There might not be a single Calgary Flames prospect who has exceeded expectations this year to a greater degree than Jacob Battaglia.

The Kingston Frontenacs winger has continued to pile up the points in the second half of the 2024-25 OHL regular season, adding three more to his total in Friday’s 4-2 victory over the Brantford Bulldogs. He now has 33 goals and 76 points in 55 games this year.

But while Battaglia’s raw production is impressive by itself, it’s his combination of highly sought-after attributes that makes him one of the Flames’ most exciting prospects — and his rare talent was on full display as he scored the game-tying goal against Brantford on Friday.

Standing in at 6’1″ and 202 pounds, Battaglia is a big man who plays his size while also routinely making defenders look silly with moves you might expect to see from a much smaller player. Late in the second period of Friday’s game in Kingston, Battaglia scooped up the puck at centre ice, deked around a pair of Bulldogs players with nifty fakes in the neutral zone, and then executed a perfect give-and-go with teammate Cedrick Guindon while spinning around yet another Brantford defender.

If there’s another play that better encapsulates everything that Battaglia brings to the table, we haven’t seen it. His 33rd goal of the season made it a 2-2 game with 6:09 remaining in the middle frame.

Battaglia subsequently recorded the primary assist on Gage Heyes’ game-winning goal in the final minute of the second period, but it was his goal that remained the talk of the town in Kingston while also making its way into Flames circles. (BarDown reposted an even better view of the highlight-reel play on their socials late on Friday night).

It isn’t difficult to see why fans in Calgary are so excited about all four of the players the team drafted out of the OHL last year, and Battaglia certainly isn’t an exception. The Mississauga product has taken an enormous step forward in his first post-draft season and currently ranks ninth and 11th among all OHLers in goals and points, respectively.

In addition to Battaglia and Mews, the Flames also nabbed Zayne Parekh and Luke Misa out of the OHL at the 2024 NHL Draft. Exactly half of their 2024 draft class hails from Ontario, although fourth-round pick Trevor Hoskin came from the OJHL and now plays at Niagara University.

For now, the only real question about Battaglia is whether he’ll sign with the Flames over the next few months. As a 2006-born player, he won’t be eligible to enter the American Hockey League until the 2026-27 season, and with fellow Flames-affiliated OHL star Henry Mews likely headed to the NCAA next year, it stands to reason that Battaglia may end up following suit. Either way, it’ll be fascinating to watch him continue to grow as a player in the months and years to come.

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