Cade Littler’s the last prospect standing in the playoffs: a Calgary Flames prospect update

Every season, it’s interesting to see which Calgary Flames prospect stays active in the post-season for the longest. Sometimes it’s their American Hockey League farm team. Or maybe there’s a prospect headed to the Memorial Cup.

This year’s post-season iron man is Cade Littler, who ironically enough started the post-season behind the eight-ball as he was out with a lingering injury before rejoining the BCHL’s Penticton Vees for their second round series against the Vernon Vipers. But the Vees beat Salmon Arm in a seven-game clash to advance to the BCHL Final series against Surrey.

The winner of that series will face the winner of the BCHL’s Alberta playoffs, because the BCHL’s structure is very bizarre this season for reasons we don’t need to get into.

Meanwhile, the AHL’s Wranglers were ousted by the Coachella Valley Firebirds for the second consecutive season and the Idaho Steelheads (who feature Demetrious Koumontzis, who the Flames technically hold the rights to) were eliminated by Kansas City in the ECHL post-season.

Let’s dive into this week’s prospect update!

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

Bell’s season is finished. He didn’t dress in the playoffs.

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’s NCAA season is complete. He’s transferred to Northeastern University for the 2024-25 season.

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’s season is finished. He didn’t dress in the playoffs.

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

Ciona’s season is finished. He didn’t dress in the playoffs.

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 played in all six Wranglers playoff games, scoring a goal and adding five assists. He led the Wranglers with 21 shots on goal.

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 had a goal in six playoff games for the Wranglers. He was tied with Clark Bishop and Jordan Oesterle with a minus-4 plus/minus, lowest on the team.

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

Grushnikov’s season is finished. He didn’t dress in the playoffs.

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 dressed for one playoff game, the elimination game against Coachella Valley.

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 is finished. He’ll be joining the Calgary Hitmen next season.

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 all six Wranglers playoff games, but registered zero points.

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 season is finished.

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 dressed for just one playoff game, their elimination game against Coachella Valley.

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 was all over the place – in good and bad ways – in the Wranglers’ playoff run. He led the team in points… and penalty minutes.

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 had one assist in five ECHL playoff games for Idaho.

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 played in all six playoff games, primarily in defensive situations, and he had a goal and was plus-1. Not bad.

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’s season is finished.

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 is the last man standing in terms of Flames prospects active in their post-seasons. He has three points in 12 BCHL playoff games, playing primarily second and third-line centre for the Vees.

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 season is finished. He didn’t dress in the playoffs.

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’s season is finished.

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

Let’s give a stick-tap to Morton, who joined the Wranglers on an amateur try-out deal (in advance of his NHL deal starting in the fall) and basically made it impossible to take him out of the lineup. He played all six playoff games and had four points.

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’s season is finished. He didn’t dress in the playoffs.

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 played in all six playoff games and registered three points.

Over at Postmedia, Danny Austin had a great piece on how challenging the year was for Pelletier.