The Calgary Flames could lose the rights to five prospects on Thursday

It’s a brand new month, as an eventful May has transformed into June. For newly-minted Calgary Flames general manager Craig Conroy, the first day of June represents the first deadline of the summer. Five prospects – one from the 2019 draft and four from the 2021 crop – need to be signed by 3 p.m. MT on Thursday, or the Flames lose their NHL rights.

The five prospects in flux are:

We’ve already done dives into each player’s case for an entry-level contract with the Flames.

Feuk spent 2022-23 on an American Hockey League contract that he signed with the Calgary Wranglers, but he spent the entirety of the season in the ECHL with the Rapid City Rush. He’s one of two unsigned players from the Flames’ 2019 class, the other being college forward Josh Nodler.

The Flames have already signed Jakob Pelletier, Ilya Nikolaev and Dustin Wolf from the 2019 class, with Pelletier and Wolf having already made their NHL debuts.

Huckins, Whynot, Jordan and Beck have all experienced ups and downs in the two seasons since being drafted. Beck has put up pretty strong numbers and shown some progression despite some injuries, while Huckins has shown some promise (but has been a bit hot and cold offensively). Whynot has missed big chunks due to injury, while Jordan’s 2022-23 season was cut short due to a significant injury.

The Flames have already signed Matt Coronato, William Stromgren and Lucas Ciona from the 2021 draft class. (It seems probable that college goaltender Arsenii Sergeev, currently with the University of Connecticut, will eventually sign as well.) Coronato has already made his NHL debut.

Looking back at the past few signing deadlines, the Flames haven’t shied away from walking away from prospects. Among those that were not signed and had their rights lapse in recent years are 2016 fifth-rounder Linus Lindstrom, 2017 sixth-rounder D’Artagnan Joly, 2018 fourth-rounder Milos Roman and 2020 sixth-rounder Ryan Francis.

We don’t have a crystal ball, but it seems likely that only one or two of the five players get contracts. The player with the best bet may be Beck, but you can also magine a scenario where he doesn’t get a deal due to his size and potential injury concerns.

We’ll see how Thursday unfolds.