FN’s mid-season Flames prospect updates: Gavin White

Gavin White is one of the Calgary Wranglers’ newest additions and has made a good transition into this lineup as one of their regular defencemen. White came to the Wranglers in an AHL trade for Jeremie Poirier in early February. White was drafted by the Dallas Stars and played his whole professional career up until this point with the Texas Stars. Jeremie Poirier needed a fresh start, but on White’s side, this move came as a surprise. Despite that, he is still very happy to be in a Canadian market and is embracing Calgary as his new home.

White is a 23-year-old 2022 draft pick who was selected in the fourth round, 115th overall by the Dallas Stars. He is a right shot defenceman, who won two championships in the OHL with the Hamilton Bulldogs in the 2021-22 season and the Peterborough Petes in the 2022-23 season. With the exception of three games with the Idaho Steelheads in the 2024-25 season, White has played his whole professional career in the AHL and is in the last year of his entry level contract this season. 

With White being new to this market and new to the Flames prospect pool, he went over some highlights of his game to help get to know him as a player better. He said:

“Pretty good puck moving defenceman. I take pride in penalty killing and the defensive side of the game and chip in offensively when I can. But, wicked skater and using my skating to defend other players well.”

On the speed and skating side of things, that has been one of White’s most noticeable attributes in his first appearances with the Wranglers. He is quick on the backcheck and keeps a really good pace with some of the speedier forwards. Skating has always been a big focus in his game and White explained why. He said,

“I kind of grew up as like a smaller kid. I was a bit of a late bloomer so I had to rely on skating more as a younger kid. I’ve kind of grown since then so it’s lingered around a little bit too. But there are a bit bigger stuff in other parts of the game in the corners and stuff. But yeah, I take pride in my speed and hopefully I’ve gotten a little better using it offensively but still working on that part of it.”

White has kept a similar individual production pace season over season in the AHL, with 11 points in his first two seasons. This season, he is a bit behind his regular pace with five points, consisting of three goals and two assists. All of those points have been registered with the Texas Stars. White has yet to put up a point with the Wranglers just yet but has played in 13 games since coming to the team. In his junior days, his best season was 56 points (10G, 46A) in 66 games in his sophomore season and his next two seasons he finished with 22 point and 19 point totals. The offensive side of his game is the next big thing he wants to continue to develop in his pro career. White said:

“I feel like my first couple years pro I’ve developed a good D side of the game now. I feel like if I develop it a little more offensively, I can definitely make up some more strides in that area and hopefully take it to the next level.”

Outside of the on-ice play, White’s experienced a warm welcome to the team and the opportunity to play in a Canadian market was very appealing. He said:

“Loving it so far. Obviously, there are some ups and downs. Some losing streaks, some winning streaks. But more good times than bad so far, so that’s good.”

He continued:

“It’s crazy that the difference in culture where like down in Texas, we were the only team there and they were hockey fans but they’re not into the games. They just love sports and entertainment and stuff like that. It’s cool coming to Canada where people are in-depth into the game, and they know all the small details about it and stuff. I’ve really enjoyed being in the Canadian market so far.”

White was lucky in the fact that he didn’t come into Calgary completely blind either. He had a hometown connection in Simon Mack, with whom he goes way back. Even without that, he said everyone has been very welcoming and unbelievable. He said his new teammates are all “absolute beauties.”

White has played in every game since coming to Calgary and has been paired with Artem Grushnikov, Etienne Morin, Nick Cicek, and Turner Ottenbreit. The pairings with Morin and Grushnikov stick the most, depending on which one of them is in the lineup. White has been a complementary addition to this Wranglers roster and it’ll be interesting to see him further showcase his abilities in the last month or so of the regular season.