There are just over two months left in the Canadian Hockey League’s regular season.
This is the second week of a new series on FlamesNation, looking at how Flames prospects are doing, specifically at the junior level as the American Hockey League level prospects are covered in the Wranglers’ recaps.
Let’s take a look at the week that was!
Zayne Parekh
This past week, the Flames top prospect, right-shot defenceman Zayne Parekh, played two games with the Ontario Hockey League’s Saginaw Spirit, going 2-0 with wins over the Kitchener Rangers and the Guelph Storm.
The first game was a 4-3 overtime victory over the Rangers, with Parekh picking up two assists. However, the second game was by far his best of the week, scratch that, his season. Parekh picked up three goals and two assists in the Spirit’s 6-2 victory over the Storm, being named the first star. Parehk now has 16 goals and 51 points in 36 games this season.
Thanks to the two wins, the Spirit now has a 22-18-1 record with 45 points. That has them fourth in the 10-team Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League – eight teams get in for both conferences.
Matvei Gridin
The other Flames first-rounder in 2024, Matvei Gridin, played three games with the Shawinigan Cataractes this week, defeating the Chicoutimi Saguenées 4-2, before falling to the Sherbrooke Phœnix and the Rimouski Océanic.
Gridin picked up a goal in their Cataractes win, being named the second star. The forward was held pointless in their second game of the week but got on the scoreboard with an assist on the Cataractes’ only goal in Friday’s loss to the Océanic. Gridin is up to 24 goals and 50 points in 39 games this season.
Although it wasn’t a particularly good week for Gridin’s team, they have a 23-16-2 record with 48 points. That has them fourth in the Québec Maritimes Junior Hockey League’s Western Conference, four points behind the Phœnix and the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. The top seven teams from the conference get in, while nine teams from the Eastern Conference make the post-season.
Andrew Basha
I didn’t mention Andrew Basha in last week’s article, despite him being a high second-round pick. The forward was injured before starting the series and according to Medicine Hat News writer James Tubb, will only be available to return to the lineup if the Tigers go on a deep post-season run.
Well, the Tigers defeated the Edmonton Oil Kings 6-1, the Calgary Hitmen 3-0, and the Hitmen again, this time 3-2 in a shootout. They sit at the top of the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Conference with a 27-15-2 record with 56 points.
As for Basha, he had nine goals and 29 points in 23 games with the Tigers before the injury.
Jacob Battaglia
Moving back to the Ontario Hockey League, Jacob Battaglia’s Kingston Frotenacs were in action twice this past week. Their first game was a barnburner, falling 10-6 to Henry Mews’ Sudbury Wolves, before defeating the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 3-1.
The team may not have done well in their 10-6 defeat, but Battaglia had a solid game, scoring a goal and picking up three assists. Their second-rounder also picked up an assist in Kingston’s win, giving him 23 goals and 53 points in 40 games this season. Not too shabby.
As for the Frontenacs, they have a 22-11-7 record with 51 points, fourth in the Ontario Hockey League’s Eastern Conference. It’s a tight race, as the top six teams in the conference are within six points of one another. The Frontenacs are just four back of the conference lead.
Henry Mews
Sticking in the Ontario Hockey League’s Eastern Conference, it was a busy week for the Sudbury Wolves and Henry Mews, as they played three games. They beat the Kingston Frontenacs 10-6 and fell 6-2 to the Windsor Spitfires and Sarnia Sting.
Mews picked up two assists in the barn burner against the Frontenacs, both of which came on the power play. The second game wasn’t great for Mews, as he was a -4, before picking up two more assists in the Wolves’ final loss of the week. The right-shot defenceman now has a goal and seven points in four games with the Wolves, with 12 goals and 57 points in 42 games. Mews leads defencemen in points, with Parekh fourth.
The Wolves are sixth in the Eastern Conference with a 22-14-5 record and 49 points. They’re all but guaranteed a post-season spot, but the home-ice advantage in the first two rounds can also be guaranteed, as they are just six points behind the Niagara Ice Dogs.
Kirill Zarubin
Going overseas to Russia, which is always a pain in the butt literally, and finding these statistics, netminder Kirill Zarubin didn’t play this week, boo.
Still, the Mikhailov Academy defeated JHC Dynamo SPB 3-2 in overtime, as well as Dinamo Shinnik 2-1 in a shootout. They sit third in the Gold Division, Conference West, with a 26-9-2 record. From what I can tell, the top eight teams in the Gold Division play in the playoffs, while the top three teams in the Silver Division play in a qualifier.
This season, the 19-year-old netminder has a .934 save percentage and a 2.32 goals against average in 13 games. He should be playing more!
Trevor Hoskin
It wasn’t a great week for Trevor Hoskin and Niagara University, as they fell 3-1 to Alaska Anchorage and 5-1 to Mercyhurst. However, their final game of the week was a 6-1 victory over Mercyhurst.
Hoskin registered an assist in the first game and second game, and picked up a goal and two assists in their only win of the week. This season, the Flames’ fourth-rounder in the 2024 draft has eight goals and 23 points in 24 games.
This season in the Atlantic Hockey Association, they have a 10-5-2 record in-conference, third-best behind Bentley and Sacred Heart. Niagara’s overall record sits at 12-10-3. The top eight teams make the conference’s post-season (dependent on conference record).
Luke Misa
The Flames sure do love to draft Ontario Hockey League prospects, as they selected Luke Misa in the fifth round of the 2024 draft, an absolute steal if you ask me. Anyway, his Brampton Steelheads lost their first two games of the week in overtime, before picking up a 4-1 win over the Kitchener Rangers on Saturday.
In their first game of the week, a 6-5 overtime loss to the North Bay Battalion (who used to play in Brampton), Misa was held pointless with one shot on net. He also won six of the eight face-offs he took. The Steelheads fell 5-4 in overtime to the Owen Sound Attack, but Misa picked up an assist and was a +2. His week was made great with a hat trick on Saturday while picking up an assist for a four-point game. Overall, Misa has 24 goals and 57 points in 41 games this season.
The Steelheads are a little bit further back in the race for the top spot in the Ontario Hockey League’s Eastern Conference, as they have a 19-15-7 record for 45 points, seventh in the conference.
Hunter Laing
After two not-so-great games with his new team, Hunter Laing’s Saskatoon Blade of the Western Hockey League picked up three of a possible four points with a shootout loss to the Portland Winterhawks and a 4-3 overtime win against the Red Deer Rebels.
The centre also had a good week, as he picked up an assist in each of those games, along with a fight in the game against the Rebels. Laing now has two points in four games with the Blades, and 10 goals and 24 points in 40 games this season. He’s just a goal and a point shy of matching his career high.
The Blades are one of the best teams in the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Conference, as they are now 23-14-5 with 51 points. That’s tied for the fourth-most points in the conference, but thanks to leading their division, they are in second place. Like the Ontario Hockey League, the top eight teams in the 11-team conference get in the post-season.
Eric Jamieson
In the Western Conference of the Western Hockey League, Eric Jamieson and the Everett Silvertips had an undefeated week, defeating the Tri-City Americans, Brandon Wheat Kings, and the Prince George Cougars.
With a goal and an assist on Jan. 12 in a 4-1 victory over the Americans, Jamieson was named the first star. The defenceman was held pointless in their 5-3 victory over the Wheat Kings but was a +2. He was also held pointless in the Silvertips’ 4-1 victory over the Cougars. This season, the left-shot defenceman has eight goals and 26 points in 42 games.
The Silvertips have a 32-5-6 record with 70 points, not just tops in the Western Conference, and Western Hockey League, but the most in all of the Canadian Hockey League. They also have some pretty exciting prospects in forward Carter Bear (expected to go in the first round of the 2025 draft) and Landon DuPont, a defenceman that was given exceptional status and is just 15 years old.
Étienne Morin
Moving to the 2023 draft class, Étienne Morin and the Moncton Wildcats were the busiest of the teams, playing four games. They fell 6-5 to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, defeated the Val-d’Or Foreurs and the Charlottetown Islanders 5-2, before defeating the Québec Remparts 3-2.
Morin was a +1 in each of the first two games, before picking up an assist in the Wildcats’ victory over the Islanders, where he was a +3. However, the right-shot defenceman was held pointless against the Remparts and was a -1. This season, the Flames second-round pick in 2023 has 10 goals and 39 points in 39 games.
The Wildcats look like the best team in the Québec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, as they have a 33-6-2 record with 68 points, tops in the QMJHL this season. In the Eastern Conference, the top nine teams in the 10-team division make the post-season.
Aydar Suniev
Aydar Suniev can’t stop scoring, but UMass didn’t have a great week, falling 3-0 to Northeastern and 3-2 to Merrimack before beating Merrimack 5-2 in a rematch.
Suniev and UMass were held off the scoreboard against the Huskies, but the Flames’ third-round in 2020, Jake Boltmann, picked up his first goal of the season. Boltmann is technically still eligible for my arbitrary list, but he’s a fifth-year senior and there has to be a cut-off at some point. Suniev scored in UMass’ 3-2 defeat to Merrimack, bringing him to a career-high 14 goals and 27 points in 23 games. He didn’t register any points in the win over Merrimack.
In conference, UMass has a 4-7-2 record with nine points and is 11-10-2 overall. The top six teams reach the playoffs, meaning that UMass has to start winning some in-conference games soon here.
Jaden Lipinski
This week, the Vancouver Giants and Jaden Lipinski defeated the Kelowna Rockets 6-4, as well as the Tri-City Americans 6-3.
Lipinski, the Flames’ fourth-round pick in 2023, picked up two assists in both games, giving him seven goals and 33 points in 33 games this season for the Giants. He’s been on a tear lately, as he has an 11-game point streak with four goals and 18 points.
Like most teams that harbour a Flames prospect, the Giants are in a post-season spot as they have a 21-16-5 record with 47 points. That leaves them sixth in the Western Hockey League’s Western Conference, 11 points safe.
Yegor Yegorov
Krylya Sovetov of the Russian Junior League played one game this week, falling to HC Kapitan. Yegor Yegorov played in that game, although I’m not sure whether or not he started, saving 21 shots on 25 opportunities for an .840 save percentage and a 5.58 goals against average.
For the season, he has a .912 save percentage and a 3.13 goals against average in nine games at the level. Yegor x2 has also played for the Supreme Hockey League (VHL), the Kontinental Hockey League’s version of the American Hockey League, where he has an .870 save percentage and a 3.38 goals against average.
Krylya Sovetov has an 18-14-6 record, good enough for third in the Silver Division, West Conference. As stated in fellow Russian netminder Kirill Zarubin’s section, the top three teams from both Silver Division play in the post-season.
Axel Hurtig
The last Canadian Hockey League player in this article, we have Axel Hurtig. The seventh-round pick in the 2023 draft plays for the Western Hockey League’s Calgary Hitmen, who went 1-1-1 with a 4-2 victory over the Brandon Wheat Kings, a 3-0 loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers, and a 3-2 loss to the Tigers.
In their game against the Wheat Kings, Hurtig picked up an assist and was a +2. The left-shot defenceman was held pointless in the following game, before another assist in the Hitmen’s shootout loss. This season, Hurtig has three goals and 10 points in 33 games.
The Hitmen have a 24-14-5 record with 53 points. Coming into this week, they were tied for the top spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference, but have dropped to fourth despite having the third-most points.
Cade Littler
I inadvertently made two omissions of list-eligible prospects last week, failing to account for the 2022 and 2021 drafts. There are still two (well, three with the aforementioned Jake Boltmann) college prospects who’ve yet to turn professional that I want to cover.
Cade Littler was selected in the seventh round of the 2022 draft by the Flames and is a freshman with the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks. This week, they were 1-1-1, with Littler not getting on the scoresheet. This season, the forward has two goals and four points in 20 games played.
This season in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, North Dakota has a 7-5-0 record in-conference with 20 points, fourth in the conference. Last season, six teams made the post-season and the Fighting Hawks are a good bet to make it again.
Arseni Sergeev
Last on the list is the Flames’ seventh-round pick in the 2021 draft, netminder Arseni Sergeev, who plays for Pennsylvania State University. Sergeev played all three games this week, as the Nittany Lions won all three.
Their first was a 3-2 shootout win over Michigan State, with Sergeev saving 35 shots on 37 opportunities for a .946 save percentage and a 1.88 goals against average. Next up was a 4-0 victory over Canisius, with Sergeev saving all 18 shots he faced. They won back-to-back games against Canisius, this time 3-2, with Sergeev saving 28 shots on 30 opportunities for a .933 save percentage and a 2 goals against average.
It hasn’t been a good season in-conference for Penn State, as their win against Michigan State was their first. Overall, they are 1-9-2 and aren’t likely to make the post-season. Still, Sergeev looks like a legitimate netminding prospect for the Flames.
Thanks for reading! You can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social.
Sponsored by bet365:
