How have the Flames’ 2020 draft prospects progressed?

When it comes to the Calgary Flames and their roster reconfiguration process, ultimately the success or failure of the whole endeavour will be driven by the organization’s young players. If the Flames draft and develop well, and their drafted players progress steadily, the Flames may get to where they want to go.

This means that the canary in the coalmine, so to speak, will be how the youngest faces in the organization grow over time.

With that in mind, we’ll be delving into the progression of the Flames’ prospects, focusing on each draft year cohort. We’ll start off with the players that were eligible for selection in the 2020 NHL Draft, which are players born between Sept. 16, 2001 and Sept. 15, 2002.

The 2024-25 campaign was the fifth season for this cohort since their first year of draft eligibility. So how have they progressed? We’ll take a look using each player’s year-by-year stats and their NHLe (NHL equivalent) scoring rates.

D Jake Boltmann

Drafted in 2020’s third round and projected as a shutdown defender, Boltmann’s offensive progression has been modest since being selected.

• Draft (2019-20): 13 points in 25 games (Edina HS; NHLe N/A), 9 points in 17 games (Lincoln, USHL; 12.2 NHLe)
• Draft+1 (2020-21): 0 points in 7 games (Lincolm, USHL; 0.0 NHLe), 0 points in 19 games (Notre Dame, Big 10; 0.0 NHLe)
• Draft+2 (2021-22): 13 points in 40 games (Notre Dame, Big 10; 8.9 NHLe)
• Draft+3 (2022-23): 5 points in 37 games (Notre Dame, Big 10; 3.7 NHLe)
• Draft+4 (2023-24): 2 points in 30 games (Notre Dame, Big 10; 1.8 NHLe)
• Draft+5 (2024-25): 12 points in 35 games (Northeastern, Hockey East; 11.0 NHLe)

In four seasons with Notre Dame, Boltmann wasn’t really used in offensive situations, but he also didn’t produce at five-on-five to the degree that you would go “Wow, I need to get that guy in more offensive situations!” This past season with Northeastern, he played his graduate student year – due to the COVID pandemic, Boltmann was one of a bunch of NCAA players that had their eligibility extended – and as one of the oldest players on the team, he was leaned on a bit more offensively and his production nudged up slightly.

When Boltmann was drafted, the likely hope was that while his defensive play was his bread-and-butter that his offence would progress. That gamble hasn’t really paid off. His NHL rights are expected to lapse this summer.

D Joni Jurmo

Originally selected by Vancouver in the third round in 2020. Jurmo was sent to the Flames as part of the Elias Lindholm trade. He’s had a bit of an odd journey since being drafted.

• Draft (2019-20): 1 point in 1 game (Jokerit, U18; NHLe N/A), 28 points in 43 games (Jokerit, U20; 10.7 NHLe)
• Draft+1 (2020-21): 4 points in 4 games (JYP, U20; 16.4 NHLe), 0 points in 20 games (JYP, Liiga); 0.0 NHLe), 8 points in 10 games (Kiekko-Espoo, Mestis; NHLe N/A)
• Draft+2 (2021-22): 10 points in 50 games (Jukurit, Liiga; 7.4 NHLe)
• Draft+3 (2022-23): 13 points in 52 games (Jukurit, Liiga; 9.3 NHLe)
• Draft+4 (2023-24): 5 points in 46 games (Ilves/KooKoo, Liiga; 4.0 NHLe)
• Draft+5 (2024-25): 0 points in 17 games (Calgary, AHL; 0.0 NHLe), 10 points in 12 games (Rapid City, ECHL; 19.13 NHLe)

Two broad notes for Jurmo: one, he doesn’t score a ton; two, he bounced around a lot after being drafted. Those are probably related occurrences. Much like Jurmo never really found a clear niche in Finnish pro hockey, he didn’t really find a clear role with the Wranglers in 2024-25, and he played sporadically.

He has one season remaining on his entry-level deal with the Flames, so we’ll see if he can get some traction or if he’s destined for a return to Europe.

D Yan Kuznetsov

Another more defence-oriented blueliner (a pattern is emerging…), Kuznetsov was selected in the second round in 2020.

• Draft (2019-20): 11 points in 34 games (Connecticut, Hockey East; 10.4 NHLe)
• Draft+1 (2020-21): 6 points in 16 games (Connecticut, Hockey East; 12.1 NHLe), 0 points in 6 games (Stockton, AHL; 0.0 NHLe)
• Draft+2 (2021-22): 0 points in 12 games (Stockton, AHL; 0.0 NHLe), 13 points in 25 games (Saint John, QMJHL; 12.1 NHLe)
• Draft+3 (2022-23): 19 points in 63 games (Calgary, AHL; 12.0 NHLe)
• Draft+4 (2023-24): 13 points in 63 games (Calgary, AHL; 8.2 NHLe), 0 points in 1 game (Calgary, NHL; 0.0 NHLe)
• Draft+5 (2024-25): 21 points in 72 games (Calgary, AHL; 11.6 NHLe)

Has Kuznetsov blown the doors off offensively anywhere he’s been? Not really. Has he been able to adapt to the defensive nuances of three pretty different levels of hockey in the NCAA, the QMJHL and the AHL? Definitely. He’s been called up a handful of times by the Flames because he’s got good details and plays a really quiet, reliable defensive game.

You would love to see a bit more scoring out of him, but Kuznetsov’s consistency in all three zones bodes well for his future. He’s set to become a restricted free agent on July 1.

D Jeremie Poirier

Poirier was a third-round pick in 2020, and was projected as an offensive-minded blueliner that could grow into somebody that could run a power play.

Here’s how he’s progressed:

• Draft (2019-20): 53 points in 64 games (Saint John, QMJHL; 19.3 NHLe)
• Draft+1 (2020-21): 37 points in 33 games (Saint John, QMJHL; 26.1 NHLe)
• Draft+2 (2021-22): 57 points in 67 games (Saint John, QMJHL; 19.8 NHLe)
• Draft+3 (2022-23): 41 points in 69 games (Calgary, AHL; 23.7 NHLe)
• Draft+4 (2023-24): 13 points in 23 games (Calgary, AHL; 22.5 NHLe)
• Draft+5 (2024-25): 42 points in 71 games (Calgary, AHL; 23.6 NHLe)

On one hand: man, Poirier’s been consistent. His production in three years in the Q was pretty stable, and it jumped slightly and remained stable with the Wranglers. But the ugly skate laceration he suffered on his wrist early in 2023-24 undoubtedly has caused his progression to stall somewhat. He’s still a pretty good offensive blueliner in the AHL, but the rest of his game hasn’t quite filled out the way some had hoped it would.

Poirier is set to become an RFA on July 1.

F Rory Kerins

For years, the Flames’ scouting staff has been completely cool with rolling the dice late in drafts on smallish offensive players from Canadian major junior. That strategy has seen them select players like Andrew Mangiapane (2015), Matthew Phillips (2016), Emilio Pettersen (2018) and Dmitry Zavgorodniy (2018).

In 2020, they took Kerins in the sixth round, and he’s had a pretty unique path through hockey thus far.

• Draft (2019-20): 59 points in 64 games (Soo, OHL; 24.4 NHLe)
• Draft+1 (2020-21): 0 points in 4 games (Stockton, AHL; 0.0 NHLe)
• Draft+2 (2021-22): 118 points in 67 games (Soo, OHL); 46.6 NHLe)
• Draft+3 (2022-23): 2 points in 6 games (Calgary, AHL; 19.9 NHLe), 37 points in 38 games (Rapid City, ECHL; 22.4 NHLe)
• Draft+4 (2023-24): 32 points in 54 games (Calgary, AHL; 23.6 NHLe)
• Draft+5 (2024-25): 4 points in 5 games (Calgary, NHL; 65.6 NHLe), 61 points in 63 games (Calgary, AHL; 38.6 NHLe)

Kerins’ career arc is utterly fascinating, you guys. The OHL did not play in 2020-21 due to the pandemic, so he practised with the Heat (in Calgary) for awhile but barely played. The following season, he went ham offensively. Since going pro, he’s shown a lot of finishing ability offensively, but he’s really thrived when placed with players who can take care of a lot of the checking – folks like Dryden Hunt, Jakob Pelletier and William Strömgren that have possession games that enable Kerins’ finishing ability to become valuable.

We’re not trying to poke holes in Kerins’ progression, just put it in context. You cannot deny that he’s progressed really nicely offensively over the past two or three seasons. Whether or not he can add other elements to his game will probably determine if he can carve out a full-time NHL gig over the next couple of years or not.

Kerins is set to become a restricted free agent on July 1.

F Connor Zary

The Flames’ first-round pick in 2020 – after they traded back twice, acquiring the picks they used to select Boltmann and Poirier – Zary cracked the Flames’ roster early in his Draft+4 season. And he’s an NHL regular now.

• Draft (2019-20): 86 points in 57 games (Kamloops, WHL; 37.4 NHLe)
• Draft+1 (2020-21): 7 points in 9 games (Stockton, AHL; 31.0 NHLe), 24 points in 15 games (Kamloops, WHL; 39.6 NHLe)
• Draft+2 (2021-22): 25 points in 53 games (Stockton, AHL; 18.8 NHLe)
• Draft+3 (2022-23): 58 points in 72 games (Calgary, AHL; 32.1 NHLe)
• Draft+4 (2023-24): 10 points in 6 games (Calgary, AHL; 66.4 NHLe), 34 points in 63 games (Calgary, NHL; 44.3 NHLe)
• Draft+5 (2024-25): 27 points in 54 games (Calgary, NHL; 41.0 NHLe)

On one hand, because Zary was a highly-touted player in his draft year, you would expect him to progress quickly through the various stages a prospect goes through on their way to the NHL. On the other hand: he did everything you would expect him to do, even though he missed chunks of key developmental time due to injury (and that whole pandemic thing) in a few of these seasons.

For those of you wanting to be optimistic about Sam Honzek’s potential: hey look, Zary also had a relatively quiet Draft+2 season offensively and lost a bit of time early on due to injuries… and then he found his footing as a pro and took off afterwards.

Zary’s slated to become a restricted free agent on July 1.