FlamesNation Top 20 Prospects 2020: Missed the cut

As we continue our annual rundown of the Calgary Flames prospect pool, we now hit upon the four young gentlemen who just missed the cut in cracking the Top 20.

Every one of these players received votes from our panel, but none of them received enough support to sneak into the rankings themselves. As we noted yesterday, two unranked players from 2019 – Glenn Gawdin and Luke Philp – had excellent AHL seasons, so odds are one of these guys will make us look foolish.

(So far it’s looking like it’ll be the goalie.)

A third round pick of the Flames in 2020, Boltmann has a great hockey name and comes from Edina High School – the same school where the Flames found Demetrios Koumontzis. He’s been a solid offensive contributor in high school and junior hockey, but until he gets some college games under his belt (in 2021-22) it’s a challenge to project how his skillset will translate to higher levels.

A fourth round pick of the Flames in 2020, Chechelev has already gotten off to an excellent start to his season. He won each of his 10 appearances in the junior MHL and had shutouts in his first two starts in the minor pro VHL. He’s a Russian goaltender and both of those words tend to create skepticism, but so far it seems like he’s taken a nice step forward in his development. (He was called up to the KHL on Sunday but it’s not clear if it’s to practice or to play.)

The less exciting of the two college free agent defenders the Flames landed in the spring, Poolman spent four years at the University of North Dakota and was a reliable, smart two-way player. His offensive output was consistent, but not eye-popping, and the lack of flash in his game (compared to others in the system) probably make him a bit less prominent a prospect than Connor Mackey.

A seventh rounder in 2017, Sveningsson is in his last season before the Flames have to either sign him or lose his rights. The challenge with Sveningsson is figuring out what he is. He had a superb 2018-19 season with Oskarshamn, but aside from that campaign he hasn’t really moved the needle as a pro. He’s a good two-way player who was good enough to play in the World Juniors, but the challenge with projecting his future kept him off a lot of lists.