Calgary Flames prospect Hunter Brzustewicz wins three Kitchener team awards
By Sam Nestler
1 month agoThe Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League handed out team awards on Wednesday. Among those award winners was Calgary Flames prospect Hunter Brzustewicz.
Brzustewicz was presented with three awards: the Jim Malleck Trophy, the Bob Schlieman Award and the Blueline Club Award. The Jim Malleck Trophy is given to the team’s most valuable player, the Schlieman Award is given to the best offensive defenceman and the Blueline Club Award is for the player that best embodies sportsmanship.
The 19-year-old defenceman took a huge step in the OHL this season. After tallying 57 points (six goals, 51 assists) in 68 games last year, he tied the franchise record for points by a defenceman with 92 points (13 goals, 79 assists) in 67 regular-season games in 2023-24. He ranked 10th in overall OHL scoring and second among league defencemen while finishing first among defencemen and second overall on Kitchener. He was named to the OHL’s second all-star team.
“When you have those guys that have that poise, have that patience … If he can buy a little more time, it really opens up other people,” Flames general manager Craig Conroy told the Calgary Herald in April. “Or if he can bring two people to him and then make that play, those are special guys. You wish everybody could do that, but not everybody can do that. That’s the thing that excites you about him.
“When you look at guys like that in the NHL … We don’t want to compare, but there are some guys that you say, ‘If he progresses the way we think, he could be a real, real good NHL player.’”
In the OHL Playoffs, Brzustewicz was a point-per-game player, finishing with 10 points (one goal, nine assists) in 10 games. The Rangers were swept by the London Knights in the second round after knocking off the Erie Otters in six games. London, who features Hunter’s younger brother, Henry, won 16 of 18 games to clinch a spot in the Memorial Cup.
Hunter Brzustewicz was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the third round (No. 75) in the 2023 NHL Draft. He came to Calgary in the trade that sent Elias Lindholm to Vancouver and brought Andrei Kuzmenko, Joni Jurmo and multiple draft picks to the Flames.
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