They’re back!

In their first formal game since a 3-1 win over San Jose on Apr. 12, the Calgary Flames will kick off their 2023-24 hockey journey in Penticton against the Vancouver Canucks. It’s prospect camp action as part of the annual Young Stars Classic tournament!

The puck drops shortly after 8:30 p.m. MT and you can catch the action streamed live on the Flames’ website (and their various social media channels) and hear the action on Sportsnet 960 The Fan!

Courtesy our pal Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet 960, projected lines:

Samuel Honzek – Rory Kerins – Matt Coronato
William Strömgren – Ilya Nikolaev – Parker Bell
Lucas Ciona – Jaden Lipinski – Adam Klapka
Oliver Peer – Nathan Pilling – Mark Duarte

Etienne Morin – Mikael Diotte
Yan Kuznetsov – Jarrod Gourley
Tyson Galloway – Charles Cote

Matt Radomsky is the projected starter, backed up by Connor Murphy. Based on projected lines, not dressed for the first game would be Jari Kykkanen, Donovan McCoy, Quinn Mantei and Oliver Tulk.

Jeremie Poirier didn’t skate with the main group on Wednesday and per Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson, he won’t be participating in this weekend’s games. (Poirier had surgery during the off-season and was a non-skating participant at development camp in July, so this seems consistent with that.)

Player to watch: We’ll cherry-pick a pair: Honzek and Coronato. They’re the only first-rounders that the Flames have at prospect camp and you would expect them to stand out against the type of opposition we typically see in Penticton.

The Canucks are carrying 27 players on their Penticton roster, though Sportsnet 650’s Brandon Batchelor noted that blueliner Chad Nychuk was wearing a red jersey (when everybody else was in blue or white), so perhaps he’s unavailable. But aside from Nychuk, there are 15 forwards, eight defenders and three goalies at their disposal. Per Canucks Army’s Chris Faber, Nikita Tolopilo is slated to start for the Canucks and play the full game.

Of note: Cooper Walker, the son of longtime NHLer Scott Walker, was at this tournament with the Flames a year ago and he’s since signed an AHL deal with the Abbotsford Canucks. Forward Aidan McDonough scored his first career NHL goal last season against the Flames. So if you’re looking for white-hot storylines to follow in this game… well, that’s probably the best that we can do. It’s September.

Player to watch: Take your pick between Danila Klimovich, the highest Canucks draft selection at the tournament, or Aatu Räty, who was an Islanders’ second-rounder in 2021 and came over in the Bo Horvat trade. If the Canucks are going to have a fun tournament, it’ll likely be because one of these two guys go nuts offensively.