Flames prospect update: Stockton’s depth stands out
By Ryan Pike
1 year agoThere are no secrets in the world of hockey, friends, and since we’ve written a lot about the Stockton Heat’s terrific top line, you can bet teams try to shut them down. Over the weekend, the Ontario Reign largely kept the top line quiet in a pair of close games. But Stockton’s second and third liners carried the mail instead, allowing the Heat to capture three of a possible four points and inch closer to capturing a division crown.
Here’s how the whole prospect crew across the Flames organization fared this past week.
This and that
- The playing seasons are over for F Mitchell Mattson (Michigan State), F Josh Nodler (also Michigan State), F Demetrios Koumontzis (Arizona State), D Jake Boltmann (Notre Dame) and F Matt Coronato (Harvard). All indications are that Nodler, Koumontzis, Boltmann and Coronato will be returning to school for the 2023-23 season, though Nodler has entered the NCAA’s transfer portal and is reportedly moving to U Mass (no official announcement has been made yet).
- Connor Mackey and Adam Ruzicka are both with the Flames right now.
Jack Beck – RW, Ottawa 67’s, OHL
Calgary’s sixth round pick (168th overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 34 | 19 | 21 | 40 | 23 | 34 | 20 | 31.16 |
| Change from last week | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0.94 |
The 67’s played once this week, getting thumped 6-0 by the Hamilton Bulldogs. Beck failed to hit the scoresheet.
Lucas Ciona – LW, Seattle Thunderbirds, WHL
Calgary’s sixth round pick (173rd overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 51 | 17 | 15 | 32 | 20 | 24 | 14 | 15.54 |
| Change from last week | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0.31 |
Ciona returned after missing a few weeks with an injury. He didn’t hit the scoresheet, but it’s good to see him getting healthy just as the T-Birds are ramping up for the post-season. They’ve already sewn up a first round date with the Kelowna Rockets.
Walker Duehr – RW, Stockton Heat, AHL
Free agent signing
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 51 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 13 | 17 | 12 | 15.63 |
| Change from last week | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | +0.18 |
Duehr projects as an energy guy, and his offensive contributions are less than the rest of Stockton’s middle six forward crop. But he chips in key goals at key times, which is probably enough to keep him on the radar for NHL call ups… especially considering how lean the Flames organization is on the right side.
Lucas Feuk – LW, Västerviks IK, HockeyAllsvenskan / Nybro Vikings IF/Väsby IK, HockeyEttan
Calgary’s fourth round pick (116th overall) in the 2019 NHL Draft
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Allsvenskan up to date | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6.51 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| HockeyEttan up to date | 32 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 20 | 18 | 16 | n/a |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Feuk and Vasby are currently playing in a six team round robin where the best team gets promoted to the second tier HockeyAllsvenskan. They were crushed in the first two games (losing by a combined 10-0) before winning on Tuesday by a 6-2 score. Feuk has yet to hit the scoresheet in this round.
Ryan Francis – C, Stockton Heat, AHL / Saint John Sea Dogs, QMJHL
Calgary’s fifth round pick (143rd overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft; #8-ranked prospect
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| AHL up to date | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| QMJHL up to date | 45 | 20 | 35 | 55 | 33 | 46 | 29 | 28.46 |
| Change from last week | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -0.37 |
Francis continued his consistent offensive contributions lately, averaging a point-per-game this past week. Two of his three points were secondary assists on the power play, but they helped Saint John win games.
Glenn Gawdin – C, Stockton Heat, AHL
St. Louis’ fourth round pick (116th overall) in the 2015 NHL Draft; free agent signing; #10-ranked prospect
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 57 | 14 | 33 | 47 | 23 | 30 | 17 | 32.86 |
| Change from last week | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -0.47 |
Gawdin has been a bit quiet offensively over the last few weeks. He set up a power play goal this week (yay!) but that’s it as far as points go (boo!).
Cole Huckins – LW, Acadie-Bathurst Titan, QMJHL
Calgary’s third round pick (77th overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft; #19-ranked prospect
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 32 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 17 | 21 | 13 | 18.19 |
| Change from last week | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2.60 |
Huckins returned to the Titan this past week and played four games, but didn’t hit the scoresheet.
Cole Jordan – D, Moose Jaw Warriors, WHL
Calgary’s fifth round pick (141st overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 32 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 6.56 |
| Change from last week | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0.40 |
Moose Jaw continues to trek towards the post-season. On a team with a deep blueline group, Jordan remains a promising young player, but the hope probably was that in his Draft+1 season some of his promise would translate into a step forward in his game. He could still take a step in the post-season, but that might be a big ask.
Rory Kerins – C, Soo Greyhounds, OHL
Calgary’s sixth round pick (174th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft; #18-ranked prospect
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 65 | 41 | 72 | 113 | 61 | 88 | 55 | 46.04 |
| Change from last week | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 2 | +1.06 |
Kerins played two games. His worst game saw him get a goal and an assist. His better game saw him rack up four primary assists. His production this year is nuts, and about half of it is from even strength time. That might be the only real criticism of his game, as he’s been excellent and is one of the top producers in the OHL.
Johannes Kinnvall – D, Stockton Heat, AHL
Free agent signing
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 16 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 19.93 |
| Change from last week | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2.84 |
With Connor Mackey and Juuso Valimaki in the NHL, and Ilya Solovyov injured, Kinnvall played in both games this weekend. He was fine, but didn’t get any points.
Justin Kirkland – LW, Stockton Heat, AHL
Nashville’s third round pick (62nd overall) in the 2014 NHL Draft; free agent signing
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 58 | 20 | 22 | 42 | 22 | 34 | 17 | 28.86 |
| Change from last week | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | +0.39 |
The man the Heat social media team has nicknamed “Costco” (because of the Kirkland Select brand…) had another two goals this week, continuing a really nice stretch of offensive production for the AHL veteran.
Yan Kuznetsov – D, Stockton Heat, AHL / Saint John Sea Dogs, QMJHL
Calgary’s second round pick (50th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft; #15-ranked prospect
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| AHL up to date | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| QMJHL up to date | 19 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 11.15 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Kuznetsov remains out with an injury. He hasn’t played for the past month.
Connor Mackey – D, Stockton Heat, AHL
Free agent signing; #7-ranked prospect
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 53 | 5 | 31 | 36 | 16 | 20 | 8 | 27.07 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Mackey is currently in the NHL. Since he was brought up on a regular recall (rather than an emergency recall) it seems probable that he’ll be staying with the Flames for the remainder of the regular season.
Ilya Nikolaev – C, Tri-City Storm, USHL
Calgary’s third round pick (88th overall) in the 2019 NHL Draft
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 54 | 22 | 45 | 67 | 34 | 43 | 21 | 28.49 |
| Change from last week | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | +0.58 |
This is more or less a prototypical Nikolaev week: five points, but two at even strength. He’s one of the older kids in his league and he’s a consistent producer, but the skew towards special teams for some of his production is less than ideal.
He seems like a good candidate for the Flames to send to Stockton on an AHL deal next season, to give him a chance to show that he can be a steady contributor at the next level.
Jakob Pelletier – LW, Stockton Heat, AHL
Calgary’s first round pick (26th overall) in the 2019 NHL Draft; #3-ranked prospect
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 59 | 26 | 30 | 56 | 31 | 42 | 24 | 37.83 |
| Change from last week | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1.32 |
Bad news, friends: Pelletier didn’t get any points over the weekend. But he’s still a prospect of note and one of Stockton’s top offensive producers this season.
Emilio Pettersen – LW, Stockton Heat, AHL
Calgary’s sixth round pick (167th overall) in the 2018 NHL Draft; #11-ranked prospect
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 52 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 20 | 16 | 14 | 16.86 |
| Change from last week | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | +0.12 |
Pettersen scored a goal this week. He’s currently on the third line, but he’s been chipping in offensively with much more consistently than earlier in the season.
Matthew Phillips – RW, Stockton Heat, AHL
Calgary’s sixth round pick (166th overall) in the 2016 NHL Draft; #5-ranked prospect
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 57 | 28 | 34 | 62 | 36 | 48 | 31 | 43.35 |
| Change from last week | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -0.85 |
Phillips had a power play goal, but otherwise the top line was quiet at even strength this weekend.
Luke Philp – C, Stockton Heat, AHL
Free agent signing
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 58 | 21 | 22 | 43 | 24 | 29 | 18 | 29.55 |
| Change from last week | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +1.08 |
Philp has been really dangerous offensively for the past couple of months and this week was fairly typical for him, with three secondary assists (two at even strength) to help the Heat capture points.
Jérémie Poirier – D, Saint John Sea Dogs, QMJHL
Calgary’s third round pick (72nd overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft; #9-ranked prospect
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 58 | 13 | 38 | 51 | 34 | 31 | 20 | 20.48 |
| Change from last week | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -0.27 |
Poirier keeps puttering along. His scoring pace has slowed a bit and he’s slipped to seventh in the QMJHL in defensive points, but that’s still really good.
Colton Poolman – D, Stockton Heat, AHL
Free agent signing
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 54 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 8.86 |
| Change from last week | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | +0.43 |
Poolman had a primary assist this week, which is fairly rare for him.
Martin Pospisil – C, Stockton Heat, AHL
Calgary’s fourth round pick (105th overall) in the 2018 NHL Draft; #16-ranked prospect
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 39 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 13 | 19 | 11 | 23.50 |
| Change from last week | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | +1.96 |
There are weeks that make you shake your head and exclaim “Man, if only Pospisil could stay healthy.” He had three points and was a big piece of a fairly successful weekend for Stockton. If he had these kind of weekends on the regular – or was in the lineup for an extra, say, 15 games a season – he’d probably have gotten some NHL games under his belt by now. The poor kid has the dirt worst injury luck in the organization.
Adam Ruzicka – C, Stockton Heat, AHL
Calgary’s fourth round pick (109th overall) in the 2017 NHL Draft; #6-ranked prospect
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 16 | 11 | 9 | 20 | 13 | 16 | 12 | 49.82 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Ruzicka is currently on the Flames’ NHL roster. He’s up on an emergency recall, so he’ll likely return to Stockton at some point.
Ilya Solovyov – D, Stockton Heat, AHL
Calgary’s seventh round pick (205th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft; #20-ranked prospect
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 46 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6.06 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Solovyov missed this weekend’s games due to injury.
William Strömgren – LW, Rögle BK, J20 Nationell/CHL/SHL / IF Björklöven, HockeyAllsvenskan
Calgary’s second round pick (45th overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft; #13-ranked prospect
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| SHL up to date | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J20 up to date | 44 | 13 | 23 | 36 | 17 | 25 | 13 | 12.95 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| CHL up to date | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | n/a |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Rogle’s J20 team has completed their season, but their SHL team begins their best-of-seven semi-final playoff series with Farjestad later this week.
Eetu Tuulola – RW, Stockton Heat, AHL
Calgary’s sixth round pick (156th overall) in the 2016 NHL Draft
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 53 | 13 | 10 | 23 | 16 | 19 | 14 | 17.29 |
| Change from last week | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0.68 |
Tuulola was held off the scoresheet this week. He’s playing in the bottom six, bouncing between their third and fourth lines.
Cameron Whynot – D, Halifax Mooseheads, QMJHL
Calgary’s third round pick (89th overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 45 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 9 | 11 | 6 | 8.80 |
| Change from last week | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0.41 |
Whynot returned from injury, played twice, and then was back on the sidelines for Halifax. He’s dealt with injuries off and on this season, but hopefully he’s healthy enough to contribute in the upcoming post-season.
Connor Zary – C, Stockton Heat, AHL
Calgary’s first round pick (24th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft; #2-ranked prospect
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 48 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 15 | 20 | 14 | 19.93 |
| Change from last week | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | n/a |
Zary’s settled into a nice 0.5 points per game pace lately. He started the season behind the proverbial eight-ball due to some injury issues – he hardly got a training camp at all because he broke his foot in a prospect camp game – but he’s carved out a nice niche for himself as a secondary offensive player for the Heat. The hope is he can use his effective second half as a springboard for a strong second pro season in 2022-23.
Dmitry Zavgorodniy – RW, Stockton Heat, AHL / HC Sochi, KHL
Calgary’s seventh round pick (198th overall) in the 2018 NHL Draft
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| AHL up to date | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3.99 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| KHL up to date | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 19.78 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Zavgorodniy was scratched for both of Stockton’s games this week.
Daniil Chechelev – G, Stockton Heat, AHL / Kansas City Mavericks, ECHL
Calgary’s fourth round pick (96th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft
| GP | TOI | SV% | |
| ECHL up to date | 30 | 1715 | .894 |
| Change from last week | 1 | 58 | -.003 |
Chechelev played once and allowed seven goals in a Mavericks loss. Then he was called up to be the third goalie in Stockton, which will get him more hands-on coaching time with developmental goaltending coach Thomas Speer.
Arsenii Sergeev – G, Tri-City Storm, USHL
Calgary’s seventh round pick (205th overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft
| GP | TOI | SV% | |
| Up to date | 39 | 2193 | .918 |
| Change from last week | 3 | 145 | -.004 |
Sergeev’s numbers have dipped from “way better than everyone in his league” to merely quite good. He played three games this week – including one relief appearance – and the highlight was picking up the win in a game where he allowed six goals. It’s late in the season and you can imagine Tri-City is eager for the playoffs to begin.
Adam Werner – G, Stockton Heat, AHL
Colorado’s fifth round pick (131st overall) in the 2016 NHL Draft; free agent signing
| GP | TOI | SV% | |
| Up to date | 18 | 1006 | .880 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – |
For the second consecutive week, Werner was relegated to backup duties as Wolf received all the playing time.
Dustin Wolf – G, Stockton Heat, AHL
Calgary’s seventh round pick (214th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft; #4-ranked prospect
| GP | TOI | SV% | |
| Up to date | 43 | 2575 | .925 |
| Change from last week | 2 | 129 | -.002 |
Wolf started both of Stockton’s games this weekend. He went the distance in both games, capturing a shootout victory and a shootout loss.
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