Calgary Flames Prospect Roundup: Prospect development outisde of the NHL remains a bright spot

Prospect development outside of the NHL for the Calgary Flames proves that, once again, the future should be the plan for the organization. More and more prospects are finding their groove as the season goes on.

Let’s take a look at the Calgary Flames organization from this past week.

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 and feature one standout prospect. 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.

Hunter Brzustewicz, Defence, Calgary Wranglers (AHL)

Hunter Brzustewicz returns to the Calgary Wranglers for his sophomore season in professional hockey, and he continues to build on the momentum he created last season. The OHL alumnus has the playstyle of a two-way transitional defender with some real offensive upside.

The American defenders’ game is highlighted by strong skating, high-end puck skills, and quality play processing and instincts in all three zones. He thrives as a rush attacker with clear manipulation ability and playmaking elements that not all defenders have.

Brzustewicz is a pace controller, and his point production this season is the main beneficiary of that.

When he was first acquired by the Calgary Flames, his main drawbacks were his defensive instincts, aggressiveness, and shooting. All of these elements, while still not perfect, Brzustewicz has shown growth in.

With his current developmental timeline, don’t be shocked if Brzustewicz wears a Flames jersey sometime this season.

With that being said, there are concerns about the Flames coaching staff stifling the development of younger prospects in favour of a win-now mode, which could alter opportunities for a guy like Brzustewicz.

Calgary Flames prospect updates

AHL

• The Wranglers fell 5–4 in their home opener on the 24th vs Coachella Valley, but redeemed themselves the following night, collecting a 4–3 win against the Firebirds. The mini-Flames then shut out the Abbotsford Canucks 3–0 on the 28th.
• They stand at 2–2–2 on the season, and are currently 6th in the AHL’s Pacific Division.
• Gridin has played well with the Wranglers since his reassignment and has proven to be a high-quality finisher, potting seven points across five games. Rory Kerins leads the team in points with 9, and Hunter Brzustewicz is leading the point production, (7), and transition game from the backend.
• Prosvetov and Say have mostly split games, leading to a 1A and 1B situation in net.

ECHL

• Rapid City played two games this past week with mixed results. The Rush fell in a 1–0 nail-biter to the Wichita Thunder on the 24th, but secured a 5–4 win against the same team the next day.
• The Rush sit 8th in the Western Conference with a 2–2–0 record.
• Flames goaltending prospect Arsenii Sergeev has split starts with American goaltender Connor Murphy.

Europe

• Leander, the Flames 2025 7th rounder, continues to build momentum this season, he played two games this past week against the Malmo Redhawks U20 on the 25th, and Rogue BK U20 on the 26th. This is largely a development year for the young Swede, but his shutdown game has shown moderate progression.

NCAA

• Mews appeared in his first rivalry game against Western Michigan this past week. He played a pair of games, notching an assist in each. The OHL alumni now enter this week on a three-game point streak. His offensive senses, skating, and puck skills have looked to have transitioned well to the NCAA so far.
• Jamieson, for all his shutdown ability, has really shown some offensive flair in his young NCAA career, and this continued this past week as he scored his second goal of the campaign against Boston College on the 24th. He was also defensively solid in his team’s 1–0 loss to Northeastern the following day.
• Luke Misa scored his first NCAA career point this past week with Penn State. The speedy winger played a pair of games against Stonehill College on the 24th and 25th, with his assist coming in the latter of the two. Look for the 5th-rounder to improve his complete game and prove his drop in the 2024 draft wrong.
• Potter had a rough defensive week with a pair of games against Augustana University, where he went a combined -5, in an average of 20:00 of TOI.
• Trevor Hoskins looks to be finding his footing in Merrimack College and sees his trust and TOI grow this season. He plays a capable two-way forward game with strong senses, puck skills, and adequate compete.

WHL

• Axel Hurtig appeared in a game against Red Deer on the 25th and a game against the Oil Kings on the 26th, where he found the scoresheet with his first assist of the season. Look for the 2005-born defender to be a key leader on the retooling Hitmen as the season progresses.
• Hunter Laing’s week was all around solid, with a game against Everett where he scored twice on the 24th, Portland on the 25th, and Tri-City on the 28th, where he generated an assist.

Russia

• Yegorov had another solid week in the MHL, allowing only two goals across two starts, stopping 60/62 shots he faced, while his club also collected two wins. He now has four wins this season.
• Zarubin has been a workhorse for AKM Tula this past week. He played three games, collecting three wins, and looking relatively good in each of them.

Forwards

Defence

Goaltenders