Calgary Flames Prospect Update: Maine has found a Main-e Man

Momentum seems to be everywhere in the Flames organization right now. Flames prospects are no different, as some head off to WJC training camps, and others look to end the 2025 calendar year on a strong note.

As in any other week, Flames prospects have been busy.

Welcome to the TWC Calgary Flames prospect update. Each week, we’ll take a dive into how the Flames prospects have done in their respective leagues, to go along with a feature on one standout prospect in Calgary’s system. 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.

Jaden Lipinski, F, University of Maine, NCAA

The 2004-born Lipinski has adjusted well at the University of Maine for his freshman season with the NCAA program. The Scottsdale, Arizona, product was a longtime member of the Vancouver Giants organization in the WHL, where he was initially drafted by the Flames in 2023 after a strong 51-point draft year.

The 2023 draftee plays a mobile power-forward game with a good combo of high-end soft skills and evident physicality. His game is highlighted by top-end skating, clean and smart puck skills, and physical absorption and grit.

His skating is one of his largest assets that makes him a mobile asset in every single play with good posture, mechanics, edgework, and slight deception; opponents rarely know where he is going or what he’s going to do.

This skating blends seamlessly with his puck skills, which echo shades of advanced play anticipation, solid handling, passing placement, and lane creation that doesn’t shy away from the harder areas of the ice, and uses all of his 6’04 frame.

Physicality also showcases good body positioning, grit, physical engagement willingness, and screening ability. This skating, puck skills, and physicality blend together to make him a force on the ice, and further improvements to his senses would elevate his whole playmaking game quite drastically.

Lipinski’s 2025–2026 Season so Far:

So far with the University of Maine, his unique playstyle has allotted him 13:27 of TOI, along with 1:55 of power play time per game. This opportunity on the power play helps explain his 1.35 scoring chances a game and 0.21 goals expected. These stats bode well for his offensive upside and NCAA development.

His physicality also displays itself in his zone positioning as a net front screen, and on the face-off too, where the forward employs imposing body leverage, physical pressure, and quick stick work this season. Against much older opponents, Lipinski has a 66% face-off win percentage.

The American forward has found moderate success on the scoresheet, posting eight points across 17 games, which rounds out to a 0.47 PPG rate.

Calgary Flames prospect updates

AHL

• The Wranglers went 2–1–1 this past week. They collected a 3–0 win against Coachella on the 9th, dropped the rematch against the Firebirds 7–4 on the 11th, and then split a pair of OT thrillers against Abbotsford on the 13th (3–2OTL) and 14th (4–3OTW).
• The Wranglers are now tied with the Ontario Reign for 3rd in the AHL’s Pacific Division, with 31 points and a 13–10–5 record.
• Matvei Gridin still leads all Flames-affiliated players on the Wranglers with 24 points across 26 games.
• William Stromgren particularly had a strong playmaking outing this week, collecting assists in three of their four games, including a 3-assist night on the 14th against Abbotsford.
• Veteran forward Dryden Hunt was initially sent down on the 10th, but then immediately called up to the Flames on the 11th. Rapid City Rush goaltender Arsenii Sergeev was called up to the Wranglers on the 12th, but has yet to play a game for the club.
• Defender Turner Ottenbreit signed a confirmed AHL-only extension with the club on the 12th.

ECHL

• The Rush had another rough week in the ECHL, going 1–2–0 in their trio of games against the Allen Americans this past week. They collected a 7–3 win on the 11th, but were defeated 4–0 and 5–1 the following two days.
• The Rush are now tied for 4th in the ECHL’s Mountain division with the Wichita Thunder at 24 points. Rapid City have an 11–11–2 record for the 2025–2026 campaign.
• Rapid City has also lost 2/3 goalies in the past two weeks, leaving only ECHL rookie Nathan Torchia to man the net.
• There are no remaining Flames-affiliated prospects on the roster either, after Sergeev was called up earlier this week.

Europe

• Jacob Leander is having a busy week as his team, HV71 U20, is appearing in the Svenskan Cupan U20. So far, he has a +1 rating and two penalty minutes across two tournament games. He remains a steady defensive presence for the club.

NCAA

• Cullen Potter and his ASU teammates are off for a holiday break now. In their final games of 2025, the Flames’ first-rounder played a pair of games against the University of Minnesota-Duluth on the 12th and 13th. In these games, Potter continues to show mobility, strong play reads, and finishing ability. He collected a goal and an assist in the game on the 13th.
• 2024 6th-rounder Eric Jamieson and the 6th-ranked University of Denver split a pair of games against St. Cloud State this past weekend. It was a high-scoring affair on the 12th (5–1W), and 13th (4–3L). In the second game of the week, Jamieson racked up 15 minutes of penalties that gave St. Cloud State a 5-minute major power play and eventual game winner.
• Flames 2024 4th rounder, Trevor Hoskins, played against Yale on the 12th and Long Island University on the 13th. In the latter game, he had his second three-assist night of the campaign. Hoskins remains a consistent two-way forward who is unlocking another level to his offensive game as of late.
• 2023 4th-rounder and current University of Maine forward, Jaden Lipinski, played an unusual Wednesday night game against UMass-Lowell, which produced an exciting 5–4 OTW. Lipinski then played Lindenwood University on the 14th in a 7–2 winning effort, where he even found the back of the net.

OHL

• 2024 2nd-rounder, Jacob Battaglia, had an impressive four-point outing on the 10th with one goal and three assists in a 7–3 win against the Oshawa Generals. Since last week, the Frontenacs have strung together three wins this past week.

WHL

• Hurtig found the scoresheet in back-to-back games this past week. Hurtig, the traditionally shut-down orientated defender, got an assist against Red Deer in a 4–1 victory on the 12th and potted a goal in a 9–0 blowout against the Rebels the following night.
• 2024 6th-rounder and current Saskatoon Blades star Hunter Laing had a busy and high-scoring past week. The Canadian winger appeared in four games, where he accumulated five points. Expect the Flames draftee to lead the Blades’ offence while teammate and Team Germany member David Lewandowski is away for World Juniors.

Russia

• Zarubin had another stellar week, appearing in another two games. In his first game against Krasnaya Armiya Moskva on the 14th, the 2005-born goaltender posted a 39-save shutout to win the game 2–0. Then, in his second appearance on the 16th against Krasnaya Armiya Moskva, he stopped 33 of 34 shots on goal, securing a second win of the week.

Forwards

Defence

Goaltenders