The Calgary Wranglers were the lone team where Calgary Flames prospects were still playing regular-season games this week. They went 1–1–0 against the San Jose Barracuda, being outscored 8–7. Blueliner Jeremie Poirier recorded three points in the mini-series, while goaltender Waltteri Ignatjew picked up his first AHL shutout.
The most exciting news for Flames fans, though, was seeing four youngsters make their NHL debuts. This includes Sam Morton, who is too old to be considered a prospect by our standards. He scored his first NHL goal in the game, was a plus-one, and dished out four hits. Solid start to his career!
There’s so much to discuss this week. 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
- As I said in the introduction, the Wranglers posted a 1–1–0 record in their mini-series against the Barracuda this week.
- They face the Coachella Valley Firebirds in a Pacific Division first-round tilt beginning this evening. The Wranglers were 2–6–0 against the Firebirds this season and were outscored 31–15. They’re in for a tough matchup.
- On a bright note, Jeremie Poirier had three helpers in his last two games. He finished the year with five goals and 42 points in 71 games.
- Waltteri Ignatjew had possibly his best game of the year to close out the regular season. He posted a 28-save shutout, which was the first AHL shutout of his career. Congratulations, Waltteri!
- Hunter Brzustewicz was called up to the Flames and made his NHL debut on Thursday. He had a good game, recording two shots on goal, a plus-two, and one hit in 18:23 time on ice. Well done, Hunter!
Europe
- Defenceman Nikita Okhotyuk’s season ended as CSKA Moscow was eliminated in six games in their first-round playoffs series in the KHL. Okhotyuk finished the year with two goals and nine points in 62 games.
- Unison-Moscow failed to qualify for the VHL playoffs, meaning Daniil Chechelev’s season is done. It was not a good one, as he posted a 2–4–1 record with a 3.61 goals against average and a 0.888 save percentage through 11 games.
- Krylya Sovetov lost their play-in series 2–1–0, including a 10–4 loss in the deciding game. Yegor Yegorov posted a 7–10–1 record across 20 games in the MHL with a 3.14 GAA and a 0.904 SV%. In eight games in the NMHL, he posted a 4–3–1 record with a 3.07 GAA and a 0.891 SV%. He also went 1–1–0 through four games in the VHL with a 3.38 GAA and a 0.870 SV%.
- Mihailov Academy and Kirill Zarubin lost their best-of-five first-round MHL series in four games. Zarubin posted a 12–9–0 record with a 2.34 GAA and a 0.935 SV% in 21 games.
NCAA
- Trevor Hoskin finished his season with Niagara University with 12 goals and 39 points in 36 games. He was named the Atlantic Hockey Association Rookie of the Year and entered the NCAA’s transfer portal, committing to Hockey East’s Merrimack College next year.
- Cade Littler and the University of North Dakota lost their National Collegiate Hockey Conference Frozen Faceoff semifinal matchup on March 21 to Western Michigan, which would go on to win the championship. Littler had seven goals and nine points in 33 games for North Dakota.
- Aydar Suniev and UMass fell to the top-seeded Western Michigan to bow out of the NCAA Fargo Regional. Suniev finished his college season with 20 goals and 38 points in 35 games. He signed with the Flames and joined the team in Calgary, making his NHL debut on Thursday. He put one shot on goal and was a plus-two in 14:48 TOI.
- Penn State University lost its Frozen Four semifinal matchup with Boston University 3–1. Arsenii Sergeev had a spectacular season in goal, posting a 19–9–4 record with a 2.54 GAA and a 0.919 SV%. He tied Peyton Jones for most shutouts in team history in 100 fewer games.
OHL
- The Kingston Frontenacs are currently tied 3–3 with the Barrie Colts in their second-round series. Jacob Battaglia has 10 points in the series and is up to 16 points in 10 playoff games. Game seven is tonight in Barrie.
- The Sudbury Wolves were swept in the first round by the Frontenacs. Henry Mews had just two assists in the series after finishing with 82 points in the regular season. Mews committed to the University of Michigan for next year.
- Luka Misa’s season came to an end as the Brampton Steelheads lost their first-round playoff series in six games to the Oshawa Generals. Misa led the team in points with 12, adding to his 85 points in the regular season.
- Zayne Parekh and the Saginaw Spirit lost their first-round series in five games. Parekh also led his team in points with nine after finishing with a historical 33 goals and 107 points in the regular season.
- Parekh made his NHL debut with the Flames on Thursday and scored his first NHL goal. In 20:31 TOI, he was a plus-three, took two shots on goal, and recorded one block and one hit. Not a bad start for the 2024 first-round pick.
QMJHL
- The Moncton Wildcats took down the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in five games in their second-round series. Etienne Morin recorded four points in the series and has 10 in nine playoff games now. Their third-round series against the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies starts Thursday.
- A second-round sweep of the Sherbrooke Phoenix sends the Shawinigan Cataractes to the QMJHL semi-final. Through two rounds, Matvei Gridin has six goals and 14 points in nine games. They face the Rimouski Oceanic beginning Friday.
WHL
- The Medicine Hat Tigers swept the Prince Albert Raiders in the second round. Another step toward seeing Andrew Basha again this season!
- A nice comeback for the Calgary Hitmen saw them take a 3–2 second-round series lead over the Lethbridge Hurricanes before dropping game six. Game seven is tomorrow in Calgary. Blueliner Axel Hurtig has a goal and three points through 10 playoff games.
- The Saskatoon Blades were swept by the Hitmen in the first round. Forward Hunter Laing recorded just one goal in the series and finished his season with a respectable 25 goals and 48 points in 64 games.
- After finishing first in the league in the regular season, the Everett Silvertips are in danger of being eliminated. They’re tied 3–3 with the 12th-place Portland Winterhawks, with game seven set for tonight in Everett. Adding another point, defenceman Eric Jamieson is up to three points in 12 playoff games now.
- The Vancouver Giants lost their first-round series to the Spokane Chiefs in five games. Jaden Lipinski had two goals and five points in the series after scoring 17 goals and 58 points in 59 regular-season 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):
- Zayne Parekh: 46.4 (Same)
- Rory Kerins: 38.7 (Same)
- Aydar Suniev: 35.1 (Same)
- Jacob Battaglia: 35.0 (Same)
- Luke Misa: 33.6 (Same)
Overall regular season totals for Flames prospects
Forwards
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | NHLe | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Basha | LW | 23 | 9 | 20 | 29 | 1.26 | 30 | 31.2 | Medicine Hat Tigers | WHL |
| Jacob Battaglia | RW/LW | 68 | 40 | 50 | 90 | 1.32 | 34 | 35.0 | Kingston Frontenacs | OHL |
| Parker Bell | LW | 61 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 0.20 | 33 | 8.0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Lucas Ciona | LW | 68 | 8 | 14 | 22 | 0.32 | 75 | 12.8 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Matvei Gridin | RW | 56 | 36 | 43 | 79 | 1.41 | 27 | 32.8 | Shawinigan Cataractes | QMJHL |
| Samuel Honzek | C/LW | 52 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 0.40 | 18 | 15.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Trevor Hoskin | C/RW | 36 | 12 | 27 | 39 | 1.08 | 12 | N/A | Niagara University | NCAA |
| Rory Kerins | C/LW | 63 | 33 | 28 | 61 | 0.97 | 18 | 38.7 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Adam Klapka | RW/LW | 33 | 14 | 12 | 26 | 0.79 | 50 | 31.5 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Hunter Laing | C | 64 | 25 | 23 | 48 | 0.75 | 31 | 18.6 | Prince George Cougars/Saskatoon Blades | WHL |
| Jaden Lipinski | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| 59 | 17 | 41 | 58 | 0.98 | 38 | 24.3 | Vancouver Giants | WHL | ||
| Cade Littler | C | 33 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 0.27 | 21 | 9.7 | University of North Dakota | NCAA |
| Luke Misa | C | 67 | 34 | 51 | 85 | 1.27 | 6 | 33.6 | Brampton Steelheads | OHL |
| William Stromgren | LW | 70 | 14 | 35 | 49 | 0.70 | 16 | 27.9 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Aydar Suniev | LW | 35 | 20 | 18 | 38 | 1.09 | 41 | 35.1 | UMass | NCAA |
Defencemen
| Player | Position | GP | G | A | P | P/GP | PIM | NHLe | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hunter Brzustewicz | RHD | 70 | 5 | 27 | 32 | 0.46 | 14 | 18.3 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Artyom Grushnikov | LHD | 61 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0.08 | 24 | 3.2 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Axel Hurtig | LHD | 55 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 0.29 | 29 | 7.2 | Calgary Hitmen | WHL |
| Eric Jamieson | LHD | 66 | 14 | 22 | 36 | 0.55 | 61 | 13.6 | Everett Silvertips | WHL |
| Joni Jurmo | LHD | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 0.0 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| 12 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 0.83 | 4 | N/A | Rapid City Rush | ECHL | ||
| Yan Kuznetsov | LHD | 72 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 0.29 | 38 | 11.6 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Henry Mews | RHD | 68 | 14 | 68 | 82 | 1.21 | 88 | 32.0 | Ottawa 67’s/Sudbury Wolves | OHL |
| Etienne Morin | LHD | 62 | 14 | 44 | 58 | 0.94 | 36 | 21.9 | Moncton Wildcats | QMJHL |
| Nikita Okhotyuk | LHD | 62 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0.15 | 30 | 9.9 | CSKA Moskva | KHL |
| Zayne Parekh | RHD | 61 | 33 | 74 | 107 | 1.75 | 96 | 46.4 | Saginaw Spirit | OHL |
| Jeremie Poirier | LHD | 71 | 5 | 37 | 42 | 0.59 | 64 | 23.5 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Ilya Solovyov | LHD | 59 | 6 | 22 | 28 | 0.47 | 34 | 18.7 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
Goalies
| Player | Position | GP | GAA | SV% | Team | League |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daniil Chechelev | G | 11 | 3.61 | 0.888 | Yunison-Moskva | VHL |
| Waltteri Ignatjew | G | 28 | 3.26 | 0.892 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL |
| Owen Say | G | 27 | 2.82 | 0.920 | University of Notre Dame | NCAA |
| Arsenii Sergeev | G | 33 | 2.54 | 0.919 | Penn State University | NCAA |
| Yegor Yegorov | G | 4 | 3.38 | 0.870 | HK Tambov | VHL |
| 8 | 3.07 | 0.891 | MHK Tambov | NMHL | ||
| 20 | 3.14 | 0.904 | MHK Krylia Sovetov Moskva | MHL | ||
| Kirill Zarubin | G | 21 | 2.34 | 0.935 | 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!
