Calgary Flames: Top 8 prospects worth getting excited about

4. Matthew Phillips

2016 sixth round (166 overall) pick Matthew Phillips sometimes gets forgotten about when discussing Flames top end prospects due to the fact he is older than others on the list. It almost seems surprising realizing he is still just 22-years-old. At the time of being drafted, he was coming off of his rookie season in the WHL with the Victoria Royals where he had posted an impressive 37 goals and 76 points in 72 games.

After being drafted, Phillips continued to put up big numbers, capping it off with a junior career high 112 points in 71 games. He has now spent the last two seasons with the Stockton Heat, and improved massively this past season.

After an okay rookie campaign where he had 38 points in 65 games, Phillips nearly matched that total this season with 33 points despite playing in 27 less games. While he likely won’t make the team out of camp this coming season, a strong early showing with the Heat could earn him his first ever NHL call up.

3. Emilio Pettersen

Yet another solid late round selection from the Flames came during the 2018 NHL Entry Draft when they selected Emilio Pettersen in the sixth-round (167 overall). Known as the ‘Norwegian Gretzky’, Pettersen has gotten better and better from the second he was drafted. At the time, he was playing for the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL and had posted 14 goals and 46 points in 60 games. Not bad numbers, but certainly nothing that jumps off the page.

Since then, Pettersen has spent the last two seasons playing for the University of Denver, where he has given the Flames organization a real reason to get excited. This past season he was able to put up nearly a point per game season with 13 goals and 22 assists in 36 games. What makes this even more impressive is that he did it at just 19-years-old. If he keeps improving like he has to this point, he could soon enough be contributing to the Flames roster.