PROSPECT CAMP PRIMER

It's camping season.
Calgary's 2021 rookie camp will open on Wednesday, featuring several on-ice sessions and two games against the Edmonton Oilers rookies (
FULL SCHEDULE
) with 27 players in attendance.

Making Their Mark

Several players will be looking at camp as the springboard to new opportunities this coming season.
First-round picks Jakob Pelletier (2019) and Connor Zary (2020) could be offensive catalysts at the pro level in 2021-22,, likely at the AHL level. Pelletier, 20, was named captain of the Val-d'Or Foreurs last year and led the QMJHL squad with 13 goals and 43 points in 28 games. Zary made his pro debut with Stockton before the 2021 WHL season kicked off, scoring seven points in nine games with the Heat and 24 points in 15 games with the Kamloops Blazers. Both forwards also captured silver with Canada at IIHF World Junior Championship in January.

Forwards Mathias Emilio Pettersen, Martin Pospisil, Dmitry Zavgorodniy and defenceman Colton Poolman played in Stockton in 2021 and will look to increase their roles this coming year. Twenty-one-year-old Pettersen potted 14 points in his first 29 AHL games and also suited up for Norway at the IIHF World Championship. Pospisil's season was derailed by a lower-body injury but in the 14 games he played, he scored five goals and 11 points. Winger Zavgorodniy's first pro season saw him suit up for 29 games with the Heat, scoring four points. Poolman, who signed with the Flames as a free agent following his collegiate career at North Dakota, dressed for 21 games.
Defenceman Johannes Kinnvall, who signed a two-year entry-level deal with the club in April of 2020, has plenty of pro experience to bring to the table. In 153 SHL games, he has scored 30 goals and 84 points. He spent last season in Sweden with HV71, scoring seven goals and 22 points in 32 games.

In net, Dustin Wolf will be battling to solidify his role with the Heat after an absolutely stellar run in the WHL. In 149 appearances with the Everett Silvertips, the Gilroy, Calif. native posted a 1.84 GAA, .935 save percentage, and 24 shutouts. Like Zary, Wolf was able to make his pro debut in Stockton prior to the 2021 WHL season, playing in 3 games.

Stints In Stockton

While forward Rory Kerins and blueliner Yan Kuznetsov haven't attended a Flames rookie camp yet, they've been able to get their reps in at the 'Dome this past year thanks to their time with the Stockton Heat.

Kerins, who wasn't able to play for the Soo Greyhounds due to the OHL's cancelled season, dressed for four games. In 2019-20, he put up 30 goals and 59 points in 64 games with the Greyhounds.
The 2020-21 season was a busy one for Kuznetsov, who wrapped up his collegiate career with UCONN, played for Russia at the IIHF World Junior Championship, and made his pro debut with Stockton, playing in six AHL games.
Also in attendance will be forward Walker Duehr, who signed with the Flames as a free agent out of college in April. The 23-year-old right-shot winger capped off his collegiate career with Minnesota State by scoring 10 goals and 17 points in 28 skates. During his NCAA tenure, he recorded 25 goals and 51 points in 102 games. He played in five games with Stockton in 2021.

First Trip To Calgary

With many teams unable to hold rookie camps after the 2020 and 2021 NHL Drafts, several Flames prospects will be making their first trek out to Alberta.
In 2020, the Flames selected forward Ryan Francis (5th round, 143rd overall) and blueliners Jeremie Poirier (3rd round, 72nd overall) and Ilya Solovyov (7th round, 205th overall), who went on to put together solid performances this past season.

Between Cape Breton and Saint John, Francis put up 16 goals and 50 points in 32 games and recorded 10 points in six playoff appearances with the Sea Dogs.
Poirier led all Sea Dogs defenders last year, scoring nine goals and 37 points with Saint John. He chipped in with another nine points in six playoff games.
Belarussian blueliner Solovyov played pro last year, skating in 41 games with Dinamo Minsk in the KHL. He also represented his country at the IIHF World Championship, playing four games the tournament.
This past July, the Flames drafted forwards Jack Beck (6th round, 168th overall), Cole Huckins (3rd round, 77th overall), and Lucas Ciona (6th round, 173rd overall), as well as defenders Cameron Whynot (3rd round, 89th overall) and Cole Jordan.
Beck did not play in 2021 due to the cancelled OHL season but skated in 56 games in 2019-20, scoring seven goals and 19 points.
Huckins played a major role for the Acadie-Bathurst Titans last year, scoring 14 goals and 32 points and adding five points in nine playoff games this spring.

Edmonton native Ciona dressed for 23 games with the Seattle Thunderbirds in 2021, scoring two goals and 13 points.
In Halifax, Whynot notched six goals and 23 points in 34 games, which ranked him second only to Justin Barron in scoring by Mooseheads defencemen.
In Jordan's second season with the Moose Jaw Warriors, he put up 10 points through 23 skates, setting new career highs in goals, assists, and points.
2019 third-round pick Ilya Nikolaev will also be making his first appearance at the Flames camp. The Russian forward has spent his entire career in his home country, most recently playing for Buran Voronezh in the VHL (7 goals, 13 points in 37 games) and Loko Yaroslavl in the MHL (8 goals, 18 points in 21 games). He is slated to play for Tri-City in the USHL this season.

New Faces

The Flames will host three players on amateur try-out agreements at this year's camp: forward Ben King and goaltenders Connor Ungar and Carter Serhyenko.

King is coming off his strongest WHL season, posting 28 points through 21 games with the Red Deer Rebels. Named assistant captain in 2021, the 19-year-old right-shot centre led the Rebels in scoring and averaged 1.33 points-per-game in the shortened campaign.
Ungar, 19, will be heading off to Red Deer following his time in camp, after being traded from the Brandon Wheat Kings in May. In 15 career games in Brandon, the Calgary product holds a 2.92 GAA and .905 save percentage. In 2021, he dressed for eight games, going 5-2-1 with a 2.87 GAA and a .904 save percentage.
Eighteen-year-old Serhyenko, who hails from Saskatoon, has spent his junior career with the Prince Albert Raiders. In 25 WHL games, the netminder holds a 9-10-4 record with a 2.96 GAA and a .891 save percentage.

AHL Deals

The Heat have signed forwards Reid Perepeluk and Mark Simpson and defencemen Koletrane Wilson and Greg Moro to deals ahead of this year's camp.
Perepeluk will be making his pro debut this year after wrapping up his junior career in the WHL. He spent the 2021 campaign with the Brandon Wheat Kings, scoring four goals and five points in 21 games.

Simpson played in Stockton last year, scoring four goals and six points in his first pro season. Prior to starting his pro career, he played for the University of New Brunswick.
Wilson split the 2020-21 season between Stockton and Kansas City, dressing for five games with the Heat and 18 games with the Mavericks.
Twenty-five-year-old Moro also split time between the Heat and Mavericks this past year. He scored two points in six games with Stockton and had two goals and eight points in 17 games with Kansas City. He is in the final season of his two-year contract.