Some are impressing, some are injured: a Calgary Flames prospect update

Photo credit:courtesy Penticton Vees

9 months ago

When the Calgary Wranglers drop the puck on Friday, prospect action for the Calgary Flames organization will really get going in earnest. But while the organization went through their NHL and AHL camps, a bunch of their prospects were already pretty busy in terms of game action.

It’s early, and a few key prospects are temporarily on the shelf, but several potential future Flames are off to promising starts to their season. Let’s take a glance at who’s already started their seasons!

Jake Boltmann – D, University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish, NCAA/Big 10

21; Calgary’s third round pick (80th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Regular season	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0.00
2022-23 (NCAA)	37	1	4	5	3	5	3	42	3.69

Boltmann, a right-shot shutdown defender, has begun his senior year on Notre Dame’s third pairing. The Irish split a pair of games on opening weekend with Clarkson, GM Craig Conroy’s old team. Remember: success for Boltmann isn’t really measured in points, but rather helping the team not give up goals.

Samuel Honzek – LW/C, Vancouver Giants, WHL

18; Calgary’s first round pick (16th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft; 4th-ranked prospect

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Season to date	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2022-23 (WHL)	43	23	33	56	40	36	26	134	32.25

Honzek is nursing an injury that he suffered in the Flames’ pre-season loss in Edmonton on Wednesday. The Giants have added a second import player for the time being, which isn’t something teams typically do and suggests that Honzek may miss a bit of time. But neither the Flames or Giants have said anything definitive about timelines or injury severity for Honzek.

Axel Hurtig – D, Rögle BK U20, J20 Nationell

18; Calgary’s seventh round pick (208th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Season to date	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2022-23 (J20)	34	2	6	8	3	7	3	47	3.82

Hurtig is recovering from an off-season should surgery. He was drafted by the Calgary Hitmen in the CHL’s import draft, but we haven’t definitively heard one way or the other if he’s coming to North America this year or not. He’s currently listed on Rögle’s junior roster, but the Hitmen have kept an import slot open for him.

Jaden Lipinski – C, Vancouver Giants, WHL

18; Calgary’s fourth round pick (112th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft; 16th-ranked prospect

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Season to date	3	0	2	2	2	2	2	8	16.51
2022-23 (WHL)	66	19	32	51	36	35	23	152	19.14

Lipinski has been pretty solid by all accounts for the Giants so far this season, starting off on the top line. His numbers aren’t overly flashy yet, but it’s quite early.

Cade Littler – C, Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, USHL

18; Calgary’s seventh round pick (219th overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Season to date	5	5	0	5	5	3	3	15	22.96
2022-23 (BCHL)	51	29	39	68	47	36	27	–	8.75

Littler has played five games as Cedar Rapids’ first-line centre in the USHL. He has five goals in five games, which is a pretty good start.

Etienne Morin – D, Moncton Wildcats, QMJHL

18; Calgary’s second round pick (48th overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft; tied for 5th-ranked prospect

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Season to date	3	1	1	2	2	2	2	10	15.53
2022-23 (QMJHL)	67	21	51	72	47	34	21	213	25.03

Morin has had three very different games so far. He had two points in his first game. He had zero points in his second game, but was plus-4. Then he had zero points in his third game, and was minus-3. Anyhow, he’s first over the boards in basically every game situation for the Wildcats.

Topi Rönni – C, Tappara Tampere, Liiga/CHL

18; Calgary’s second round pick (59th overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft; 10th-ranked prospect

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Season to date (Liiga)	10	1	1	2	1	1	1	12	7.41
Season to date (CHL)	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	n/a
2022-23 (Liiga)	22	2	3	5	3	5	3	14	8.42

Rönni’s been Tappara’s fourth line centre in virtually every game this season. He’s not used in a ton of high-leverage offensive situations, and his assignment is to win face-offs and not get scored on. Generally-speaking, he’s held up his end of the bargain, though his face-off stats have taken a bit of a dip in the last week or so.

Aydar Suniev – LW/C, University of Massachusetts Minutemen, NCAA/Hockey East

18; Calgary’s third round pick (80th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft; 13th-ranked prospect

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Season to date	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2022-23 (BCHL)	50	45	45	90	73	47	40	–	11.81

Suniev missed UMass’ first weekend with a minor injury. He’s day-to-day and given how highly-touted he is in college circles, they’re likely being cautious with him.

Arsenii Sergeev – G, University of Connecticut Huskies, NCAA/Hockey East

20; Calgary’s seventh round pick (205th overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft; 15th-ranked prospect

	GP	TOI	SV%
Season to date	1	60	.946
2022-23 (NCAA)	19	1104	.912

Sergeev split starts with Huskies teammate Ethan Haider over UConn’s opening weekend. Sergeev made 35 saves for the W in his only appearance.

Yegor Yegorov – G, MHK Dynamo Moskva, MHL

18; Calgary’s sixth round pick (176th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft

	GP	TOI	SV%
Season to date	6	335	.915
2022-23 (MHL)	15	786	.915

Dynamo is carrying four goalies – they list four on their roster, at least – and while the tendency has been to rotate goalies in that situation, Yegorov has played the most and put up the best numbers. He turned 18 in late August so he’s very young, but the results have been promising so far.

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