FlamesNation Prospect Update: Playoffs and playoff chases

Photo credit:Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

By christian tiberi

6 years ago

Well thankfully at least a few people in this organization are still involved in the postseason.

In case you missed it

Here’s the last update.
Prospect wrap ups for Eetu Tuulola and Filip Sveningsson (CHL players should come gradually over the next two weeks).
The Flames were well represented on the WHL’s all star teams.
Adam Fox will stay in college, and that’s actually not all that spooky!
Stockton’s Finest takes a look at the Heat’s tough playoff battle.

Rasmus Andersson – D, Stockton Heat, AHL – X

	GP	G	A	P	5v5 P	P1	5v5 P1	NHLe
Current	53	8	30	38	23	21	14	27.63
Change from last week	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Still in Calgary. I’d guess that T.J. Brodie is shut down for the season, mostly because of the Flames’ position in the standings, so Rasmus is probably here to stay. He’s going to be auditioning for a spot, so might as well see what he can do.

Austin Carroll – RW, Stockton Heat

	GP	G	A	P	5v5 P	P1	5v5 P1	NHLe
Current	36	5	2	7	7	6	6	7.49
Change from last week	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	-0.44

No points for Carroll this week. Slowed wayyyyyyyyy down after a minor hot streak.

Dillon Dube – C/LW, Kelowna Rockets, WHL

Dube and the Rockets are currently getting stomped by Juuso Valimaki and the Tri-City Americans. In two games thus far, the Rockets have allowed 14 goals while only scoring seven. Dube has yet to find the scoresheet, but has racked up six shots and 18 penalty minutes, including a game misconduct. Perhaps not his finest hockey.

If Dube gets swept out of the playoffs, what would folks think about him getting a shot in Calgary to close out the season? There’d be no risk of burning a year of his ELC, and given that he will be auditioning for a forward spot next year, why not? I believe he can still be reassigned to Stockton afterwards to help with their playoff push.

Zach Fischer – RW, Spokane Chiefs, WHL

Last week I said that Fischer was probably never returning given his lengthy absence, but he’s back! He appeared in two games for the Chiefs, picking up a goal and an assist. The Chiefs are tied with the Portland Winterhawks 1-1.

Spencer Foo – RW, Stockton Heat

	GP	G	A	P	5v5 P	P1	5v5 P1	NHLe
Current	58	20	17	37	16	31	12	24.59
Change from last week	2	1	1	2	0	2	0	+0.5

With another goal this week, Foo becomes the second Heat player to hit 20 goals on the year. He’s been the offensive motor the Heat need down the playoff stretch, which is great news for the Flames. Given that the team has pretty much lost all their major offensive weapons (Mangiapane, Hathaway, Jankowski, Andersson) or had them dry up (Klimchuk, Shinkaruk), it’s reassuring that Foo can be trusted to carry the team by himself. Perhaps the Flames find a way for him to get an NHL game in?

Adam Fox – D, Harvard Crimson, ECAC

Didn’t sign! Unfortunate, but understandable. Ryan’s article articulated the reasons perfectly, but to sum it up quickly, there’s plenty of good, non-worrying reasons a player might go back for his third year. Plus, it helps with the defensive logjam the Flames currently have, so that’s also nice.

Glenn Gawdin – C/RW, Swift Current Broncos, WHL

Gawdin and the Broncos currently lead the Memorial Cup-hosting Regina Pats 2-1 in their series. Gawdin has two goals and an assist in the series, though all three happened in last night’s 4-1 win for the Broncos.

Swift Current is one of the heavy favourites to make it out of the WHL, so if you need a team to cheer for, here you are.

Josh Healey – D, Stockton Heat

	GP	G	A	P	5v5 P	P1	5v5 P1	NHLe
Current	41	0	3	3	2	2	1	2.82
Change from last week	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	-0.07

Played a game of hockey.

D’Artagnan Joly – RW, Baie-Comeau Drakkar, QMJHL

Baie-Comeau, 14th seed, is predictably getting dummied by the perennial contender Halifax Mooseheads, third seed. The Drakkar are down 2-0 in the series, but Joly has three assists so far. The Drakkar have only scored five goals, by the way.

Morgan Klimchuk – LW, Stockton Heat

	GP	G	A	P	5v5 P	P1	5v5 P1	NHLe
Current	57	18	18	36	22	29	19	24.34
Change from last week	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	-0.89

Five games with no points. Probably not a good sign for a guy who will be fighting for a contract.

Oliver Kylington – D, Stockton Heat

	GP	G	A	P	5v5 P	P1	5v5 P1	NHLe
Current	54	5	26	31	21	21	15	22.12
Change from last week	2	1	0	1	1	1	1	-0.11

Another goal this week for Kylington. He’s been rocking a very low shooting percentage for most of the season, so perhaps he’s getting hot at the right time of the year. Being asked to step up in the absence of Andersson will also help those point totals.

Linus Lindstrom – C/LW, Skelleftea AIK, SHL

Lindstrom has two assists in four playoff games for Skelleftea. He had four points in 41 games during the regular season. Early Swedish-equivalent-of-the-Conn-Smythe candidate?

Ryan Lomberg – LW, Stockton Heat

	GP	G	A	P	5v5 P	P1	5v5 P1	NHLe
Current	48	8	12	20	15	13	9	16.06
Change from last week	2	1	1	2	0	2	0	+0.98

Lomberg and Foo are a developing formidable duo, as they each provided the primary assist on the other’s goal this week. Perhaps a preview of Calgary’s fourth line next year? Pipe dream, but still plausible.

Andrew Mangiapane – LW/C, Stockton Heat

	GP	G	A	P	5v5 P	P1	5v5 P1	NHLe
Current	39	21	25	46	26	35	22	45.46
Change from last week	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Season shut down after shoulder surgery.

Mitchell Mattson – C/LW, Sioux Falls Stampede, USHL

	GP	G	A	P	5v5 P	P1	5v5 P1	NHLe
Current	46	9	11	20	15	18	13	9.98
Change from last week	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	-0.46

Back after a five week absence! No points, but nice to see him again.

Adam Ollas Mattsson – D, Stockton Heat

	GP	G	A	P	5v5 P	P1	5v5 P1	NHLe
Up to date	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Change from last week	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Who knows man.

Matthew Phillips – C/RW, Victoria Royals, WHL

The Royals are currently tied with the Vancouver Giants 1-1 in their series. Phillips has two assists thus far. One of them was a beauty:

Emile Poirier – LW/RW, Stockton Heat

	GP	G	A	P	5v5 P	P1	5v5 P1	NHLe
Current	57	4	17	21	13	18	11	14.2
Change from last week	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	-0.25

Healthy scratched for a game. Pretty justifiable given that he hasn’t scored in nearly two months.

Brett Pollock – LW/C, Stockton Heat, AHL

	GP	G	A	P	5v5 P	P1	5v5 P1	NHLe
Current	37	8	7	15	9	12	7	15.62
Change from last week	2	1	1	2	1	1	0	+1.31

Two more points for Pollock this week. He’s also been an important yet unheralded contributor down the stretch for the Heat.

Daniel Pribyl – RW/C, Stockton Heat

	GP	G	A	P	5v5 P	P1	5v5 P1	NHLe
Current	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Still injured.

Adam Ruzicka – C/LW, Sarnia Sting, OHL

Sarnia’s series with the Spitfires is split 1-1. Ruzicka has racked up one assist so far.

Hunter Shinkaruk – F, Stockton Heat

	GP	G	A	P	5v5 P	P1	5v5 P1	NHLe
Up to date	57	16	12	28	17	24	16	18.93
Change from last week	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	-0.69

Nothing going for Shinkaruk this week.

Hunter Smith – RW, Kansas City Mavericks, ECHL

	GP	G	A	P	5v5 P	P1	5v5 P1	NHLe
Up to date	35	9	8	17	13	17	13	11.15
Change from last week	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Smith is recovering from an upper body injury. He hasn’t played since Jan. 6.

Filip Sveningsson – LW, HV71, Superelit/SHL

Sveningsson is tied for the team lead in playoff scoring, having picked up six points (two goals, four assists) in four games. HV71 U20 is currently up two games on Frolunda’s U20 teams.

Eetu Tuulola – RW, HPK, SM-Liiga

Tuulola has a goal in five games for HPK’s U20 team’s playoffs, which is perhaps a bit concerning given that it’s the U20 team? Especially when he finished top five in U20 scoring in the pro league? The playoffs are just a weird place sometimes, but this is also pretty weird.

Juuso Valimaki – D, Tri-City Americans, WHL

Valimaki currently has two assists as his Tri-City Americans lead the Kelowna Rockets 2-0 in their series.

Tyler Wotherspoon – D, Stockton Heat

	GP	G	A	P	5v5 P	P1	5v5 P1	NHLe
Current	56	7	27	34	17	18	10	23.4
Change from last week	2	0	1	1	0	1	0	-0.15

Wotherspoon missed his first game all season for an undisclosed reason.

Jon Gillies – G, Stockton Heat – X

	GP	TOI	SV%	SA
Current	36	2052.03	0.916	1035
Change from last week	2	119.08	+0.001	59

Gillies followed up a tough performance (26/29, .897 SV%) with a stellar one (29/30, .967 SV%) in Stockton’s series against the Manitoba Moose.

He’s back in Calgary now, probably auditioning for the backup role next year. I’ll get to it later with Rittich, but it’s something still up for debate.

Mason McDonald – G, Kansas City Mavericks/Stockton Heat

	GP	TOI	SV%	SA
ECHL Current	24	1358	0.892	619
Change from last week	0	0	0	0
AHL Current	4	224.35	0.875	104
Change from last week	0	0	0	0

Injured.

Tyler Parsons – G, Stockton Heat/Kansas City Mavericks

	GP	TOI	SV%	SA
ECHL Current	25	1391	0.907	739
Change from last week	2	118	+0.002	53
AHL Current	7	300.98	0.856	153
Change from last week	0	0	0	0

Parsons has returned to the net for the Kansas City Mavericks after a long absence. He struggled in his return, stopping 22 of 25 (.880 SV%), but impressed in his second game, stopping 27/28 (.964 SV%) on a back-to-back.

David Rittich – G, Stockton Heat

	GP	TOI	SV%	SA
Current	36	2052.03	0.916	1035
Change from last week	2	119.08	+0.001	59

It stinks to have to put someone back on the update after four months of them having departed, but I guess Rittich is back on the Heat for at least the time being.

I think the demotion is just to see what Gillies is made of before moving forward. There’s the likely chance that one of Rittich or Gillies is going to go this offseason, and Rittich just didn’t do enough to prove that he’s a reliable NHL backup. I think he had his strong moments, but the team clearly needs more than just a few moments.

Mike Smith is going to be older next year, and the likelihood (especially given his play post-injury) of him being as good next year goes down. You need someone who could at least convincingly be a 20 game starter, and Rittich is not that. This is a depressing article for later, but that’s my initial thoughts.

Nick Schneider – G, Calgary Hitmen, WHL/Stockton Heat, AHL

	GP	TOI	SV%	SA
AHL Current	–	–	–	–
Change from last week	–	–	–	–

In Stockton, but has yet to play.

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