logo
FlamesNation has no direct affiliation to the Calgary Flames, Calgary Sports and Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA
Flames prospect roundup: Playoff picture for prospects becoming clearer
alt
Photo credit: Steven Ellis/Daily Faceoff
Ryley Delaney
Mar 4, 2026, 17:00 ESTUpdated: Mar 4, 2026, 16:25 EST
Comments
The end-of-season tournament has officially begun for a few of the college conferences.
This is the Feb. 24 – Mar. 3 edition of the Calgary Flames prospect round-up, where we look at how Flames prospects have done every week. Specifically, we’ll look at players playing overseas, in junior hockey, or at the college level, as the American Hockey League prospects will have an article of their own in the Wranglers Recaps.
We’ll take a look at the games which were played last week, what’s next for all the players, and look at the standings.

College

Of the four conferences that Flames prospects participate in, the regular season has wrapped up in two of them. For the other two, this will be the final week of the regular season.

NCHC

Needing a point to clinch top spot in NCHC, North Dakota played two games against the reigning National Tournament winners. They clinched thanks to a 5-3 victory on Friday, as Cole Reschny had two assists and Abram Wiebe had one assist. They fell 4-3 in Saturday’s game, with Reschny scoring in that game. Cade Littler was held pointless in both games.
Reschny finished his freshman regular season with five goals and 31 points in 30 games, Littler scored four goals and 11 points in 30 games, and Wiebe has five goals and 26 points in 34 games this season. That said, their season isn’t over, and won’t be for a while. More on that in a bit.
Eric Jamieson and the University Denver played two games this past week, defeating Arizona State 5-2 and 4-1, as the Flames’ prospect was held pointless in both games. The left-shot defenceman finished his regular season with six goals and 15 points in 35 games. By defeating Arizona State, it knocked them out of the end-of-season tournament.
Thanks to finishing first, North Dakota will face Omaha in the quarterfinals. Game 1 is on Friday, Game 2 is on Saturday, and if needed, the deciding Game 3 is on Sunday. Denver, who finished second in NCHC, has a quarterfinal date with Miami (OH). Game 1 is on Friday, Game 2 is on Saturday, and if needed, Game 3 is on Sunday.

ECAC Hockey

It was also the final week of regular season in ECAC Hockey. Ethan Wyttenbach’s Quinnipiac lost 7-4 to Dartmouth, with Wyttenbach scoring twice. In their 4-1 victory over Aidan Lane and Harvard, he picked up an assist. The Flames’ fifth-rounder finished with 24 goals and 57 points in 36 regular season games.
Lane’s Harvard defeated Princeton by a score of 5-3, but fell 4-1 in their season finale to Quinnipiac. As for Lane himself, he was held pointless in both games, giving him five goals and 12 points in 30 games this season.
Quinnipiac’s opponent is yet to be determined, but they’ll play the lowest-seeded team the following weekend. Harvard is in action this coming weekend, as they play St. Lawrence University in a single-game elimination game. That’s on Mar. 6.

Hockey East

Trevor Hoskin and Jaden Lipinski each have one more game remaining in Hockey East action. This past week, Hoskin’s Merrimack defeated Vermont 5-2 and 5-4 in a shootout. Hoskin made his return from injury, being held pointless in the 5-2 win, but picking up two goals in the shootout victory. This season, he has 10 goals and 29 points in 28 games.
Lipinski’s Maine were in action against Northeastern, defeating them 4-0 and 3-2 in the two home games. The Flames’ fourth-rounder in 2023 was held pointless in both games, giving him three goals and 11 points in 29 games this season.
Merrimack’s last game is against UMass Lowell on Thursday, while Maine travels to Vermont on Mar. 7. There’s still a lot to play for, as Maine has 36 points, three behind Boston College for second. Merrimack has 31 points, eighth in Hockey East, but they could jump to seventh.

Big Ten

Luke Misa’s Penn State played two games this past week, both against Notre Dame, as they won 4-3 in a shootout and fell 4-3 in overtime. Misa scored in the overtime loss, giving him eight goals and 18 points in 32 games this season.
Their regular season isn’t done, as they host Wisconsin for two games on Thursday and Friday. Right now, Penn State sits third in Big Ten, which is where they’ll finish, as they lost the tiebreaker to Michigan State, who has six more points than Penn State.

Junior

The college regular season may be over or in its final week, but there are still a few weeks remaining of junior hockey.

WHL

The Medicine Hat Tigers had a great week, defeating the Edmonton Oil Kings 10-6, the Calgary Hitmen 3-2 in overtime and 8-3, then the Regina Pats 11-2 on Tuesday. Flames’ prospect Andrew Basha had two assists in the 10-6 win, one assist in the 3-2 overtime victory, three assists and a goal in the 8-3 win, and a goal and an assist in the 11-2 win. The second-rounder selected in 2024 has 12 goals and 37 points in 24 games.
Over in Saskatchewan, the Saskatoon Blades didn’t have nearly as good of a week. They kicked it off with a 5-3 win over the Penticton Vees, but fell 4-0 to the Prince George Cougars, then lost 6-3 to their bitter rivals, the Pats. Hunter Laing had himself a good week, though, scoring and picking up two assists in the victory, then a goal and an assist in the 6-3 loss. This season, he has 23 goals and 49 points in 55 games.
Lastly, the Hitmen defeated the Moose Jaw Warriors 5-4, but fell 3-2 in overtime and 8-3 to the Tigers, then fell 4-2 to the Warriors to give them a 1-2-1 week. Axel Hurtig picked up an assist in the 8-3 loss, but was a +1 for the week. The left-shot defenceman now has six goals and 17 points in 56 games.
Up next for the three teams, the Tigers are on the road to face the Brandon Wheat Kings on Wednesday, host the Red Deer Rebels on Friday, and play the Oil Kings on the road on Saturday. The Blades host the Rebels on Wednesday and the Warriors on Friday. As for the Hitmen, they head to Swift Current to face the Broncos on Wednesday, then return home to host the Prince Albert Raiders on Friday and the Pats on Sunday.
The Tigers are either going to finish first or second in the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Conference, barring a massive collapse and dramatic comeback from the Oil Kings. They sit two points behind the Raiders for first in the conference. The Hitmen are battling for home ice advantage in the first round, as the Wheat Kings are just four points behind them. That’ll likely be the first round match-up, as the Blades are sixth, five points behind the Wheat Kings and 13 points ahead of the Pats for seventh.
In reality, we pretty much know who both the Hitmen and Blades will play, the Wheat Kings and Oil Kings respectively, but there’s still a lot to figure out at the top of standings, as well as the final two spots.

OHL

The Flint Firebirds played two games this past week, defeating the Ottawa 67’s 4-3 in a shootout, but dropping a 4-2 decision to the Peterborough Petes. Jacob Battaglia was held pointless in the win, but scored his 25th of the season in the loss, giving him 23 goals and 42 points in 57 games this season. Since joining the Firebirds, the Flames’ second-rounder in 2024 has 11 goals and 15 points.
This week, the Firebirds host the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds on Wednesday, travel to Sarnia to face the Sting on Friday, and have an important match-up against the Windsor Spitfires on Saturday. Why is it important? Well, the Firebirds and Spitfires are battling for the top spot in the division, with the winner earning the first or second spot in the conference. The Firebirds currently sit third, one point behind the Spitfires and six points behind the Kitchener Rangers.

USHL

Coming into this week, Mace’o Phillips and the Green Bay Gamblers were on a five-game win streak. Unfortunately, that was snapped thanks to a 3-2 shootout loss to the Youngstown Phantoms. They got that win back on Feb. 28, defeating the Phantoms 5-3. They then beat the Madison Capitols 6-2. Phillips was seemingly suspended (again) for two games for a fight, so he played just one game where he was held pointless, giving him a goal and nine points in 34 games. The left-shot defenceman also had 140 penalty minutes.
This week, the Gamblers play two games against the USA’s U18 team, the worst team in the United States Hockey League. Right now, they have 71 points, four more than the Dubuque Fighting Saints to sit second in the eight-team conference. If they are to finish second, they’ll earn a bye.

Overseas

Lastly, we’ll look at the five prospects overseas, two in Sweden, and three in Russia’s junior league.
Sweden
It was a busy week for Theo Stockselius. He played in two games for Djurgårdens IF’s senior team, a 4-0 victory over HV71 and a 5-2 loss to Leksands IF, playing over ten minutes in the win and fewer than seven minutes in the loss. He was held pointless in both. Stockselius also played a game for Djurgårdens IF U20, as they defeated Timrå IK U20. The Flames’ second-rounder in 2025 had a goal and an assist, bringing his total to four goals and 16 points in 11 games.
Jakob Leander’s HV71 U20 had a rough week, as they fell 6-2 to Södertälje SK U20 on Friday and 3-2 to Västerås IK U20 on Saturday. Leander picked up an assist in the 6-2 loss, giving him two goals and nine points in 34 games this season.
Djurgårdens IF U20 has just one game remaining, a matchup against AIK U20 on Saturday. If he returns to the senior team, they play Örebro HK on Mar. 4 and Luleå HF on Saturday. Leander’s HV71 U20 plays Västerås IK U20 on Friday and Södertälje SK U20 on Saturday in their final two games of the season.
HV71 U20 will more than likely play a relegation playoff game against a team from the second-tier. Djurgårdens IF U20 sit second in their conference, so they’ll be in the playoffs, while Djurgårdens IF will more than likely play in the qualifying playoff against either the Malmö Redhawks or Färjestad BK.

Russia

Over in Russia, Kirill Zarubin’s Mikhailov Academy played three games this past week, defeating Taifun 2-1 and AKM-Yunior 5-4 in overtime, before falling 4-3 in a shootout to Almaz. Zarubin appeared in all three games, stopping 29 of 30 shots in the 2-1 win, four of five shots in the 5-4 overtime win, and 30 of 33 shots in the 4-3 shootout loss. This season, the Flames’ third-rounder in 2024 has a .932 save percentage and 2.02 goals against average in 42 games.
Yegor Yegorov’s JHC Spartak MHA played four games this week, falling 5-3 to JHC Atlant, 3-2 to Red Machine-Yunior, but defeating JHC Dynamo-Kareliya 6-3 and 7-3. Yegorov appeared in two of those games, stopping 38 of 43 shots in the 5-3 loss and 33 of 36 shots in the 6-3 victory. He backed up the 7-3 game, and was the third netminder for the 3-2 loss. This season, Yegorov has a .918 save percentage and 2.94 goals against average in 33 games played.
Yan Matveiko had another quiet week being held pointless in the two games that Red Army played against SKA-1946. There was just three goals between the two games, as Red Army shut them out 2-0 on Sunday and 1-0 on Monday. The seventh-rounder has 14 goals and 33 points in 44 games this season, and has really slowed down after a hot start.
Mikhailov Academy is back in action on Wednesday, playing Almaz. That’s followed by a pair of games against Loko on Saturday and Monday. JHC Spartak MHA will play two games against SKA Academy, one on Friday and the other on Saturday, two very important games.. As for Red Army, they play two games against JHC Dynamo SPB, one on Thursday and the other on Friday.
Both Red Army and Mikhailov Academy will more than likely make the post-season, but whether they get a bye or not is yet to be determined. Right now, Red Army is fifth in the Western Conference Gold Division with 75 points, tied with JHC Spartak (not to be confused with JHC Spartak MHA). Mikhailov Academy has 72 points, which is sixth. They’d play the third-placed team in the Western Conference’s Silver Division.
JHC Spartak MHA have a chance to make the playoffs, but their 55 points in 55 games have them sitting in fourth. They are just three points behind SKA Academy and Taifun, and five behind Yegorov’s former team, Krylya Sovetov. They still have seven games left, but they need to win those games against SKA Academy this week.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
Sponsored by bet365:

Editorials

Breaking News