FlamesNation prospect update: the hunt for mid-October

We’re not quite sure when hockey will get going in much of North America – except for Quebec. But for the time being, we’ll all have to make due with enjoying watching Calgary Flames prospects playing in scenic Europe (and Quebec), aside for occasions when COVID-19 parameters shut down games for a bit.

Let’s check on how the prospects are doing.

Jakob Pelletier (Val-d’Or, QMJHL) has been idle for a week due to some of the Foreurs’ games being rescheduled due to COVID-19 restrictions. He’s off next week, too, with their next game being scheduled for Oct. 5. In four games so far, Pelletier has a goal and five assists (leading his team).

Jeremie Poirier (Saint John, QMJHL) was minus-3 in his lone outing last week, a shootout loss to Halifax. He’s got a goal and three assists in four games this week. He has games Friday (against Charlottetown) and Saturday (against Acadie-Bathurst).

Ryan Francis (Cape Breton, QMJHL) has assists in each of the Eagles’ games this past week, but they lost both of them. He has six assists in six games, but is still waiting for his first goal. Cape Breton faces Halifax on Friday and Saturday.

Ilya Solovyov (Dynamo Minsk, KHL) remains a steady presence for his team on the third pairing. He has two assists in nine games. Minsk plays games on Wednesday (Dynamo Moscow), Friday (CSKA Moscow) and Sunday (Severstal Cherepovets).

Artyom Zagidulin (Metallurg Magnitigorsk, KHL) could join the team as early as Wednesday’s game against Kunlun Red Star. Metallurg’s two goalies are a couple guys named Gleb and they’re missing two goalies due to COVID-19 restrictions, so they could use the help.

After two full seasons in junior, Ilya Nikolayev (Buran Voronezh, VHL) has gone pro! After putting up 13 points in 12 games with the junior Loko Yaroslavl, the parent club (Lokomotiv) promoted him to their pro farm team in Buran. He was held off the scoresheet in a pair of games last week, but he has games coming up Sunday (Zvezda Moskva) and Tuesday (Dynamo Krasnogorsk). You can watch VHL games on YouTube for free.

Dmitry Zavgorodniy (SKA St. Petersburg, KHL) may be on the move! He played four games for SKA St. Petersburg and rung up three assists. But SKA had oodles of players on their KHL roster so he hasn’t played for two weeks. On the KHL website he’s listed as on the roster of SKA-1946, SKA’s junior team, but SKA’s representatives told us that he hasn’t been reassigned. That doesn’t mean he won’t be, though.

Meanwhile, Daniil Chechlev (Russkie Vityaz Chekhov, MHL) is killing it in goal. In 10 games, he’s won 10 times and posted a 1.89 goals against average and .943 save percentage. His team plays Mikhailov Academy on Wednesday, and SKA-Varyags on Monday and Tuesday. You can watch MHL games on YouTube for free.

Johannes Kinnvall (HV71, SHL) has gotten going well after missing several weeks with a shoulder injury. He has three goals and an assist – mostly on the power play – in four games. HV71 plays Brynas on Thursday and Linkoping on Saturday.

Lucas Feuk (AIK, Allsvenskan/SuperElit) has moved around a bit lately. The pro team hasn’t played since Oct. 11, so he was sent down to the junior team and played three games in three days. It’s unclear if he’ll stick in junior for awhile – he has three points in four games and plays top six minutes – or if he’ll return to pro, where he’s had a goal in five games as a depth guy. The pro team plays Wednesday and t junior team plays Friday, so we’ll find out quickly where he’ll fit.

Filip Sveningsson (MODO Hockey, Allsvenskan) can’t go back to junior, so he remains a depth guy for his club. He has a goal in five games. MODO plays on Friday (Tingryds), Saturday (Almtuna) and Monday (Timra).

Eetu Tuulola (Vastervik IK, Allsvenskan) has found a nice role in Sweden. He has a goal and two assists in six games. He plays a lot this week: Friday (Mora), Sunday (Tingryds) and Tuesday (Bjorkloven).

Juuso Valimaki (Ilves, SM-Liiga) continues to impress while playing his first meaningful hockey in over a year. He leads his team in scoring with two goals and six assists in seven games. Ilves plays Friday (Tappara), Saturday (Sport) and Tuesday (JYP) this week.

Things continue to be weird in Slovakia. Martin Pospisil (HC Kosice, Tipsport Liga) played his first two games of the season as his club finally got some games that weren’t canceled by COVID-19 – he had zero points. But more of their games have been postponed and their schedule is kind of a mess as they have games slotted into spots where previous ones were canceled. They’re supposed to play on Friday against HK Dukla, but who knows what’ll happen?