Where the Calgary Flames land in latest prospect rankings
It’s no secret that the Calgary Flames have put together a very impressive prospect pipeline under the guidance of GM Craig Conroy.
With a strong group of young talent that includes the likes of Zayne Parekh, Carson Carels, Matvei Gridin, and several others, there are some who believe the Flames have a top-three prospect group at this time. Not everyone is quite so high on them, however.
In a recent column from Corey Pronman at The Athletic, the Flames came in at eighth for prospects under the age of 23. It’s lower than many in the fan base would have expected, though Pronman is still very high on their group overall, particularly on the back end.
“Calgary has one of the best collections of young defencemen in the NHL in Carson Carels, Zayne Parekh, and Simon Nemec,” Pronman wrote. “The Flames’ young forward group is strong and has future middle-six players, although not quite at the same elite level.”
Here’s a look at Pronman’s top 10 teams when it comes to their prospect pipeline:
- San Jose Sharks
- Anaheim Ducks
- Montreal Canadiens
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Utah Mammoth
- Seattle Kraken
- St. Louis Blues
- Calgary Flames
- New York Islanders
- Nashville Predators
Pronman then went on to list the top 18 prospects the Flames currently have in their system. Here’s a look at how that list played out:
- Carson Carels
- Simon Nemec
- Zayne Parekh
- Cole Reschny
- Jack Hextall
- Theo Stockselius (C)
- Chase Harrington (LW)
- Samuel Honzek (LW)
- Tobias Trejbal (G)
- Matvei Gridin (RW)
- Hunter Brzustewicz (G)
- Kirill Zarubin (G)
- Jonathan Castagna (C)
- Max Curran (C)
- Henry Mews (D)
- Eric Jamieson (D)
- Ethan Wyttenbach (LW)
- Alan Shaikhlislamov (RW)
There are a few interesting selections on this list that Flames fans will pick up on right away.
The first is seeing Ethan Wyttenbach all the way down at 17th. Though there are concerns regarding his size, as Pronman mentioned, the Flames fan base is extremely high on the 19-year-old after recording 59 points in 40 games as a freshman with Quinnipiac.
The other big surprise is that Cullen Potter, who was selected 32nd overall in 2025, was left off the list entirely. The 19-year-old put up 26 points in 24 games with Arizona State as a sophomore, and has since transferred to Michigan State.
While Flames fans may disagree with the ranking, it’s still a positive sign that the rebuild is trending in the right direction. Last year’s ranking saw them finish 17th amongst all 32 NHL organizations.