THE 5 MOST INTRIGUING CALGARY FLAMES PLAYERS TO WATCH IN PENTICTON
The Penticton Young Stars tournament starts Friday and the Calgary Flames are sending a stacked lineup full of their own draft picks. There are a lot of players that Flames fans are going to be excited to watch, starting with their ninth overall pick Zayne Parekh. But who are the most intriguing players heading into the weekend? The type of players who fans have questions about and have piqued their curiosity.
Let’s look at five intriguing players to watch as the Flames take the ice starting on Friday night.
Matvei Gridin
The Flames selected Gridin with the 28th overall selection, which was the first round pick they received in the Elias Lindholm trade. On the surface the pick made sense. Gridin led the USHL in scoring last season putting up 83 points in 60 games. He shows flashes of being a dynamic offensive player. He was ranked 21st among North American skaters by NHL central scouting.
That’s all great. But the one critique of Gridin by people have who watched him is consistency. There are games when you don’t even realize Gridin was playing. There were 14 games last season where he was held off the score sheet in the USHL which indicates he is a streaky player. That was evident at the Calgary Flames summer development camp where Gridin was barely noticeable. Flames fans are going to want to see some flashes of high end skill from Gridin throughout the tournament and show why he was worthy of using a first round pick on him.
Sam Honzek
Last season was a write off for Honzek who suffered multiple injuries throughout the year which is too bad because it was supposed to be a huge developmental year for the Flames 2023 first round pick. He was only able to play in 33 games with the Vancouver Giants where he put up 31 points in the regular season and two points in five games in the playoffs.
The reason Honzek is an intriguing player to watch is because how important he is to the future of the Calgary Flames. Todd Button and Craig Conroy used the 16th overall pick on Honzek in what’s regarded as the best draft since 2003. The Flames need this pick to work out. And so far, it hasn’t. And that’s not all on Honzek because of injuries.
But sooner than later, Honzek is going to need to take a big step forward in his development. And that starts this weekend.
Honzek has performed below expectations at last year’s Penticton tournament, training camp and WHL season. Honzek needs to show more high-end skill and make more impactful plays this weekend. He can take that momentum and confidence into training camp where he can start to rebuild his game and get his confidence back.
William Strömgren
Unlike Honzek, Strömgren has a ton of momentum heading into Penticton. He’s coming off a very strong finish to his AHL season where he picked up 23 of his 27 points from January onward. He was also a key piece of the Wranglers playoff run where he put up 4 points in 6 games.
Strömgren followed that up with a dominant performance at the Flames development camp this summer where he was arguably the best player on the ice.
It’s going to be fascinating to see if Strömgren can continue to take positive steps in his development starting this weekend in Penticton. He is going to be one of the older, more experienced players at the tournament. The expectation should be for him to stand out and be one of the more noticeable players on the ice.
Joni Jurmo
Jurmo was acquired by the Flames as part of the Elias Lindholm trade. Some viewed him as a throw in to the deal. But the Calgary Flames are very high on 6’3″, left shot defenceman.
One of the reasons he is so intriguing is because fans don’t know what to expect from Jurmo. He’s played the last five years in SM-Liiga, the top league in Finland. And he just joined the Flames organization in January. Because of that Flames fans haven’t got to watch Jurmo play and local media outlets haven’t been able to cover the player.
Jurmo’s calling cards are his size, skating, and first pass out of the zone. He isn’t going to dazzle fans with high end skill and big offensive point totals. But he has the reputation of being a 200-foot defenceman.
This weekend will be the first time Flames fans get to see Jurmo in game action with the Flames. It’s going to be fun to see what they have in this player.
Hunter Brzustewicz
The Lindholm trade is the gift that keeps on giving for the Calgary Flames. Brzustewicz is the third player to be profiled in this article who was part of that deal, and he is the best player of the three.
Last season he had 92 points in 67 games with the Kitchener Rangers, good for second in points among defencemen in the OHL. 79 of those 92 points were assists. Clearly Brzustewicz is skilled, but will he be able to be a good enough defensive player at the pro level? We’ll slowly be able to start to answer that question starting in Penticton.
It’s going to be interesting to see if Brzustewicz can show off his elite vision and play making this weekend at the Young Stars Classic. He is going to be one of the more highly touted players in the entire tournament.
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2024-09-13T16:12:28Z dg43tfdfdgfd