FlamesNation Mailbag: Discussing rookies and prospects as camp approaches

We’re nearly at the end of August, folks, as the calendar flips over to September at the end of this week. But while the onset of September means the end of summer, it also means that hockey is just about back.

As we wind down the summer, let’s dive into the mailbag!

The rookies that have the best chances to crack the opening night roster are likely Jakob Pelletier, Matt Coronato and Walker Duehr, with Dustin Wolf being a dark horse in the event that a goaltender (well, Dan Vladar) is traded.

Duehr’s a virtual shoo-in because of his waiver status. Pelletier has played two years of pro hockey and performed really well. Coronato’s a bit more of a wild-card, but he’s very promising. Let’s say the over/under is 2.5. (We’d bet on the over.)

In terms of points, the folks at Betway set the over/under at 94.5. If the Flames have any improvements in their goaltending or power play, the over seems like a probable outcome.

Let’s go with an obvious answer and a dark horse.

The obvious one is Samuel Honzek. He’ll probably get a long look at training camp and he’ll be a big, big part of anything that the Vancouver Giants do this coming season.

The dark horse is Arsenii Sergeev. He’s improved year-over-year virtually every season since arriving in North America, and he’s going to be given a ton of opportunities to be the top netminder at the University of Connecticut this coming season.

It was serious enough that he required surgery to correct it, though that’s more or less all I know. He played through a fairly significant injury for a chunk of the season. As of the last I’ve heard, he’s expected to be fully recovered in time for the season.

We’ll see how Walker Duehr looks with a more regular, defined NHL role. But his pace and ability to use his size to get to the front of the net and create scoring opportunities make me lean towards the Garnet Hathaway side of the ledger.

Newly-hired assistant coach Marc Savard is running the power play and the forward group this season.

There’s a bunch of work being done behind the scenes on legal agreements and other things as we speak. We should hear an update on progress sometime in the few weeks.