The 2020 and 2021 drafts brought talent to Calgary, but they’ve had a few recent drafts that added very little as well — with the most recent one being the worst in that regard. Their first-round picks at forward should help their team, and Dustin Wolf looked very strong in net in the AHL too.
Key graduates: Juuso Valimaki, Adam Ruzicka, Dillon Dube
2021 ranking: No. 26
2022 NHL Draft grade: C-
Full 2022-23 NHL Pipeline Rankings
Player Ranking
1. Jakob Pelletier, LW
21 years old | 5-foot-9 | 165 pounds | Shoots left
Drafted: No. 26 in 2019
Tier: Middle of the lineup player
Skating: NHL average
Puck skills: NHL average
Hockey sense: Above NHL average
Compete: Above NHL average
Shot: Above NHL average
Analysis: Pelletier had a big rookie pro season, being a near point-per-game player and playing a large role on a top AHL team. He doesn’t always seem like the flashiest player in terms of speed and skill, but Pelletier scores in big numbers it seems wherever he goes. He’s a super smart player with the puck who plays with courage despite his size. He creates in the high percentage areas while also being a threat from the perimeter. You’d like to see him separate more with his feet at that size, but given how well he looked versus men this season he seems on track to becoming a top-six winger one day.
2. Connor Zary, C
20 years old | 6 feet | 178 pounds | Shoots left
Drafted: No. 24 in 2020
Tier: Middle of the lineup player
Skating: Below NHL average
Puck skills: Above NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: Above NHL average
Analysis: Zary didn’t put up big numbers this season in his first full year as a pro, but I still see a lot to his game that I like. His puck skills are excellent. He can make defensemen miss one-on-one at a high rate. He also doesn’t shy away from making skilled plays into the hard areas of the ice. He’s a worker who wins battles and projects as a two-way forward like a pro. His skating stride is choppy and will be his biggest issue as a pro. With time and physical maturity I think the rest of his game is good enough to overcome that and become a good NHL player who can drive offense with playmaking and effort. Zary projects as a third-line center for me, and I could buy him playing higher in the lineup as a winger.
Dustin Wolf (Christopher Mast / NHLI via Getty Images)
3. Dustin Wolf, G
21 years old | 6 feet | 155 pounds | Catches left
Drafted: No. 214 in 2019
Tier: Starting goaltender
Skating: Above NHL average
Hockey sense: Above NHL average
Analysis: Wolf had a great rookie pro season, being named AHL goaltender of the year as a 20-year-old. Wolf’s IQ and poise have always impressed me, but as a pro I was truly impressed by how dynamic he looked in net with his quickness, showing an ability to make tough saves at a high rate. If anything, his technique broke down more than it did as a junior to make those difficult stops. Wolf’s frame is the big knock on him, but he rarely lets in soft goals, to go with strong — albeit not exceptional — play around the home plate region. He projects as a legit starting goalie despite his size.
4. Matthew Coronato, RW
19 years old | 5-foot-10 | 183 pounds | Shoots right
Drafted: No. 13 in 2021
Tier: Middle of the lineup player
Skating: Above NHL average
Puck skills: NHL average
Hockey sense: NHL average
Compete: Above NHL average
Analysis: Coronato was a point-per-game freshman at Harvard and an important part of the USA’s U20 team. His game is full of speed, energy and creativity. Coronato is able to push the pace down the wing and he doesn’t shy from going right to the net despite his frame. Coronato wasn’t the deadly goal-scoring threat this season he was in junior, but he still showed great hands, hockey sense and looks like a player with the tools to be a second-line winger with time.
Has a chance to play (listed alphabetically)
Jack Beck, LW
19 years old | 5-foot-11 | 162 pounds | Shoots left
Drafted: No. 168 in 2021
Analysis: Beck is a highly skilled and creative forward who can make a lot of plays. He’s not that big or quick, but he looked quite good this season.
Mathias Emilio Pettersen, LW
22 years old | 5-foot-10 | 175 pounds | Shoots left
Drafted: No. 167 in 2018
Analysis: Emilio Pettersen has talent. He’s a highly skilled forward with elusive feet and a creative brain. For a smaller one-way type of forward he needs to be more consistent and score more to be on the NHL track.
Cole Huckins, C
19 years old | 6-foot-3 | 200 pounds | Shoots left
Drafted: No. 77 in 2021
Analysis: Huckins is a big forward with a solid skill level, but he’s got a lot of work to do in terms of improving his pace and creating offense more consistently.
Rory Kerins, C
20 years old | 5-foot-10 | 175 pounds | Shoots left
Drafted: No. 174 in 2020
Analysis: Kerins is an intelligent, skilled center who can make and finish plays, but he isn’t the biggest or fastest forward you’ll ever see.
Adam Klapka, RW
21 years old | 6-foot-7 | 245 pounds | Shoots right
Signed to ELC
Analysis: Klapka is a unique player as an absolute giant of a forward at around 6-foot-7/6-foot-8, and has legit puck skills too. Although his skating is so far removed from the NHL level.
Jérémie Poirier, D
20 years old | 6 feet | 196 pounds | Shoots left
Drafted: No. 72 in 2020
Analysis: Poirier has NHL talent. He’s a strong skater, he has legit skill, he can shoot the puck and make some plays. Whether he competes and defends well enough as a pro will be the litmus test with him and it will be very interesting to see how he transitions to the pro game next season.
Martin Pospisil, LW
22 years old | 6-foot-2 | 181 pounds | Shoots left
Drafted: No. 105 in 2018
Analysis: Pospisil is a big, physical forward with some skill, which is intriguing, but he’s not a true driver of offense and his skating isn’t that quick either.
Topi Rönni, C
18 years old | 6-foot-2 | 181 pounds | Shoots left
Drafted: No. 59 in 2022
Analysis: Rönni is a 6-foot-2 center with offensive ability. He has very good stick skills and vision, allowing him to create a lot of chances inside the offensive zone and be able to run a power play at the junior level. He’s not electric with the puck so I don’t think in the pros he’ll be a primary play driver but he’ll be able to score at higher levels. His competition is good enough. Ronni won’t run guys over but he uses his size to win battles and be reliable defensively. His skating will be the one area that will hold him back against better players and it’s why I can’t yet stamp him as an NHLer despite the rest of the toolkit looking strong enough.
Cole Schwindt, RW
20 years old | 6-foot-2 | 182 pounds | Shoots right
Drafted: No. 81 in 2019
Analysis: Schwindt is a good-sized forward with some skill and scoring ability and a solid work rate off the puck too. His skating is the big limitation with him. He produced a lot of offense this season in the AHL considering he got no power play time so I can buy a higher rating on him as well.
Arsenii Sergeev, G
19 years old | 6-foot-3 | 192 pounds | Catches left
Drafted: No. 205 in 2021
Analysis: Sergeev was USHL goalie of the year this season. He’s a good-sized netminder with NHL quickness. He can get a little out of control with his movements at times, but when he’s efficient he can steal a game.
William Strömgren, LW
19 years old | 6-foot-3 | 175 pounds | Shoots left
Drafted: No. 45 in 2021
Analysis: Stromgren’s toolkit is very intriguing due to his size, speed and having some offensive skills. I don’t love his hockey IQ though and he’s quite inconsistent.
Cameron Whynot, D
19 years old | 6-foot-1 | 180 pounds | Shoots left
Drafted: No. 89 in 2021
Analysis: Whynot is a big, mobile defenseman who competes hard, but his puck-moving ability is a notable question for higher levels.
Player Eligibility: All skaters who are 22 years old or younger as of Sept. 15, 2022, regardless of how many NHL games they’ve played, are eligible. Player heights and weights are taken from the NHL.
Tool grades: Tool grades are based on a scale with six separate levels, with an eye toward how this attribute would grade in the NHL (poor, below-average, average, above-average, high-end and elite). “Average” on this scale means the tool projects as NHL average, which is meant as a positive, not a criticism. Skating, puck skills, hockey sense and compete for every projected NHL player are graded. Shot grades are only included if a shot is notably good or poor.
Tier Definitions: Tiers are meant to show roughly where in an average NHL lineup a player projects to slot in.
(Illustration: Wes McCabe / For The Athletic; photo of Jakob Pelletier: Sergei Belski / USA Today)
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