The Calgary Flames prospect cupboards are stacked, particularly on defence.
Zayne Parekh is obviously the best of the bunch but the Flames also have younger prospects in Henry Mews, Étienne Morin, and Hunter Brzustewicz, with older defence prospects like Joni Jurmo, Jérémie Poirer, Artem Grushnikov, Ilya Solovyov, and Yan Kuznetsov.
All those prospects except for Parekh and Mews are eligible for the American Hockey League season, putting Eric Jamieson’s future in question. Well, it was in question before the left-shot defenceman became the first National Hockey League-drafted player to commit to an NCAA team while still being eligible to play an over-age season for his Canadian Hockey League team.
But before looking at how Jamieson has done in 2024-25, as well as what’s next for his future, let’s look at his career before being drafted by the Flames.
The Calgarian was selected by the Western Hockey League’s Everett Silvertips in the 2020 draft and made his WHL debut in 2021-22. He played 12 games with the team, picking up eight penalty minutes and a -2. The 2022-23 season was his first full-season, with the left-shot defenceman scoring three goals and 13 points in 65 games.
Entering his second season of draft eligibility (he’s a Jul. 2005 player), Jamieson scored 10 goals and 32 points in 66 games along with 70 penalty minutes and a +34. Jamieson also picked up his first post-season point, an assist in the nine post-season games the Silvertips played.
On the second day of the 2024 NHL draft, the Flames called his name with the 177th overall pick in the sixth round. Standing at 6’3”, 203 lbs, Jamieson is a physical defenceman (look at his penalty minutes) who defends well with limited puck skills. He didn’t rank on our top prospect list heading into this season, nor was he an honourable mention.
This season, Jamieson has a career-high 12 goals and matched his career-high of 32 points. Notably, he scored his first junior hat trick the other day, which I wrote about in the latest Flames prospect roundup.
It’s also worth noting that the 19-year-old plays for not just the best team in the Western Hockey League, but one of the top teams in the 60-team Canadian Hockey League. He plays on the top pairing alongside Landon Dupont, a 15-year-old right-shot defenceman who is point-per-game. Another top-end prospect for the Silvertips is Carter Bear, who could go in the top 10 in the coming draft.
There were three options Jamieson could’ve taken for the 2025-26 season. He could’ve gone professional, likely playing in the ECHL due to a stacked defence group in the American Hockey League. Jamieson could’ve returned to the WHL for the Silvertips, where they’d surely be even better than they are this season. But in the end, he likely made the correct choice by committing to the University of Denver for next season where he’ll gain more experience.
And hey, it’ll be fun to see him battle fellow Flame prospect Cade Littler, who plays for the North Dakota Fighting Hawks in the same conference.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
Sponsored by bet365:
