2023 FlamesNation prospect rankings: #5 (tie) Jeremie Poirier
16 days ago
Jeremie Poirier climbed three spots in the 2023 FlamesNation prospect rankings after his first professional season with the Calgary Wranglers. He lands in a three-way tie for fifth alongside two other prospects. If you hadn’t been following along with the young blueliner, he had an outstanding season as one of the AHL’s top rookies and will be eyeing an NHL spot going forward.
Jeremie Poirier
Left-handed defender
Born June 2, 2002 (Age 21) in Valleyfield, Quebec
6’1”, 196 pounds
Selected in the third round (72nd overall) by Calgary in the 2020 NHL Draft
While the AHL doesn’t publicize playing time, it was very clear Jeremie Poirier’s minutes were among the top on the Calgary Wranglers. For most of the season, he was partnered up with Colton Poolman and the go-to choice for power plays, penalty kills, empty-net situations, overtimes and even shootouts.
Poirier played in 69 of a possible 72 Wranglers games and the trio of games he missed were not due to injury. Former head coach, Mitch Love, gave Poirier a few games off not due to on-ice performance per se, but to ground him and prove his time is not guaranteed. A similar thing happened to Emilio Pettersen last season, but that ended up being more due to performance. The Wranglers rolled with a lot of lineup options in their inaugural season and every single player had to put in the work to play.
Through the regular season, Jeremie Poirier landed sixth in team scoring with nine goals and 32 assists for a total of 41 points. Of these goals, three were power-play goals and one was a game-winning goal. He also had a perfect record in shootouts going four for four in his attempts. For his regular season efforts, he was recognized on the AHL’s All-Rookie team. He has aspects of his game that make him a perfect combination of offensive and defensive abilities that he further revealed in their playoff run.
In the post-season, Poirier was an essential part of the lineup coming second in Wranglers scoring only below Jakob Pelletier. He almost went a point per game with eight points through nine games including two goals and six assists. His last goal of the playoffs came against Coachella Valley in their elimination game and helped the Wranglers get a chance at their opponents in overtime. It didn’t end up going their way but Poirier did have a lot to do with the success Calgary did have in their first and second series’.
Expectations for 2023-24
Jeremie Poirier will be in the second year of his entry-level contract next season and is expected to join the Calgary Wranglers in October pending any shocking training camp twists.
Next season is the season for Poirier to prove the words, “Sophomore Slump,” don’t apply to him. He is not going to be an unexpected talent and guys in the league are going to become more and more aware of his skills and style of play. Poirier did need some time to develop and sending him right into the NHL could have seriously backfired. However, for Poirier, the thought of “if” he’s going to play in the NHL can be looked at as more of an inevitable “when” he plays in the NHL.
It is very possible Poirier will play games with the Flames this season. Whether that be on an injury basis or towards the end of the season depending on their standings. I don’t imagine he will make the Flames out of training camp but he is close. There are small positioning aspects of his game he can tidy up, but everything else skill-wise is right there.
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