Which prospects gained or lost momentum in 2023-24? A Calgary Flames prospect update

Folks, aside from Cade Littler and the Penticton Vees remaining active in the BCHL playoffs, the sun has set for the Calgary Flames’ prospects in the 2023-24 season.

With the season essentially complete for everybody, we thought we should go player by player to see which up-and-comers gained momentum in their climbs towards the National Hockey League, which ones lost momentum, and those that merely maintained their prior momentum.

Let’s dive in!

Parker Bell – LW/C, Tri-City Americans, WHL / Calgary Wranglers, AHL
 

20; Calgary’s fifth round pick (155th overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
WHL season to date	59	33	31	64	50	35	31	231	26.86
AHL season to date	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0.00
2022-23 (WHL)	55	25	39	64	51	36	28	187	28.82

On one hand, Bell spent the majority of the season in the WHL as an overager rather than becoming a full-time pro. On the other hand, he was quite effective for Tri-City. Let’s call this “maintained.”

Jake Boltmann – D, University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish, NCAA/Big 10
 

22; Calgary’s third round pick (80th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft
 

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Season to date	30	0	2	2	2	2	2	36	1.82
2022-23 (NCAA)	37	1	4	5	3	5	3	42	3.69

Boltmann didn’t have a great year. He had two points, way down from the five he had as a junior. He lost momentum.

Hunter Brzustewicz – D, Kitchener Rangers, OHL / Calgary Wranglers, AHL
 

19; Vancouver’s third round pick (75th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft; Acquired in a trade with Vancouver
 

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
OHL season to date	67	13	79	92	46	65	34	140	36.37
AHL season to date	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2022-23 (OHL)	68	6	51	57	32	31	21	110	22.20

Brzustewicz was added to the Flames’ crop of prospects prior to the trade deadline. He had a really strong season for Kitchener, especially offensively, so he definitely gained momentum.

Lucas Ciona – LW, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
 

21; Calgary’s sixth round pick (173rd overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft; 11th-ranked prospect
 

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Season to date	55	4	2	6	5	6	5	67	4.35
2022-23 (WHL)	63	28	47	75	53	54	37	194	29.48

Last season, Ciona captained a team that won the WHL Championship and contended for the Memorial Cup. This season he dealt with the growing pains of learning how to play pro hockey. Down the stretch, when the Wranglers got some bodies back from the NHL (and finally got healthy) he spent a bunch of time as a healthy scratch, a victim of the numbers game. He lost momentum.

Matt Coronato – RW, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
 

21; Calgary’s first round pick (13th overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft; 2nd-ranked prospect
 

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Season to date	41	15	27	42	28	27	17	140	40.82
2022-23 (NCAA)	34	20	16	36	31	19	16	141	24.31

Coronato kinda yo-yoed between the NHL and AHL this season. But he made a ton of progress, playing in all situations in the AHL and serving as their most potent offensive weapon. And by the time he returned to the NHL late in the season, the work he did on his 200-foot game with the Wranglers became quite evident. He gained momentum.

Riley Damiani – C, Texas Stars/Calgary Wranglers, AHL
 

23; Dallas’ fifth round pick (137th overall) in the 2018 NHL Draft; Acquired in a trade with Dallas
 

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Season to date	66	11	13	24	19	16	13	94	14.49
2022-23 (AHL)	59	13	18	31	24	18	14	87	20.94

Damiani joined the Wranglers at the trade deadline. He was primarily a bottom-six forward. He was generally fairly effective, but his offensive production dipped from 2022-23. He lost momentum.

Artem Grushnikov – D, Texas Stars/Calgary Wranglers, AHL
 

20; Dallas’ second round pick (48th overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft; Acquired in a trade with Dallas
 

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Season to date	63	1	5	6	5	6	5	65	3.80
2022-23 (OHL)	65	8	9	17	10	14	9	116	6.93

2023-24 was Grushnikov’s first season a pro. He was a victim of the numbers game late in the season – the Wranglers had a lot of blueliners healthy and had to make some tough decisions – but we’d argue that Grushnikov gained momentum.

Samuel Honzek – LW/C, Vancouver Giants, WHL / Slovakia, WJC / Calgary Wranglers, AHL
 

19; Calgary’s first round pick (16th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft; 4th-ranked prospect
 

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
WHL season to date	33	10	21	31	22	16	11	86	23.26
WJC season to date	5	3	1	4	3	2	1	10	n/a
AHL season to date	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0.00
2022-23 (WHL)	43	23	33	56	40	36	26	134	32.25

Honzek missed a ton of time due to injury and his point production dipped. He lost momentum.

Axel Hurtig – D, Rögle BK, J20 Nationell/SHL / Kristianstads IK, HockeyEttan
 

18; Calgary’s seventh round pick (208th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft
 

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
J20 season to date	27	3	8	11	7	11	7	54	15.10
SHL season to date	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
HockeyEttan season to date	4	0	1	1	1	1	1	5	n/a
2022-23 (J20)	34	2	6	8	3	7	3	47	3.82

Hurtig’s season started late due to recovery from his off-season shoulder surgery, but he played a big role for Rögle’s junior team and he played a bunch of pro games, too. He gained momentum.

Ben Jones – C, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
 

24; Free agent signing; 12th-ranked prospect
 

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Season to date	72	21	22	43	34	28	22	208	23.80
2022-23 (AHL)	71	17	37	54	41	28	21	202	30.31

Jones played in every game for the Wranglers. His production dipped a bit, but he still played a bit part for the club. He maintained momentum.

Joni Jurmo – D, Ilves Tampere/KooKoo Kuovola, Liiga/CHL / Calgary Wranglers, AHL
 

21; Vancouver’s third round pick (82nd overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft; Acquired in a trade with Vancouver
 

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Liiga season to date	46	1	4	5	3	4	3	63	4.03
CHL season to date	6	0	1	1	1	1	1	8	n/a
AHL season to date	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2022-23 (Liiga)	52	5	8	13	8	11	6	118	9.27

Jurmo’s offensive production was down quite a bit from last season. He lost a bit of momentum.

Rory Kerins – C, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
 

21; Calgary’s sixth round pick (174th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft; 14th-ranked prospect
 

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Season to date	54	16	16	32	27	22	18	115	23.62
2022-23 (ECHL)	38	17	20	37	31	25	21	117	22.36

Kerins’ game saw some big swings, but he spent the entire season in the AHL and he had some really strong stretches offensively. He gained momentum.

Adam Klapka – RW, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
 

23; Free agent signing; 18th-ranked prospect
 

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Season to date	65	21	24	45	34	31	22	182	27.59
2022-23 (AHL)	60	13	12	25	18	16	11	103	16.61

Klapka maintained his strong offensive run from the back half of 2022-23, and he showed some potential during his brief NHL appearances. He gained momentum.

Demetrios Koumonztis – D/RW, Idaho Steelheads, ECHL
 

23; Calgary’s fourth round pick (108th overall) in the 2018 NHL Draft
 

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Season to date	47	9	10	19	11	14	10	84	9.28
2022-23 (NCAA)	37	7	11	18	12	10	7	67	13.28

Koumontzis spent the entire season in the ECHL. He lost momentum.

Yan Kuznetsov – D, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
 

21; Calgary’s second round pick (50th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft; 17th-ranked prospect
 

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Season to date	63	5	8	13	9	12	8	88	8.22
2022-23 (AHL)	63	5	14	19	11	19	11	65	12.02

Kuznetsov’s offensive production was down a little bit. His two-way play remained rock-solid, though, and he played a bit in the NHL. We’d argue he maintained his momentum.

Jaden Lipinski – C, Vancouver Giants, WHL / Calgary Wranglers, AHL
 

19; Calgary’s fourth round pick (112th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft; 16th-ranked prospect
 

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
WHL season to date	67	24	42	66	47	33	23	181	24.39
AHL season to date	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
2022-23 (WHL)	66	19	32	51	36	35	23	152	19.14

Lipinski was a constant in the Giants’ lineup and was quietly one of the WHL’s top centres at the face-off dot while scoring at just shy of a point-per-game pace. He gained momentum.

Cade Littler – C, Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, USHL / Penticton Vees, BCHL
 

19; Calgary’s seventh round pick (219th overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
USHL season to date	13	8	3	11	9	8	6	30	19.43
BCHL season to date	24	9	12	21	17	9	6	–	5.51
2022-23 (BCHL)	51	29	39	68	47	36	27	–	8.75

Littler split his season between the USHL and BCHL. His offensive production dipped from 2022-23. He lost a bit of momentum.

Brady Lyle – D, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
 

24; Free agent signing
 

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Season to date	47	6	9	15	9	7	3	102	12.72
2022-23 (AHL)	51	7	24	31	16	13	6	124	24.22

Lyle’s offensive production was half of his previous season’s production. And he’s already signed a deal in the KHL for next season. He lost momentum.

Etienne Morin – D, Moncton Wildcats, QMJHL / Calgary Wranglers, AHL
 

18; Calgary’s second round pick (48th overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft; tied for 5th-ranked prospect
 

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
QMJHL season to date	58	12	37	49	32	21	13	191	19.67
AHL season to date	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0.00
2022-23 (QMJHL)	67	21	51	72	47	34	21	213	25.03

Morin had fewer points in 2023-24 than he had assists in 2022-23, and he missed some time, too. He lost momentum.

Sam Morton – C, Minnesota State University Mankato Mavericks, NCAA / Calgary Wranglers, AHL
 

24; Free agent signing

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
NCAA season to date	37	24	10	34	32	20	19	151	24.00
AHL season to date	13	5	2	7	7	5	5	25	21.46
2022-23 (NCAA)	10	6	2	8	7	3	3	28	21.00

Morton came into the Flames’ system on a try-out deal – as his NHL deal doesn’t begin until next season – and was so good that they couldn’t take him out of the Wranglers’ lineup. He gained momentum.

Ilya Nikolaev – C/LW, Calgary Wranglers, AHL / Rapid City Rush, ECHL
 

22; Calgary’s third round pick (88th overall) in the 2019 NHL Draft
 

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
AHL season to date	29	3	3	6	6	6	6	33	8.25
ECHL season to date	6	2	6	8	7	5	5	16	30.61
2022-23 (ECHL)	40	13	20	33	21	22	15	97	18.94

Nikolaev spent most of the season on the AHL roster, but he was a frequent scratch. He lost momentum.

Jakob Pelletier – LW, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
 

22; Calgary’s first round pick (26th overall); 3rd-ranked prospect
 

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Season to date	18	5	7	12	8	7	6	45	26.57
2022-23 (AHL)	35	16	21	37	32	18	14	92	42.13

Pelletier missed a ton of time due to injuries, his production was way down, and his game lost a bit of swagger. He lost momentum.

Jeremie Poirier – D, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
 

21; Calgary’s third round pick (72nd overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft; tied for 5th-ranked prospect
 

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Season to date	23	3	10	13	5	5	2	44	22.53
2022-23 (AHL)	69	9	32	41	20	21	13	172	23.68

Poirier missed a ton of time due to injuries, but his production was only down slightly. He seemed to get most of his swagger back late in the season and into the playoffs, but we’ll say he lost a bit of momentum.

Cole Schwindt – C/RW, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
 

22; Florida’s third round pick (81st overall) in the 2019 NHL Draft; Acquired in a trade with Florida; 9th-ranked prospect
 

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Season to date	66	14	22	36	27	23	15	128	21.74
2022-23 (AHL)	70	14	18	32	20	16	10	118	18.22

Schwindt made a few NHL appearances and was a top six fixture for the Wranglers this season. He gained a bit of momentum.

Ilya Solovyov – D, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
 

23; Calgary’s seventh round pick (205th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft; 8th-ranked prospect
 

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Season to date	51	5	10	15	10	14	10	88	11.72
2022-23 (AHL)	68	4	14	18	9	16	8	82	10.55

Solovyov’s per-game scoring pace nudged up slightly, but he also played a bunch of NHL games and looked pretty decent (especially late in the season). He gained momentum.

William Strömgren – LW, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
 

20; Calgary’s second round pick (45th overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft; 19th-ranked prospect

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Season to date	68	7	20	27	23	18	15	74	15.82
2022-23 (SHL)	45	3	5	8	6	6	5	31	8.69

Strömgren was decent enough early on, and then from the midway mark of the season onward he was one of the Wranglers’ most consistently effective players. He gained momentum.

Aydar Suniev – LW/C, University of Massachusetts Minutemen, NCAA/Hockey East
 

19; Calgary’s third round pick (80th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft; 13th-ranked prospect
 

	GP	G	A	P	P1	5v5 P	5v5 P1	SH	NHLe
Season to date	35	12	13	25	19	16	12	100	23.02
2022-23 (BCHL)	50	45	45	90	73	47	40	–	11.81

Suniev transitioned into college from the BCHL and was a really effective offensive player. He gained momentum.

Daniil Chechelev – G, HC Vityaz, KHL / Ryazan-VDV, VHL
 

22; Calgary’s fourth round pick (96th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft
 

	GP	TOI	SV%
KHL season to date	1	58	.880
VHL season to date	5	271	.908
2022-23 (ECHL)	39	2135	.892

Chechelev barely played this season. He lost momentum.

Arsenii Sergeev – G, University of Connecticut Huskies, NCAA/Hockey East
 

20; Calgary’s seventh round pick (205th overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft; 15th-ranked prospect
 

	GP	TOI	SV%
Season to date	16	934	.913
2022-23 (NCAA)	19	1104	.912

Sergeev had an up-and-down season – he didn’t play for the better part of two months – but he had a few stretches of really effective play book-ending his year. We’ll say he maintained momentum.

Dustin Wolf – G, Calgary Wranglers, AHL
 

22; Calgary’s seventh round pick (214th overall) in the 2019 NHL Draft; 1st-ranked prospect
 

	GP	TOI	SV%
Season to date	36	2082	.922
2022-23 (AHL)	55	3239	.932

This season was the first time in five seasons that Wolf wasn’t named his league’s top goaltender. But the reason for that is because he spent a third of the season in the NHL. Let’s call this “maintained.”

Yegor Yegorov – G, MHK Dynamo Moskva, MHL
 

18; Calgary’s sixth round pick (176th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft
 

	GP	TOI	SV%
Season to date	25	1319	.917
2022-23 (MHL)	15	786	.915

Yegorov gained momentum. He played way more often than he did a season ago, and he maintained and slightly improved his numbers from 2022-23.