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Friedman: ‘Calgary has to give their top prospects a legit shot’

Photo credit: Candice Ward/Calgary Wranglers

By Ryan Pike

Jan 11, 2023, 18:00 ESTUpdated: Jan 11, 2023, 17:46 EST

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Over at Sportsnet’s site, Elliotte Friedman has published his latest 32 Thoughts column, discussing topics from around the league. One of the things on his mind this week: the Calgary Flames’ usage of their top prospects.

Here’s Friedman:

“5. At some point, Calgary has to give their top prospects a legit shot. I don’t know if Jakob Pelletier — 96 points in 97 career AHL games — is the scorer they need, but I do know we’re not going to find out if he spends his NHL call-up eating press-box hot dogs (although they are tasty).”

Pelletier was a healthy scratch for the first two games of their five game road trip – 4-3 overtime losses to both Chicago and St. Louis. The 2019 first-round selection is among the AHL’s leading scorers, and had 15 goals and 34 points at the time of his recall from the Calgary Wranglers.

Pelletier’s situation somewhat mirrors his Wranglers’ teammate Matthew Phillips. Phillips, currently first in goals and second in points in the AHL, spent 15 days on the roster in December and dressed just twice. (He was a healthy scratch for the other five games.)

The Flames are currently ranked 23rd in goals for per game at 3.05 and they’ve played in a league-leading 26 one-goal games, going 10-7-9.