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<p>The changeover from one season to another in the National Hockey League means saying farewell to some players and welcoming a few new faces.</p>
<p>The Calgary Flames have several players under contract that either will <em>definitely</em> be playing pro hockey in their entry-level system this coming season or most likely will be doing so. Either way, that&#8217;s some new faces to be watching with the Calgary Wranglers.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s a look at six players, currently under contract with the Flames, who could be making their way into their system in 2024-25.</p>
<h2><strong>Sam Honzek</strong></h2>
<p>The Flames&#8217; first-round pick in 2023, Honzek is a 2004 birthday and is eligible to return to the Western Hockey League&#8217;s Vancouver Giants as an overager&#8230; but it certainly seems like he&#8217;ll be given every chance to play in the AHL this coming year. Honzek has size, skills and smarts, but he&#8217;s had <em>horrible</em> injury luck over the past couple seasons: a skate cut at last year&#8217;s World Juniors, an abdominal injury during NHL pre-season, and a facial injury upon his return from this year&#8217;s World Juniors.</p>
<p>Is Honzek heading to the AHL with a ton of momentum on his side? Not exactly, and that&#8217;s why there&#8217;s a small chance he could be sent to the Dub to dominate as a 20-year-old. But Honzek is a player the Flames think very highly of, and so it seems likely that he&#8217;ll be spending the next season with the Wranglers under the close, watchful eye of their player development staff.</p>
<p><em>(Honzek&#8217;s Giants teammate, Jaden Lipinski, is also eligible to play in the AHL this year, but he&#8217;s not yet under contract so he&#8217;s less likely to be diving in than the other prospects already on NHL deals.)</em></p>
<h2><strong>Hunter Brzustewicz</strong></h2>
<p>Another 2023 draft pick with a 2004 birthday, Brzustewicz is eligible to play as an overager in the Ontario Hockey League with the Kitchener Rangers. But while Honzek has a few things left to accomplish in the Dub, you can&#8217;t say that about Brzustewicz. Acquired from Vancouver as part of the Elias Lindholm trade, Brzustewicz had a fantastic offensive season.</p>
<p>Y&#8217;know how many players in the entire OHL had more points than Brzustewicz last season? <em>One:</em> Zayne Parekh. Based on that, we wouldn&#8217;t expect to see Brzustewicz back in junior.</p>
<h2><strong>Sam Morton</strong></h2>
<p>A college free agent signing out of Minnesota State Mankato, Morton joined the Wranglers in the spring on a try-out deal – in advance of his NHL deal starting this season – and was pretty impressive and managed to hold onto a lineup spot through the playoffs. We&#8217;re not sure if Morton can translate his first 13 AHL games over a full season, but he&#8217;s a left shot centre who scored at a pace that, if sustained, would be close to 40 points over a full AHL campaign.</p>
<p>The Flames organization is kind of lean on centres. If Morton can show that last year&#8217;s preview was a representative sample, he could be well-positioned for the future.</p>
<h2><strong>Parker Bell</strong></h2>
<p>Selected in the fifth round by the Flames in 2022, the hope was that Bell could mature a bit as he got access to the Flames&#8217; development apparatus. He signed his entry-level last season, but spent his overage season in the WHL with the Tri-City Americans – the Flames had a ton of bodies on the Wranglers&#8217; roster last season, and this course of action probably got Bell the most meaningful developmental reps as a 20-year-old.</p>
<p>But Bell&#8217;s not eligible to return to the Dub, so he&#8217;ll be playing his first year of pro hockey. He&#8217;s big, versatile, and showed a pretty understated offensive touch in the Western League. We&#8217;ll see if he can translate it to the pros.</p>
<h2><strong>Joni Jurmo</strong></h2>
<p>A 2020 draft selection by Vancouver that was sent to the Flames in the Lindholm trade, Jurmo signed his entry-level deal with the club and will join the Wranglers after playing four seasons of pro hockey in Finland&#8217;s top-tier Liiga and second-tier Mestis. He was a consistent if unspectacular young pro in Finland, so we&#8217;ll see if he can translate that to the AHL.</p>
<p>Jurmo and Brzustewicz were paired together during development camp&#8217;s scrimmage, so it&#8217;s entirely possible that the Flames could have acquired an entire defensive pairing from Vancouver in the Lindholm trade.</p>
<h2><strong>Waltteri Ignatjew</strong></h2>
<p>A free agent signing from Europe, Ignatjew comes to the Flames after a couple strong seasons in Finland&#8217;s second-tier and Sweden&#8217;s second-tier, being named Mestis&#8217; top goaltender in 2022-23 and Allsvenskan&#8217;s top goaltender in 2023-24. So now he&#8217;s headed to North America&#8217;s second tier to ply his trade. He&#8217;s likely going to be the backup for the Wranglers this season and he&#8217;s the undisputed fourth netminder in the Flames&#8217; pro pecking order, but it should give him a bit of leeway to get adjusted to the North American game and try to find a groove.</p>
<p><em><strong>Which of these potential first-year North American pros are you most excited to see this coming season? Let us know in the comments!</strong></em></p>
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<em>This article is brought to you by bet365.</em>

The changeover from one season to another in the National Hockey League means saying farewell to some players and welcoming a few new faces.

The Calgary Flames have several players under contract that either will <em>definitely</em> be playing pro hockey in their entry-level system this coming season or most likely will be doing so. Either way, that's some new faces to be watching with the Calgary Wranglers.

Here's a look at six players, currently under contract with the Flames, who could be making their way into their system in 2024-25.
<h2><strong>Sam Honzek</strong></h2>
The Flames' first-round pick in 2023, Honzek is a 2004 birthday and is eligible to return to the Western Hockey League's Vancouver Giants as an overager... but it certainly seems like he'll be given every chance to play in the AHL this coming year. Honzek has size, skills and smarts, but he's had <em>horrible</em> injury luck over the past couple seasons: a skate cut at last year's World Juniors, an abdominal injury during NHL pre-season, and a facial injury upon his return from this year's World Juniors.

Is Honzek heading to the AHL with a ton of momentum on his side? Not exactly, and that's why there's a small chance he could be sent to the Dub to dominate as a 20-year-old. But Honzek is a player the Flames think very highly of, and so it seems likely that he'll be spending the next season with the Wranglers under the close, watchful eye of their player development staff.

<em>(Honzek's Giants teammate, Jaden Lipinski, is also eligible to play in the AHL this year, but he's not yet under contract so he's less likely to be diving in than the other prospects already on NHL deals.)</em>
<h2><strong>Hunter Brzustewicz</strong></h2>
Another 2023 draft pick with a 2004 birthday, Brzustewicz is eligible to play as an overager in the Ontario Hockey League with the Kitchener Rangers. But while Honzek has a few things left to accomplish in the Dub, you can't say that about Brzustewicz. Acquired from Vancouver as part of the Elias Lindholm trade, Brzustewicz had a fantastic offensive season.

Y'know how many players in the entire OHL had more points than Brzustewicz last season? <em>One:</em> Zayne Parekh. Based on that, we wouldn't expect to see Brzustewicz back in junior.
<h2><strong>Sam Morton</strong></h2>
A college free agent signing out of Minnesota State Mankato, Morton joined the Wranglers in the spring on a try-out deal – in advance of his NHL deal starting this season – and was pretty impressive and managed to hold onto a lineup spot through the playoffs. We're not sure if Morton can translate his first 13 AHL games over a full season, but he's a left shot centre who scored at a pace that, if sustained, would be close to 40 points over a full AHL campaign.

The Flames organization is kind of lean on centres. If Morton can show that last year's preview was a representative sample, he could be well-positioned for the future.
<h2><strong>Parker Bell</strong></h2>
Selected in the fifth round by the Flames in 2022, the hope was that Bell could mature a bit as he got access to the Flames' development apparatus. He signed his entry-level last season, but spent his overage season in the WHL with the Tri-City Americans – the Flames had a ton of bodies on the Wranglers' roster last season, and this course of action probably got Bell the most meaningful developmental reps as a 20-year-old.

But Bell's not eligible to return to the Dub, so he'll be playing his first year of pro hockey. He's big, versatile, and showed a pretty understated offensive touch in the Western League. We'll see if he can translate it to the pros.
<h2><strong>Joni Jurmo</strong></h2>
A 2020 draft selection by Vancouver that was sent to the Flames in the Lindholm trade, Jurmo signed his entry-level deal with the club and will join the Wranglers after playing four seasons of pro hockey in Finland's top-tier Liiga and second-tier Mestis. He was a consistent if unspectacular young pro in Finland, so we'll see if he can translate that to the AHL.

Jurmo and Brzustewicz were paired together during development camp's scrimmage, so it's entirely possible that the Flames could have acquired an entire defensive pairing from Vancouver in the Lindholm trade.
<h2><strong>Waltteri Ignatjew</strong></h2>
A free agent signing from Europe, Ignatjew comes to the Flames after a couple strong seasons in Finland's second-tier and Sweden's second-tier, being named Mestis' top goaltender in 2022-23 and Allsvenskan's top goaltender in 2023-24. So now he's headed to North America's second tier to ply his trade. He's likely going to be the backup for the Wranglers this season and he's the undisputed fourth netminder in the Flames' pro pecking order, but it should give him a bit of leeway to get adjusted to the North American game and try to find a groove.

<em><strong>Which of these potential first-year North American pros are you most excited to see this coming season? Let us know in the comments!</strong></em>
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Meet the new guys: 6 players likely entering the Flames entry-level system in 2024-25

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