Prospects

Calgary Flames Prospect Roundup: Big week for Mews, Battaglia, Laing

Photo of James William James WilliamMarch 18, 2025
6 minutes read

A pair of CHL forwards were among the Calgary Flames’ most productive prospects this week. The OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs forward Jacob Battaglia scored twice and added three helpers for five points in three games. In addition, Sudbury Wolves defenceman Henry Mews picked up six points in four games.

Out west in the WHL, Saskatoon Blades forward Hunter Laing scored a goal and four assists for five points in four games.

Cade Littler put in some work this week in the NCAA, scoring three goals in two games for the University of North Dakota. In two games, he produced half as many points as he had through the first 30 games of the season.

There’s much to discuss this week, so let’s take a look!

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

  • Adam Klapka was recalled by the Flames on Wednesday and suited up in Friday’s tilt against the Colorado Avalanche. He registered one hit and one blocked shot in nine minutes of time on ice.
  • The Calgary Wranglers had two games on the schedule this week and came out winless, going 0–1–1. As if to emphasize their scoring woes, they dropped a 1–0 decision to the Abbotsford Canucks on Sunday.
  • Rory Kerins scored and added a helper, recording two points in two games. He’s up to 27 goals and 48 points in 51 games this year. Great shift here that he’s rewarded on:
  • Blueliner Ilya Solovyov picked up two helpers and now has 24 points in 47 games.
  • Waltteri Ignatjew tended the pipes on Sunday, stopping 20 of the 21 shots he faced. He improved to a 3.61 goals against average and a 0.884 save percentage, but the loss saw his record fall to 10–7–3.

Europe

  • Netminder Kirill Zarubin was the only prospect in action overseas this week. Mikhailov Academy went 2–0–1, with Zarubin going 1–0–1 and stopping 83 of 89 shots.
  • No games for Nikita Okhotyuk out in the KHL this week, and CSKA Moscow went 0–2–0 without him.
  • Unison-Moscow was 1–1–1 this week with Daniil Chechelev out of the lineup—he didn’t even dress as the backup in any of the games. I’m not sure what’s up here, so it’s something to keep an eye on.
  • No games for Yegor Yegorov, either, as Krylya Sovetov went 0–0–1. Like Chechelev, he didn’t dress as the backup.

NCAA

  • Cade Littler had three goals for the University of North Dakota this week, helping them win their best-of-three NCHC Quarterfinals matchup. They’re back in action on Friday with the NCHC Frozen Faceoff. Great work by Littler in front of the net:
  • UMass forward Aydar Suniev had just one goal in two games as his team lost their Hockey East Quarterfinals matchup in overtime. Suniev has 18 goals and 36 points in 33 games this season.
  • Arsenii Sergeev and Penn State University dropped an overtime decision on Saturday to post a 0–0–1 record this week. They’ll be back in action for the NCAA Regional Semifinal at the end of the month.

OHL

  • The Kingston Frontenacs posted a 3–0–0 record, thanks largely to the play of Jacob Battaglia. Number 88 had five points in three games to improve to 40 goals and 88 points in 65 games. Watch as he gets lost behind the defenders and buries his 40th:
  • There’s still room for movement at the top of the OHL’s Eastern Conference, but the Fronts have locked up home-ice advantage for the first round.
  • Luke Misa had a pair of goals and four points in four games, helping the Brampton Steelheads to a 3–1–0 week. Misa has 34 goals and 82 points in 65 games this year, and the Steelheads are locked into fifth in the East.
  • Blueliner Zayne Parekh scored a goal in his only game this week, and the Saginaw Spirit went 1–1–0. They’re most likely headed to the playoffs as the fourth seed in the Western Conference.
  • Parekh’s incredible season includes 33 goals and 102 points in 59 games. It’s been 31 years since a U20 defenceman put up more points than Parekh; Jamie Rivers had 121 points back in 1993–94. Since you’ve made it this far, it’s time to pay the Zayne tax:
  • Henry Mews had six points in four games, but the Wolves were only able to put together a 0.500 week, going 2–2–0. They’ll more than likely finish sixth or seventh in the East.
  • Mews’ big week jumped him up to 82 points in 66 games. As I noted before, though, he’s had a noticeable drop in production since joining the Wolves. And next year, it looks like he’ll head to the NCAA.

QMJHL

  • Another two goals and four points for Matvei Gridin this week, helping the Shawinigan Cataractes to a 2–0–0 record. With just two games left, Shawinigan likely finishes third in the East. Gridin’s 34 goals and 75 points in 54 games played a big part in their success this season. He didn’t get the goal here, but he sure showcased his speed:
  • The Moncton Wildcats had a perfect 3–0–0 week, with defenceman Etienne Morin picking up two helpers. He’s up to 53 points in 60 games, and the Wildcats locked up first in the league. Big congrats to them on this accomplishment!

WHL

  • Hunter Laing with a goal and five points for the Blades this week to improve to 24 goals and 45 points in 61 games. The Blades are in the playoff mix in the bottom half of the East, and the coming week will bring us clarity on where they land in the five-to-seven range. A 3–1–0 record this week helped push them to the top of that range for the time being.
  • This solid shift by Laing ended up in the back of the net:
  • The Vancouver Giants went 1–2–0 this week, with Jaden Lipinski recording three more points. He’s up to 56 in 57 games. The Giants will finish sixth or seventh in the West despite being one of the most scored-against teams in the league. Great feed by the centreman on this one:
  • No points through three games for Axel Hurtig, but he still played a part in the Calgary Hitmen’s 2–1–0 week. The Hitmen are in a tight battle for first in their division and conference. They’re down two points but have a game in hand. Let’s see what happens this week!
  • Eric Jamieson was also held off the scoresheet through three games this week, but the Everett Silvertips went 3–0–0. They’ve clinched the regular season title and are focused on the main goal now, but they have two games left before playoffs.

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):

  1. Zayne Parekh: 45.8 (Same)
  2. Rory Kerins: 37.5 (Same)
  3. Jacob Battaglia: 35.8 (+1)
  4. Aydar Suniev: 35.1 (-1)
  5. Luke Misa: 33.4 (Same)

Overall regular season totals for Flames prospects

Forwards

PlayerPositionGPGAPP/GPPIMNHLeTeamLeague
Andrew BashaLW23920291.263031.2Medicine Hat TigersWHL
Jacob BattagliaRW/LW654048881.353435.8Kingston FrontenacsOHL
Parker BellLW5165110.22128.8Calgary WranglersAHL
Lucas CionaLW56612180.327112.8Calgary WranglersAHL
Matvei GridinRW543441751.392732.4Shawinigan CataractesQMJHL
Samuel HonzekC/LW40711180.451817.9Calgary WranglersAHL
Trevor HoskinC/RW361227391.0812N/ANiagara UniversityNCAA
Rory KerinsC/LW512721480.941637.5Calgary WranglersAHL
Adam KlapkaRW/LW331412260.795031.5Calgary WranglersAHL
Hunter LaingC612421450.743118.3Prince George Cougars/Saskatoon BladesWHL
Jaden LipinskiC20000.0000.0Calgary WranglersAHL
571640560.983624.3Vancouver GiantsWHL
Cade LittlerC327290.282110.1University of North DakotaNCAA
Luke MisaC653448821.26633.4Brampton SteelheadsOHL
William StromgrenLW581230420.721428.7Calgary WranglersAHL
Aydar SunievLW331818361.092435.1UMassNCAA

Defencemen

PlayerPositionGPGAPP/GPPIMNHLeTeamLeague
Hunter BrzustewiczRHD59420240.41816.3Calgary WranglersAHL
Artyom GrushnikovLHD511450.10224.0Calgary WranglersAHL
Axel HurtigLHD52510150.29297.2Calgary HitmenWHL
Eric JamiesonLHD651421350.546113.4Everett SilvertipsWHL
Joni JurmoLHD120000.0040.0Calgary WranglersAHL
1228100.834N/ARapid City RushECHL
Yan KuznetsovLHD60513180.303012.0Calgary WranglersAHL
Henry MewsRHD661468821.248232.8Ottawa 67’s/Sudbury WolvesOHL
Etienne MorinLHD601340530.883620.5Moncton WildcatsQMJHL
Nikita OkhotyukLHD592790.15309.9CSKA MoskvaKHL
Zayne ParekhRHD5933691021.739645.8Saginaw SpiritOHL
Jeremie PoirierLHD59429330.564822.3Calgary WranglersAHL
Ilya SolovyovLHD47618240.512020.3Calgary WranglersAHL

Goalies

PlayerPositionGPGAASV%TeamLeague
Daniil ChechelevG113.610.888Yunison-MoskvaVHL
Waltteri IgnatjewG213.610.884Calgary WranglersAHL
Arsenii SergeevG302.660.915Penn State UniversityNCAA
Yegor YegorovG43.380.870HK TambovVHL
83.070.891MHK TambovNMHL
192.990.908MHK Krylia Sovetov MoskvaMHL
Kirill ZarubinG202.300.935AKM TulaMHL

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!

Photo of James William James WilliamMarch 18, 2025
6 minutes read
Photo of James William

James William

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