FlamesNation prospect update: the calm before the storm
By Ryan Pike
3 years agoThe World Juniors are just around the corner and off the ice there’s been a ton of news and action. On the ice? Not so much action for the Calgary Flames’ prospects. But as the calendar ticks closer to 2021, we’ll have the big tournament, followed by the NHL’s return. In the meantime, let’s try to enjoy the relative calm.
Here’s a snapshot of how everybody’s doing right now and their growth (or lack thereof) so far this season.
In case you missed it:
- Last week’s update
- Jakob Pelletier and Connor Zary made Team Canada for the World Juniors!
- Dustin Wolf made Team USA and Yan Kuznetsov made Team Russia!
- Juuso Valimaki has been returned to the Flames from his loan in Finland.
- Dmitry Zavgorodniy has been returned to the Flames from his loan in Russia.
Jake Boltmann- D, Lincoln Stars, USHL
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | n/a |
Lincoln’s games were postponed this week out of concern about arena conditions (regarding COVID preparations). Boltmann is still waiting for his first point of 2020-21.
In 2019-20, Boltmann had nine points in 17 games (for a 12.16 NHLe).
Lucas Feuk- LW, AIK, Allsvenskan/Superelit
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Allsvenskan up to date | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4.65 |
| Change from last week | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0.54 |
| Superelit up to date | 8 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 19.78 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
The J20 Superelit league is paused until January due to COVID concerns. Feuk was recalled to AIK’s pro side on Monday to fill the roster spot freed up when Oliver Wahlstrom was recalled by the New York Islanders.
In 2019-20, Feuk had two points in 29 Allsvenskan games (2.25 NHLe) and 27 points in 23 J20 games (18.58 NHLe). Sample size is relatively small in each league, but hey, progress!
Ryan Francis- C, Cape Breton Eagles, QMJHL
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 15 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 10 | 15 | 8 | 32.60 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | n/a |
The QMJHL is paused until January due to COVID concerns.
In 2019-20, Francis had 72 points in 61 games (for a 27.49 NHLe). A slight uptick so far this season.
Johannes Kinnvall- D, HV71, SHL
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 17 | 5 | 2 | 16 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 46.00 |
| Change from last week | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2.87 |
Kinnvall had two secondary power play helpers this past week. HV71 lost all three of this week’s games.
In 2019-20, Kinnvall had 40 points in 51 games (for a 38.33 NHLe). He’s taken a step forward offensively so far this season.
Demetrios Koumontzis- LW, Arizona State University Sun Devils, NCAA
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 10 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 16.38 |
| Change from last week | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4.10 |
Koumontzis was held off the scoresheet and ASU lost both of their games to Penn State. They did manage to make it to overtime in each game, though.
In 2019-20, Koumontzis had eight points in 25 games (for a 8.74 NHLe). He’s bounced back from a bad sophomore year, and is thus far basically scoring at the same rate he did as a freshman.
Yan Kuznetsov- D, University of Connecticut Huskies, NCAA
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16.11 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | n/a |
Kuznetsov was locking down a spot on Russia’s World Junior team this week and thus didn’t play in college.
In 2019-20, Kuznetsov had 11 points in 34 games (for a 10.43 NHLe).
Mitchell Mattson- C, Michigan State University Spartans, NCAA
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 13.65 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | n/a |
Michigan State’s scheduled games with Wisconsin were postponed due to COVID positives at Wisconsin.
In 2019-20, Mattson had one point in 22 games (for a 1.24 NHLe). He’s already tripled his collegiate offensive output from his previous two college seasons through six games.
Ilya Nikolayev- C, Buran Voronezh, VHL / Loko Yaroslavl, MHL
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| VHL up to date | 23 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 15.33 |
| Change from last week | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | +0.90 |
| MHL up to date | 12 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 23.10 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Nikolayev had a goal and an assist in a 6-0 Buran win last week. They lost the two games that he didn’t score in, though, leading us to suspect that they would win more if he scored more often. He’s currently fourth on Buran in points (as a 19-year-old).
In 2019-20, Nikolayev had 32 points in 53 MHL games (for a 12.87 NHLe). So far he’s managed to move up to the pros and improve his output, too.
Josh Nodler- C, Michigan State University Spartans, NCAA
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 6 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 18.20 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | n/a |
Michigan State’s scheduled games with Wisconsin were postponed due to COVID positives at Wisconsin.
In 2019-20, Nodler had eight points in 36 games (for a 6.07 NHLe).
Jakob Pelletier- LW, Val-d’Or Foreurs, QMJHL
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 9 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 6 | 11 | 6 | 33.64 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | n/a |
Pelletier didn’t play a QMJHL game last week because (a) the QMJHL is paused until January and (b) he was in the process of making Team Canada.
In 2019-20, Pelletier had 82 points in 57 games (for a 33.50 NHL).
Jeremie Poirier- D, Saint John Sea Dogs, QMJHL
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 15 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 11 | 12 | 8 | 24.84 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | n/a |
The QMJHL is paused until January due to COVID concerns.
In 2019-20, Poirier had 53 points in 64 games (for a 19.29 NHLe).
Martin Pospisil- C/LW, HC Kosice, Tipsport Liga
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 17 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 7 | 12 | 7 | n/a |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | n/a |
Pospisil did not play in either of Kosice’s games this past week. There has been no indication from the club whether it’s an injury or whether he’s heading back to North America. We’re leaning towards the latter.
In 2019-20, Pospisil had 10 points in 26 AHL games (for a 15.33 NHLe). It’s close to impossible to compare with the primary Slovakian league because so few players have come from that circuit.
Ilya Solovyov- D, Dynamo Minsk, KHL
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| KHL up to date | 24 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8.22 |
| Change from last week | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0.36 |
Dynamo Minsk played twice and Solovyov was scratched for one of those outings. By all accounts, the 20-year-old blueliner is hitting a bit of a wall about a third of the way through his first pro season.
In 2019-20, Solovyov had 40 points in 53 OHL games (for a 19.99 NHLe) but obviously his role for Minsk is quite different.
Filip Sveningsson- LW, MODO Hockey, Allsvenskan
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 17 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 9.57 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | n/a |
MODO didn’t play this week as their schedule was re-arranged due to some positive COVID tests. They’re expected to return to regular game action on Wednesday.
In 2019-20, Sveningsson had four points in 29 SHL games (6.74 NHLe) and four points in 8 Allsvenskan games (16.28 NHLe).
Eetu Tuulola- RW, Vasterviks IK, Allsvenskan / SaiPa, SM-Liiga
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Allsvenskan up to date | 11 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 8.88 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| SM-Liiga up to date | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | n/a |
The SM-Liiga is paused due to COVID concerns, but it will return later this week with empty arena games.
In 2019-20, Tuulola had 23 points in 50 AHL games (for a 18.33 NHLe).
Juuso Valimaki- D, Tampereen Ilves, SM-Liiga
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 19 | 2 | 17 | 19 | 10 | 14 | 8 | 36.98 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | n/a |
Valimaki’s loan agreement came to an end this week. We’ll remove him from this update starting next week, and we suspect he’ll be in the NHL once games get going so he might not be making another appearance in this listing.
In 2019-20, Valimaki played zero games. In 2018-19, he had 14 points in 20 AHL games (27.90 NHLe) and three points in 24 NHL games (which would pro-rate to 10.25 over 82 games).
Dmitri Zavgorodniy- C/RW, SKA St. Petersburg, KHL
| GP | G | A | P | 5v5 P | P1 | 5v5 P1 | NHLe | |
| Up to date | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 36.98 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | n/a |
Zavgorodniy’s loan agreement came to an end this week. We’ll remove him from this update starting next week until he gets some (North American) games in.
In 2019-20, Zavgorodniy had 67 points in 40 games (for a 39.01 NHLe).
Daniil Chechelev- G, Russkie Vityazi Chekhov, MHL / HC Ryazan, VHL / HC Vityaz Podolsk, KHL
| GP | TOI | SV% | |
| MHL up to date | 11 | 631 | 0.938 |
| Change from last week | 1 | 60 | -0.005 |
| VHL up to date | 14 | 695 | 0.915 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – |
Chechelev has yet to see any game action in the KHL, but he dressed as backup behind Anton Todykov in both of Vityaz’s games this week. In a correction from last week’s report, Chechelev dressed as backup once last season. He was sent down briefly to the junior MHL on Monday to get some game action. He made 28 saves in a 5-2 win.
In 2019-20, Chechelev had a .922 save percentage in 49 MHL games.
Artyom Zagidulin- G, Metallurg Magnitigorsk, KHL
| GP | TOI | SV% | |
| Up to date | 5 | 226 | 0.869 |
| Change from last week | – | – | – |
Zagidulin didn’t dress at all this week after being backup twice in the prior week. It seems probable that, like Zavgorodniy, his loan will be coming to an end very soon.
In 2019-20, Zagidulin had an .898 save percentage in 30 AHL games.
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