- One player who won’t be on the NHL-AHL shuffle for a little while longer is Calgary prospect Henry Mews. The defenseman announced (Twitter link) that he’ll play for the University of Michigan next season. Mews was a third-round pick by the Flames last June, going 74th overall. He had a strong year offensively in the OHL, tallying 82 points in 68 games between Ottawa and Sudbury but instead of staying in junior, he’ll test himself at the college level next season.
Flames Rumors
Calgary Flames Recall Zayne Parekh
One of the game’s top defensive prospects will debut tomorrow night against the Anaheim Ducks. The Calgary Flames announced they’ve recalled defenseman Zayne Parekh from the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit, and he’ll join the club immediately.
The Flames selected Parekh with the ninth overall selection of the 2024 NHL Draft, and there’s reason to believe he should have been selected higher. In his draft season, Parekh scored 33 goals and 96 points in 66 games with a +39 rating, easily winning the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the OHL’s best defenseman and being named the CHL Defenseman of the Year.
He followed that performance up with an even better year. Parekh scored 33 goals and 107 points in 61 games for the Spirit this season with a +42 rating, finishing fifth in the league in scoring. Not only did Parekh lead all OHL defensemen in scoring, but there was a 16-point gap between him and Sam Dickinson, who finished in second. Furthermore, the only other defenseman in OHL history to record back-to-back 30-goal campaigns came in the 1965-66 season, when an 18-year-old Bobby Orr tallied 38 goals for the Oshawa Generals.
Despite seeing his postseason end at the hands of the Erie Otters, Parekh still has a chance to play meaningful hockey down the stretch with Calgary. The Flames are four points behind the Minnesota Wild for the final wild-card position in the Western Conference with five games remaining and a game in hand.
Calgary ranks 21st in the league with 129 points contributed by defensemen. That number should improve marginally over the five remaining regular season contests if Parekh contributes even fractionally to his performance in the OHL.
Still, his position in the lineup could be up in the air. The Flames already have two top-four right-handed defensemen in MacKenzie Weegar and Rasmus Andersson, with the former having played on the left side several times. Calgary can allow Parekh a quality opportunity over the next two weeks alongside Weegar or a more defensive-minded option like Kevin Bahl or Joel Hanley. Should Parekh play as advertised, the Flames may enter the off-season one blueliner away from having an elite defensive unit.
Flames Sign Aydar Suniev To Three-Year Contract
The Calgary Flames have made official the reports that 2023 third-round draft pick Aydar Suniev signed a three-year, entry-level contract per Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet 960. The deal was first reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Suniev will turn pro after completing his sophomore season at the University of Massachusetts. News of his signing comes just minutes after news that Suniev’s teammate Cole O’Hara has signed his entry-level contract with the Nashville Predators.
Suniev scored 20 goals and 38 points in 35 games this season. It was a strong continuation of his collegiate scoring after he potted 12 goals and 35 points in 36 games last season. Suniev ranked second on the UMass Minutemen in scoring this season, only behind O’Hara’s 51 points. While Suniev posted modest scoring last year, his climb up the leaderboards this year has been impressive – coming on the back of growing confidence on the puck. He’s seemed to take a hardy stride forward in his ability to work the puck into the middle of the ice, effectively rounding out his ability as a puck-hog on the perimeter.
Suniev was a part of a strong Flames draft class in 2023. With this deal, he could become the second member of that class to make their NHL debut, with Steinberg adding that Suniev’s deal should mirror that of former collegiate star and current Flame Matthew Coronato. Coronato played in one NHL game at the end of the 2022-23 season, after wrapping up his sophomore year at Harvard University.
Calgary has eight games remaining in their 2024-25 campaign, and currently sit four games back from the second Western Conference Wild Card with one game in hand. That’s treacherous ground to award an undersized winger his NHL debut, though Calgary could use Suniev’s strong puckhandling and speedy motor as a spark plug as they attempt one final push for the postseason. If they want to stay careful, the Flames could also assign Suniev to the minor leagues, and avoid burning the first year of his contract on an abbreviated stint in the 2024-25 NHL season.
Flames Interested In Callum Tung
The Flames are among the teams interested in signing college free agent netminder Callum Tung out of UConn, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said on Monday’s 32 Thoughts podcast.
Tung, 21, backstopped UConn to its first national tournament appearance in program history this season. While they won their regional semifinal matchup against Quinnipiac, they lost in overtime to Penn State last night in the regional final, ending their campaign.
The freshman didn’t have a huge workload this season, only making 15 appearances. He stole the crease from Panthers draft pick Tyler Muszelik late in the season, finishing the year with a sterling 2.01 GAA and .933 SV% with a 10-4-1 record.
Tung, a British Columbia native, appeared at Calgary’s development camp last year. The 6’3″, 198-lb netminder is a late bloomer, only graduating to a full-time player at the junior ’A’ level last season with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs of the British Columbia Hockey League. Nonetheless, his quick ascension over the past couple of seasons has him looking to turn pro just two years after logging significant time in the junior ’B’ Pacific Junior Hockey League.
As Friedman notes, the Flames face an uphill battle in landing him. They’ve already made one splash on the goalie market in college free agency this year, signing 23-year-old Owen Say out of Notre Dame. That gives them five goalies signed or under team control for next season, not including the goalie who ended Tung’s season last night. Penn State’s Arsenii Sergeev is a Flames prospect, going to them in the seventh round of the 2021 draft. Ironically, he transferred from UConn last summer and could also sign his ELC with the Flames after leading the Nittany Lions to their first Frozen Four appearance.
Flames' Prospect Trevor Hoskin Enters Portal
- Flames prospect Trevor Hoskin has also entered the portal, per Grand Folks Hearld reporter Brad Elliott Schlossman. The 20-year-old forward spent one season at Niagara University and recorded 12 goals and 39 points in 36 games. Despite tying for first in points this season for the Purple Eagles, Hoskin will look for another collegiate opportunity. In three seasons in the OJHL, he recorded 190 points, including 100 points in his last season. The 6’1, 175 pounder was Calgary’s 2024 fourth round selection.
Connor Zary Out Week-To-Week
While it wasn’t the worst-case scenario for Flames forward Connor Zary as it pertains to his lower-body injury, he’ll still be out for a little while. The team announced (Twitter link) that Zary has been listed as out week-to-week.
The injury was sustained back on Thursday in their loss to Dallas in a collision with Mikko Rantanen, requiring some assistance to get off the ice. Initially feared it could be a recurrence of the significant knee injury that caused Zary to miss 15 games recently, it doesn’t appear as if the injury is as severe but nonetheless, he’s set to miss some time.
This is Zary’s first full NHL season after he spent a bit of time with AHL Calgary last year. The 23-year-old had 14 goals and 20 assists in 63 games in 2023-24 and is producing at a similar clip this year, tallying 13 goals and 14 helpers in 54 outings, good for seventh in team scoring, fifth among Flames forwards.
Zary joins Anthony Mantha and Justin Kirkland (who both have season-ending injuries) on the shelf for Calgary as they look to get back into a playoff spot. Entering tonight’s action, the Flames are six points out of the last Wild Card spot held by St. Louis but also have three games in hand on the Blues. But they’ll have to find a way to stay in the mix without one of their top-six forwards for at least the next little while.
Flames Sign Jacob Battaglia To Entry-Level Contract
The Flames have agreed to terms with one of their more promising prospects. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve signed winger Jacob Battaglia to a three-year, entry-level contract. The deal will carry an AAV of $931.7K and while not specified by the club, it will begin next season.
The 19-year-old was a late second-round pick last year, going 62nd overall after a promising sophomore season with OHL Kingston. After potting seven goals and 20 assists as a rookie, those numbers jumped to 31 and 34, respectively, in 67 outings in 2023-24.
This season, Battaglia was able to add to those totals once again. He finished up the campaign with 40 goals and 50 helpers in 68 games, good for a share of the team lead in scoring with Vegas prospect Tuomas Uronen. Battaglia had a pair of assists in yesterday’s playoff opener as well.
As Battaglia won’t turn 20 until next March, playing in the minors next season won’t be an option. He’ll have to make Calgary’s roster or be returned to Kingston. The latter scenario is much more likely and in that instance, his deal will slide and still have three years left on it heading into the 2026-27 campaign.
Early Prognosis Positive On Zary Injury, Further Testing Required
- TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that further tests will be conducted to assess the severity of Connor Zary’s knee injury. The young forward for the Calgary Flames awkwardly collided with the Dallas Stars’ Mikko Rantanen shortly into the third period of last night’s contest and required help getting off the ice after a lengthy meet with the trainer. Fortunately, Dreger believes the early prognosis of Zary’s injury was positive. Still, as the fifth-highest scoring forward on the Flames with 27 points in 54 games, Calgary will need Zary in the lineup should they have any hope of catching up to the St. Louis Blues for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
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Mikael Backlund Returns To The Lineup
Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice believes that defenseman Dmitry Kulikov could return to the lineup during the last week of the NHL regular season (as per Panthers Senior Digital Content Manager Jameson Olive). Kulikov is sidelined with an upper-body injury that has kept him out of the last three games, but he could return just in time for the playoffs.
The 34-year-old isn’t the producer he once was but has averaged 19:17 of ice time per game this season in 68 games. The 16-year NHL veteran has tallied four goals and nine assists this season along with a +13 plus/minus. However, he has struggled with the puck, committing 72 turnovers which eclipses his career high by nearly 20.
In other morning notes:
- Anaheim Ducks AHL affiliate the San Diego Gulls, tweeted that forward Nathan Gaucher had successful shoulder surgery and will miss the rest of the 2024-25 season as he will need a 4-6 month recovery. Gaucher was the Ducks first-round pick in 2022 (22nd overall) and had a labral tear in his left shoulder that could cause him to miss the start of next season while he recovers. The 21-year-old hasn’t found his offensive game in the AHL to this point in his young career, producing just eight goals and 11 assists this season in 56 AHL games. While the start to his professional career has been disappointing, Gaucher is just two years removed from representing Team Canada at the World Juniors and certainly possesses the physical gifts to make it as a top-nine NHL forward.
- The Calgary Flames received some good news on the injury front last night as captain Mikael Backlund returned to the lineup after missing six games with an upper-body injury (as per Sportsnet 960’s Pat Steinberg). The 36-year-old had last played on March 12th against Vancouver and should give an added boost to the Flames as they try and chase down a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Backlund is in his 17th NHL season and still provides solid two-way play for Calgary, even if his offensive numbers aren’t what they used to be. Backlund has just 11 goals and 13 assists this season in 65 games, but his deployment has been skewed towards the defensive side of the game this season, which makes sense given that he has received Selke Trophy consideration in seven of the last eight years.
Flames To Sign Owen Say To Entry-Level Contract
The Flames have signed goaltender Owen Say to a one-year contract worth $872,500 for the 2025-26 campaign. While the team announced it as a two-way deal, it’ll be an entry-level one since his age on Sep. 15 of the calendar year the agreement was signed will be 24.
Say, who turns 24 in June, is an undrafted free-agent pickup out of Notre Dame. He started his collegiate career at Mercyhurst in 2022-23 but transferred to the Fighting Irish for his junior year last summer.
The 6’2″ Canadian has steadily upped his numbers in the NCAA ranks, averaging a .914 SV% and a 3.09 GAA across 69 career appearances for the two schools. He posted a .903 and .913 in his two seasons behind a weak Mercyhurst club before bettering himself with a 2.82 GAA and a .920 SV% in 27 games for Notre Dame. While they finished last in the Big 10, Say had a 10-15-0 record and posted those numbers behind the conference’s worst defense.
Assuming they filed this deal as a standard two-way contract, as they announced it, instead of an entry-level one, the league will likely reject it, and they’ll need to re-file it properly as an ELC. Calgary made the opposite mistake last season when attempting to sign forward Sam Morton out of college – while he was 24 at the time of signing, he turned 25 before Sep. 15. He was thus ineligible for the entry-level contract they attempted to sign him to. The league rejected the deal and had to re-file it as a two-way agreement.
Say will be a restricted free agent in the summer of 2026. Calgary now has 24 contracts on the books for next season.