Calgary Flames Prospect Update: Wiebe-ing around the System

Well, the Flames and the Wranglers find themselves in very similar positions near the bottom of their respective league standings. The saving grace for the Flames is the fact that their prospect development outside of the NHL/AHL sphere is going off without a hitch.

The Flames also welcomed a new defensive prospect, Gavin White from the Texas Stars, with Wranglers defender Jeremy Poirier headed the other way.

Let’s take a look at everything Calgary Flames prospects from the past week.

Welcome to the TWC Calgary Flames prospect update. Each week, we’ll take a dive into how the Flames prospects have done in their respective leagues, to go along with a feature on one standout prospect in Calgary’s system. We have defined a prospect as a skater who has played fewer than 65 NHL games and was born in 2001 or later.

Abram Weibe, Defence, University of North Dakota

Context:

Weibe is now the second newest prospect to the Flames organization, after being acquired from the Las Vegas Golden Knights as part of the package that the Flames got in the Rasmus Anderson trade. The 2003-born defender is in his third season with the Fighting Hawks after a junior career in the BCHL.

What to Expect from Weibe?

Wiebe plays a two-way transitional defender’s role who, at the NCAA level, plays in all three zones. This season with the UND Fighting Hawks, he averages 20:03 per game, with 2:18 of that on the power play, and 2:28 on the penalty kill.

His game is defined by high-quality, quick puck skills, a notable compete level, and solid offensive zone facilitation. His limitations include skating, defensive senses, and a college-level shot.

Where Wiebe thrives the most is with the puck on his stick, particularly on the offensive breakout, where his quick option ID, pass creativity, and calm and collected poise thrive. He is also no stranger to smart activations, where he uses his space well.

On average, these quick passes amount to 28 per game, which he has a 89% accuracy on. This demonstrates stable and consistent decision-making, and pass placement in a defender.

In the offensive zone, Wiebe is a solid play facilitator with quality vision that is mixed with crisp, clean passes that allow his teammates to generate consistent chances. He also walks the line well and displays good offensive play reads, quality hustle, and pinches that keep plays going.

Wiebe could be a power play QB at the next level. His point production this year is a bit inflated, though, as he directly generates 0.43 scoring chances a game, while having a higher 17% conversion rate.

Wiebe’s physicality is capable enough to get by at the NCAA level, to the tune of 10 puck battles per game with a 58% success rate.

This physicality does raise questions regarding hit effectiveness, body leverage, and physical pressure effectiveness at the next level, as he is brushed off more frequently than he should be.

Areas that Wiebe struggles with include skating (limited top speed, below average acceleration, and a wonky extension, but short stride), and a below average shot (limited deception, stiffer release, and no dynamic lower body leverage/leg kick).

These shooting limitations are further articulated by his 46% accuracy on four shots a game and his 0.13 goals expected per game.

These skating shortcomings are relevant as they reduce his gap control effectiveness with early pivots, outside positioning, and chasing plays if he mistimes activations or aggressions.

Additionally, despite Wiebe’s penalty kill usage, the prospect’s defensive senses are unlikely transfer to the next level.

The 2003-born defender’s scanning frequency is low, which translates to poorer play anticipation and quite reactionary positioning. These defensive shortcomings are particularly evident in higher-paced plays. These issues with positioning contribute to his 0.61 errors per game that lead directly to goals.

Overall, Wiebe is a quick puck-moving defender who thrives due to his puck skills and sheer effort level as a breakout artist and power play facilitator. He will need to improve his skating, defensive timing, physicality, and shooting if he is going to find success at the NHL level.

It’s quite likely that the UND product plays at least a handful of NHL games.

NHL ETA: 3 years

NHL Potential: Likely a 7th defender, but if everything goes right in his next year and a half at UND, he could become a third-pairing defender.

Calgary Flames prospect updates

AHL

• The Wranglers dropped both of their games this past week to the San Jose Barracuda on the 30th (5–1) and the 31st (7–2).
• The Wranglers now sit second last in the AHL’s Pacific Division, only ahead of the Abbotsford Canucks with a 16–18–10 record.
• Of the top nine active players on the Wranglers, only two (Kerins and Stromgrem) are 25 or younger, pointing to limited production from some of their younger prospects this season. The call-ups of Gridin, Brzustewicz, and Kuznetsov should have opened up more opportunities for other prospects.
• Goaltending/defensive play has also been a concern, as their goals against average for January was 4.00 across 11 games.
• Defensive prospect Zayne Parekh finished his conditioning stint with the Wranglers, and the Flames recalled him on the 31st. They sent down forward Justin Kirkland to the Wranglers from the Flames on February 2nd.

ECHL

• The Rush had mixed results over the week in a trio of games against the Allen Americans, where they dropped their first two games on the 30th (4–3) and the 31st (3–0), but did rebound with a 6–3 win on February 1st.
• The Rush now enter Tuesday with an 18–20–3 record and sit 5th in the ECHL’s Mountain Division.
• The Flames’ ECHL affiliate still hosts no Flames-affiliated prospects.
• There were no roster movements for the Rush this past week.

Europe

• 2025 2nd round forward Theo Stockselius was called back up to his SHL parent club this past week, where the Swede played a game against Rögle BK on the 29th and the Malmö Redhawks on the 31st. Expect Stockselius to be in this awkward up-and-down situation for the rest of the season.

NCAA

• 2024 6th round defender, Eric Jamieson, played at the University of Minnesota-Duluth on the 30th and 31st. He found the score sheet with a play facilitating an assist in the first game. The shut-down defender’s offensive efforts have slowed, but he remains a pillar in his own zone with smart habits and crisp passing.
• The University of North Dakota Flames trio of Reschny, Little, and Wiebe had the week off and resume their season on the 6th and 7th in a pair of games against the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
• 2024 5th-rounder and Penn State forward, Luke Misa, played Michigan State on the 30th and 31st. He found the scoresheet in the first game with an assist. Misa’s speed and puck skills continue to make him an offensive rush threat, and continued points have to help build his confidence.
• Flames 6th round forward, Aidan Lane, played RPI on the 30th, which was the first multi-point game of his entire season, with two assists in just 10:03 of TOI. He also played a second game, a 5–1 loss to Boston College on the 31st. Lane is a prototypical power forward who has a high hockey IQ.
• Merrimack College forward and Flames fourth-rounder, Trevor Hoskins, played a pair of games against the University of New Hampshire on the 30th and 31st. The playmaking forward generated a power play assist on the first goal of their first game on the 30th.
• It was a big week for Flames 2025 5th rounder, Ethan Wyttenbach, as he enters Tuesday in first place across all of NCAA men’s hockey scoring with 15 goals and 26 assists, good for 41 points. His past week saw him collect two assists against St. Lawrence University in a 7–0 blowout on the 30th, and a goal and two assists against Clarkson University on the 31st. These types of performances highlight just how much of a steal the Flames might have in the 2007-born forward.

WHL

• Axel Hurtig played a game against the Oil Kings on the 28th, where he scored a goal, and a second game against Lethbridge on the 30th. The old-school defensive defender’s physicality and compete level remain focal points of his game, and this season shows it as he’s engaging and a wrecking ball on skates out there.
• Andrew Basha continues to dominate the WHL, with two-point outings in both of his two games this past week. He collected a pair of assists against Saskatoon on the 27th, and then went on to score a pair of goals against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on the 31st.
• It was a busy week for forward Hunter Laing and the Saskatoon Blades as they appeared in four games. Laing got an assist in each of the first two games, giving him a total of 38 points on the season.

Russia

• Flames 2020 4th rounder Chechelev played against Dynamo St. Petersburg on the 3rd, where he stopped 31/34 shots in a 3–1 loss. The former fourth-rounder is looking more confident and comfortable as the season has gone on, despite only playing eight games on the campaign so far.
• 2024 3rd rounder goaltender, Zarubin played two games this past week, a 24-save 3–1 winning effort against SKA-1946 St. Petersburg on the 30th. The following day, he played against SKA-1946 St. Petersburg again in a relief effort, stopping 20/23 shots he faced.
• 2025 7th-round pick Yan Matveiko was called up earlier this past week to play a single VHL game with Zvezda Moskva against Omskie Krylia on the 27th. This marks the first time the Flames prospect has been called up in the Russian minor leagues, and he even got an assist in his sole game with them. He was then sent back down to the MHL, where he played two additional games on the 28th and 30th.

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