Calgary Flames defence prospect Hunter Brzustewicz joins AHL’s Wranglers on ATO
By Mike Gould
4 days agoThe Calgary Flames have assigned defence prospect Hunter Brzustewicz to the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers, the club announced Monday morning.
Brzustewicz, 19, led all Ontario Hockey League skaters with 79 assists and finished second among defencemen with 92 points in 67 games with the Kitchener Rangers during the 2023–24 regular season. He added a goal and nine points in 10 playoff contests with the team.
The Rangers’ season ended on Thursday as they fell 4-3 to the London Knights in Game 4 of their OHL second round playoff series. Brzustewicz collected five points in the four-game sweep.
The Wranglers are slated to take on the Tucson Roadrunners in a best-of-three series to kick off the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs, with all three games taking place in Tucson. Game 1 between the two teams is scheduled for Wed., Apr. 24 at 8:00 p.m. MDT.
The Flames originally acquired the rights to Brzustewicz from the Vancouver Canucks as part of the Elias Lindholm trade back on Jan. 31. In addition to Brzustewicz, the Flames received forward Andrei Kuzmenko, defence prospect Joni Jurmo, the Canucks’ 2024 first-round pick, and a conditional 2024 fourth-round pick.
The Canucks selected Brzustewicz in the third round (No. 75 overall) of the 2023 NHL Draft. The Washington, Michigan product had yet to come to terms on a contract with the Canucks by the time he was traded to Calgary; around six weeks after the trade, the Flames signed Brzustewicz to a three-year, entry-level deal.
As a 2004-born player, Brzustewicz is eligible to play for the Wranglers on a full-time basis as soon as the 2024–25 regular season. He became eligible to join the team for this year’s playoffs after Kitchener’s 2024 playoff run came to a close.
The Flames have already benefited greatly from the Lindholm trade. Kuzmenko finished the 2023–24 season with 14 goals and 25 points in 29 games with the Flames, while Jurmo has also agreed to an entry-level contract. Additionally, the Flames are slated to enter this year’s draft with two first-round picks for the first time since 2013 (and only the second time in club history).
On the Vancouver side, Lindholm scored the Canucks’ first goal of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sunday to kickstart the team’s 4-2 win over the Nashville Predators in Game 1 of the first round.
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