Per Flames Communications, the organization has announced their 2023 Prospects Training Camp roster.
No Dustin Wolf. No Jakob Pelletier. We see 2021 13th overall pick
Matthew Coronato in attendance as well as get a look at how 2023 16th overall pick
Samuel Honzek plays against a higher level of competition.
We could dig into the two blue chip forwards. Coronato is a truly dangerous player off of the rush and possesses an lethal shot. Honzek has almost everything you could ask for in a prospect. Size, quick hands, strong foot speed at his stage of development, a quick, powerful shot and an ability to weave into danger areas with consistency. The two will be a show of their own, but this Flames group has a multitude of compelling careers meeting up for this event. Today we will be examining eight storylines that, well, could use a refresher.
1.) Four Contracts
Interestingly enough, we find out from this release that the Flames signed two goaltenders out of the NCAA on July 5th this offseason.
Connor Murphy of Union College and
Matt Radomsky of U of Alaska Fairbanks.
The other goalie attending is Lloydminster native
Jari Kykkanen. The 6’4” netminder played for Kelowna of the WHL last season. Jari is 19 and may be signed next offseason once he is no longer draft eligible.
Two other July 5 signings?
6’2”, 212lb stay at home defenceman
Jerrod Gourley. The 24 year old Calgarian split last season between the AHL and ECHL. Prior to that he played three seasons at Arizona State and one season at the University of Connecticut amassing ten goals and 27 points in 125 games.
The fourth signing is 6’2”, 195lb right winger
Mark Duarte. The 20 year old from Hamilton, Ontario has an interesting OHL career. Due to COVID shutdowns, Mark played 27 games in his first two seasons. He finally got the ball rolling in 21-22 with 24 points in 53 games and managed to
double both his goals and assists the following season.
Duarte may be a hidden gem if he continues to make solid developmental strides.
2.) The Big Czech
There will be plenty to watch as of Friday, September 15. Hulking
Adam Klapka will be playing his second Pentincton Young Stars Classic. The 6’7”, 230lb right wing used his physicality to make an impression last time around. When he wasn’t throwing hits, he was contributing off the rush. At his current trajectory — it’s simply a matter of time before he gets a look in the National Hockey League. The towering right-shot right winger put up 13 goals and 25 points in 60 games last season with the Wranglers. He followed that with four goals in nine postseason games.
3. The Hopefuls
Rory Kerins and
Ilya Nikolaev found themselves on the outside looking in last season in terms of an AHL role. The two will have to carve out permanent spots on the Wranglers lineup after playing most of their 2022-2023 campaigns with Rapid City of the ECHL.
Kerins put up a very respectable 17 goals and 37 points in 38 games with the the Rush. Nikolaev wasn’t far off the point per game marker either with 13 goals and 33 points in 40 games. Both are 22 years old heading into the 2023-2024 season.
4. The Hidden Gem
Offensive defenceman
Jeremie Poirier may be the most skilled player on the training camp roster. As a 20 year old in the AHL, Jeremie finished second in rookie scoring among defencemen with nine goals and 41 points in 69 games. He turned his game up in the playoffs — two goals and six assists to hit a point per game over eight contests. With the potential departure of Noah Hanifin this season; having a sublimely skilled left shot available on the AHL team may lead to a call up sooner than anticipated.
5.) the Staple
From that same draft, but cut from a different cloth is
Yan Kuznetsov who was taken 22 picks before Poirier. Yan has the size, 6’4”, 210lbs, to play in the NHL as a defensive defenceman — whether his strength and foot speed have reached where they need to be yet is the question.
6.) How Much Power Does the Power Winger Have?
Power left wingers
Luca Ciona and
Parker Bell will be in the mix. Bell, 19, is expected to return to the Tri City Americans of the WHL for his final junior season while Ciona, 20 years old, 6’3, and 223lbs is entering his first pro season either in the AHL or ECHL.
It will be an interesting season for Ciona. The Edmonton, Alberta native has been a force in the WHL for the past two seasons. Now he takes his power game to a pro league made up of almost entirely seasoned veterans.
Will Ciona’s game translate to the AHL?
As an aside, the Wranglers will host a scary lineup this year. Ciona, Klapka, Pospisil, McLain, Gallant, and Gourley will make visits to the Dome miserable on the opposition during the 2023-2024 season.
Bell plays more of a puck pursuit game. He picks his spots and turns the motor on full blast. He’s less of a question mark given that he still has junior eligibility, but he’ll be fun to watch as always.
7.) The Wildcard
It wouldn’t be unfair to classify
Etienne Morin as
a moving target of a selection in the second round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. The 6’0”, 183lb defenceman initially saw himself as a stay at home defenceman in his first year of QMJHL hockey.
His second season? He blew up offensively. 21 goals and 72 points in 67 games. Much like Poirier, the Quebec-born defenceman turned it up in the playoffs with two goals and 17 points in 12 games.
It’s one thing to get excited about a fresh, new offensive defenceman in the system. Morin appears to be more than that. Despite a leaner frame, Etienne can hit and does so frequently. His gap management looks well above standard for defensemen his age. His edgework looks impressive. His competitive drive gives the impression that we haven’t seen the best of Etienne by a long shot. There appears to be all the tools present for the defender from Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec to develop into a first pairing role in the NHL.
We may not find our answer in Pentincton, but we may get closer to answering the question:
Just how good is Etienne Morin?
8.) The Rabbit Hole Swede
One final storyline and it’s a
doozy. Swedish prospect
William Stromgren has carried a tough reputation since being selected at #45 overall at the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. It has little to do with what he’s done or who he is. It’s merely that he was selected two picks prior to the offensively electric
Logan Stankoven, was taken two picks later at #47.
Due to COVID shutdowns, Stankoven was limited to only six WHL games in his draft year. He put up seven goals and three assists in those games. At the World Junior U-18 Championship he put up eight points in seven games that year as well. Despite the lack of viewings, fans and scouts alike were well aware of the fact that Logan was one of the more exciting prospects available in 2021.
Unfortunately for Stromgren and the Flames management and scouting departments — Logan has torn it up at the WHL level with 104 and 97 point seasons since being taken by Dallas. His dominance in front of an international audience at the U-20 World Junior Championship last December-January hasn’t been ignored either. The 5’8”, 170lb winger recorded 11 points in seven games. To rub salt on the wound, Stankoven is a right-shot right winger. An asset that the Flames organization is desperately in need of.
Stromgren, meanwhile, had a quieter trajectory until last season. For most Flames fans, one assist in seven 2022-2023 World Junior Championship games was the only sample that they had a chance to take in.
Back in Sweden, the 6’3” 176lb winger made it clear that he was done with Junior hockey. He had six points in two J20 Nationell games including a hat trick on game one.
In the SHL? Well, less exciting. It simply drives North American fans nuts to build up hype around a Euro prospect and subsequently grasp at straws when trying to remain excited about a guy putting up single digit stat lines. Stromgren was no exception. Three goals and eight points in 45 games with Brynas IF.
William may well be the best hockey player on that roster in four years from today, but what did that mean to Brynas IF head coaches Mikko Manner and Ove Molin?
The answer is
Little if nothing at all, but oh man. The context.
William Stromgren’s 2022-23 Club
You may notice that there were two head coaches of Brynas IF mentioned there. It doesn’t begin at that.
First, the SHL has two postseason tournaments. The Playoffs, that result in on being named Swedish Champions and being awarded the Le Mat Trophy if you win — and the
Play Out.
The
Play Out was introduced in 2015 and is, well, hilarious for the rest of the league. The two teams finishing in the bottom two places in the standings play a best-of-seven series to decide who gets relegated to the HockeyAllsvenskan — essentially the lower pro tier. The higher ranked team gets home advantage.
Prior to 2015, the SHL had a round robin with the top four HockeyAllsvenskan (or equivalent) teams and the bottom two SHL (or equivalent) teams. The tournament was called the
Kvalseiren and went back to 1975.
Brynas IF had gone 63 seasons without being relegated. The longest of any Swedish club. Two seasons ago in 2020-2021, Brynas IF had their first scare since the new format was implemented, but managed a 4-1 series win over HV71.
This time around against the Malmo RedHawks, it didn’t go great. Brynas dropped the first two and lost the 4-1.
Brynas IF fires 2022 Olympic gold medal winner
Mikko Manner and brings back once-interim head coach and, at the time, developmental coach
Ove Molin.
If you’re smelling rotten carrots it’s because we’re deep in the rabbit hole. Brynas IF finishes second last and loses the Play Out. Stromgren gets peanuts for minutes, but still dressed for all five
Play Out games unfortunately recording only one assist. The fact that he held his spot despite such a rough season is a good sign.
Brynas IF now plays next season in the HockeyAllsvenskan. The amount of pressure on the coaching staff as well as the players is understandable. Deploying a 19-20 year old in key situations is a tough bet.
Long story short: Don’t judge William Stromgren’s statistics last season at a glance. There was far too much pride on the line to consider his situation
“development friendly”. Compare that to Logan Stankoven jumping over the boards at almost every key offensive start for Kamloops or Team Canada — maybe some clemency is deserved for the kid just trying to carve out minutes against fully grown pro players.
There will be quite a bit to watch over this weekend. Certainly a handful of upward trajectories competing for roles, minutes and the trust of pro coaching staff. An unfortunate truth is that not all of these players will end up with what they expect. One of the greater aspects of hockey at any level is what you learn about yourself when you step on the ice. This weekend there is a lot to learn for players, fans and the organizations holding the player’s rights.
Honzek and Coronato will obviously be the bigger draw, but that’s one of the great aspects of sports. Every spot on the big team, every spot on the affiliate, every spot in the ECHL, and every spot on every Junior team is fought for tooth and nail both on and off the ice. The luxury that fans own is that they get to enjoy watching it all unfold.
Trevor Neufeld
@Trevor_Neufeld
Stats via eliteprospects.com.
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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