Flames older prospects ready for the big stage
The Calgary Flames have been able to quickly assess whether or not a number of their prospects are ready for NHL action over the last few years. With Sam Bennett, Micheal Ferland, and Joni Ortio playing a role in the team’s recent success, there are a number of players behind them working to do the same.
The Flames prospect pool is interesting because skaters who play professionally outnumber those who play junior or amateur hockey by a decent margin. The Flames penchant for patience, both in preferring older CHL players and allowing their collegiate prospects to play-out their four years, results in an older and more experienced prospect pool.
Because of this, the Flames depth chart has been re-arranged and some newer prospects have slotted in as the Flames start to graduate some of
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The most notable of them is Micheal Ferland, who was an integral part of the Flames postseason run. Ferland’s aggressive nature and physical prowess famously rattled the Vancouver Canucks during their playoff series, proving that the West isn’t won just with skill alone.
Closest in style and stature to Ferland is Kenny Agostino, who at 23 years-old has become a polished byproduct of the Calgary Flames system. His season is already under-way with Stockton, where he is expected to lead the way on both sides of the puck and could perhaps be the first call-up.
Joining him in Stockton are Bryce Van Brabant, Turner Elson, and Morgan Klimchuk. Of those three, Klimchuk has the most upside and should see consistent playing time in the AHL on a scoring line.
One of the standout prospects from this summer’s development camp, Andrew Mangiapane is back in Barrie for another year in the OHL. After finishing with 104 points last year, Mangiapane will be hard-pressed to duplicate those numbers but is nevertheless is an up and coming