5.6 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Lucas Ciona | LW | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0.50 | 16 | 19.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Matvei Gridin | RW | 11 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 0.91 | 9 | 21.2 | Shawinigan Cataractes | QMJHL |
| Trevor Hoskin | C/RW | 6 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 1.17 | 2 | N/A | Niagara University | NCAA |
| Rory Kerins | C/LW | 8 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 1.25 | 4 | 49.8 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Hunter Laing | C | 13 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 0.77 | 7 | 19.1 | Prince George Cougars | WHL |
| Jaden Lipinski | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1.00 | 2 | 24.8 | Vancouver Giants | WHL | ||
| Cade Littler | C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.33 | 0 | 11.9 | U. of North Dakota | NCAA |
| Luke Misa | C | 11 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 0.91 | 2 | 24.1 | Brampton Steelheads | OHL |
| Ilya Nikolayev | C | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0.43 | 2 | 17.1 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Jakob Pelletier | LW/C | 8 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 1.25 | 2 | 49.8 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| William Stromgren | LW | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.13 | 2 | 5.2 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Aydar Suniev | LW | 7 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 1.29 | 4 | 41.6 | UMass | NCAA |
Defencemen
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | NHLe | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hunter Brzustewicz | RHD | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.13 | 2 | 5.2 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Artyom Grushnikov | LHD | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 0.0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Axel Hurtig | LHD | 12 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0.25 | 2 | 6.2 | Calgary Hitmen | WHL |
| Eric Jamieson | LHD | 13 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0.46 | 12 | 11.4 | Everett Silvertips | WHL |
| Joni Jurmo | LHD | Calgary Wranglers | AHL | |||||||
| Yan Kuznetsov | LHD | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.25 | 4 | 10.0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Henry Mews | RHD | 12 | 0 | 11 | 11 | 0.92 | 16 | 24.4 | Ottawa 67’s | OHL |
| Etienne Morin | LHD | 12 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 1.42 | 6 | 33.1 | Moncton Wildcats | QMJHL |
| Nikita Okhotyuk | LHD | 20 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0.15 | 16 | 9.9 | CSKA Moskva | KHL |
| Zayne Parekh | RHD | 11 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 1.09 | 18 | 28.9 | Saginaw Spirit | OHL |
| Jeremie Poirier | LHD | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.13 | 4 | 5.2 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Ilya Solovyov | LHD | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.25 | 2 | 10.0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
Goalies
| Player | Position | GP | GAA | SV% | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daniil Chechelev | G | 2 | 5.28 | .822 | Yunison-Moskva | VHL |
| Waltteri Ignatjew | G | 2 | 2.50 | .925 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Arseni Sergeyev | G | 5 | 1.79 | .928 | Penn State U. | NCAA |
| Yegor Yegorov | G | 3 | 4.18 | .837 | HK Tambov | VHL |
| 4 | 2.46 | .906 | 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!
