IGINLA TIES LATE!🚨
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4 Flames prospects made their Canadian Hockey League debuts last week
Photo credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
Friends, hockey season has begun!
When it comes to the Calgary Flames, we’re at the point where a good chunk of their system’s prospects have started playing, and a bunch more will get going quite soon.
Most notably, four of their prospects made their Canadian Hockey League debuts over the weekend – three in the Western Hockey League and one in the Ontario Hockey League:
- Czech forward Simon Katolicky debuted with the OHL’s Sarnia Sting after two seasons in Finland
- Swedish defenceman Jakob Leander debuted with the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen after several seasons in Sweden
- American defenceman Bode Laylin debuted with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips after two seasons in the USHL
- American defenceman Mace’o Phillips debuted with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers after three seasons in the USHL
Katolicky earned bragging rights among this debuting quartet, as he scored a goal in not just his first game, but his first period.
Even more prospects will get going fairly soon.
Who’s starting soon?
The next big milestone will be the Calgary Wranglers’ regular season opener at home on Oct. 2, as that will serve as the season debut for a whole slew of prospects – we’ll get a sense of which ones before too long.
The NCAA regular season begins in phases, as teams from various conferences start getting going at different times.
- Michigan (Henry Mews), Maine (Jaden Lipinski), Quinnipiac (Ethan Wyttenbach), Miami (Yegor Yegorov), Arizona State (Cade Littler), Massachusetts (Egor Barabanov, Max Curran & Tobias Trejbal) and Denver (Eric Jamieson) start on Oct. 2.
- Merrimack (Trevor Hoskin) starts on Oct. 3.
- Penn State (Luke Misa), Michigan State (Cullen Potter & Jack Hextall) and North Dakota (Cole Reschny & Carson Carels) get going on Oct. 9.
- Harvard (Aidan Lane) finally starts on Oct. 29.
It’s gonna get kinda busy pretty quickly.
Joe Iginla – RW, Vancouver Giants, WHL
18; Calgary’s third round pick (65th overall) in the 2026 NHL Draft; 5’10”, 170 pounds; shoots right
GP | G | A | P | P1 | 5v5 P | 5v5 P1 | SH | NHLe | |
Season to date | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 13.94 |
2025-26 (WHL) | 59 | 15 | 16 | 31 | 27 | 24 | 19 | 159 | 13.01 |
Iginla scored a goal in Vancouver’s season-opening win against Kelowna over the weekend.
He played on the Giants’ first line in the opener.
Simon Katolicky – LW, Sarnia Sting, OHL
18; Calgary’s fifth round pick (132nd overall) in the 2026 NHL Draft; 6’5″ 197 pounds; shoots left
GP | G | A | P | P1 | 5v5 P | 5v5 P1 | SH | NHLe | |
Season to date | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 15.58 |
2025-26 (U20 SM-sarja) | 29 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 113 | 9.61 |
In the very first period of his very first North American game, Katolicky scored his very first OHL goal.
KATO SCORES THE FIRST OF THE SEASON🚨🚨 Simon Katolicky (1) scores his 1st OHL goal. Assisted by Jonas Gulbrandsen and Tyler Challenger. SAR 1 - S00 2
He had quite a few nice scoring chances, too. He played on Sarnia’s third line.
Bode Laylin – D, Everett Silvertips, WHL
18; Calgary’s sixth round pick (164th overall) in the 2026 NHL Draft; 5’11”, 178 pounds; shoots right
GP | G | A | P | P1 | 5v5 P | 5v5 P1 | SH | NHLe | |
Season to date | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
2025-26 (USHL) | 55 | 11 | 27 | 38 | 26 | 21 | 14 | 119 | 15.86 |
Laylin didn’t hit the scoresheet in his WHL debut with the defending WHL Champions. They lost to Portland in overtime. He played on the Tips’ second pairing.
Jakob Leander – D, Calgary Hitmen, WHL
18; Calgary’s seventh round pick (208th overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft; 6’4″, 196 pounds; shoots right
GP | G | A | P | P1 | 5v5 P | 5v5 P1 | SH | NHLe | |
Season to date | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6.97 |
2025-26 (J20) | 38 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 8 | 52 | 5.61 |
Leander had a rock-solid first weekend in the Western League, playing on the top pairing with Hunter Aura, and earning an assist across a pair of 3-2 Hitmen extra time wins.
Yan Matveiko – C/LW, Zvezda Moskva, VHL
20; Calgary’s seventh round pick (211th overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft; 6’1″, 150 pounds; shoots left
GP | G | A | P | P1 | 5v5 P | 5v5 P1 | SH | NHLe | |
Season to date | 8 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 11.38 |
2025-26 (MHL) | 50 | 15 | 22 | 37 | 23 | 28 | 17 | 89 | 8.68 |
Matveiko is toiling on Zvezda’s third line and starting to get some momentum. He’s playing on the wing, though.
Mace’o Phillips – D, Medicine Hat Tigers, WHL
18; Calgary’s third round pick (80th overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft; 6’6″, 228 pounds; shoots left
GP | G | A | P | P1 | 5v5 P | 5v5 P1 | SH | NHLe | |
Season to date | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6.97 |
2025-26 (USHL) | 44 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 77 | 5.74 |
Phillips made his WHL debut with a pair of games over the weekend, playing on Med Hat’s second pairing. He was physical and effective, and registered an assist on an empty-net goal, too.
Alan Shaikhlislamov – RW, HC Tolpar Ufa, MHL
18; Calgary’s second round pick (55th overall) in the 2026 NHL Draft; 6’0″, 190 pounds; shoots left
GP | G | A | P | P1 | 5v5 P | 5v5 P1 | SH | NHLe | |
Season to date | 6 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 24 | 19.68 |
2025-26 (MHL) | 31 | 18 | 17 | 35 | 29 | 20 | 16 | 98 | 13.24 |
Shaikhlislamov continues a really nice start t the season. He’s playing on Tolpar’s top line and he’s generating a ton of offence (and scoring chances) consistently.
Theo Stockselius – C/LW, Djurgårdens IF, SHL
18; Calgary’s second round pick (54th overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft; 6’2″, 181 pounds; shoots left; FN’s 12th-ranked prospect 2025
GP | G | A | P | P1 | 5v5 P | 5v5 P1 | SH | NHLe | |
Season to date | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 26.24 |
2025-26 (J20) | 11 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 39 | 23.85 |
Playing in one of the top men’s leagues in the world, Stockselius has been decent on a team that has lost their first two outings. He assisted on Djurgardens’ only goal so far, and he’s playing wing on their third line.
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Breaking News
- 4 Flames prospects made their Canadian Hockey League debuts last week
- Scotia Place: a street-level look at construction progress from late September 2026 (and an off-season snapshot)
- 18-year-old Flames prospect Chase Harrington will play on Thursday against Seattle
- Flames roster news: Two players sent to Wranglers, camp roster down to 43
- Some big Wranglers questions may be answered early this season
Calgary FlamesTeam Cap Summary
Cap Summary
2026-27
2027-28
Projected Cap Hit
$90,091,666
$70,041,666
Projected Cap Space
$13,908,334
$43,458,334
Current Cap Space
$13,908,334
$43,458,334
Active Players
23/23
16/23
Draft Picks
Round
'27
'28
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