By any measure, Hunter Brzustewicz had a remarkable first training camp with the Calgary Flames.
On Thursday, it ended with the news that he’ll be heading down to the AHL to join the Calgary Wranglers.
There will be some disappointment there for the 19-year-old, but it likely will be tempered by the knowledge that a strong showing from the first day of camp impressed the Flames coaches and earned him repeated praise.
Brzustewicz is very much on the Flames’ radar. His dream of playing in the NHL isn’t that far off.
A second training camp – his first was with the Vancouver Canucks – showed him he can compete with the NHLers but also highlighted the areas where he still needs to improve.
“Me and my coach in Kitchener were talking about it, and shoutout to Brad Flynn, the other day and he asked me ‘Has anyone impressed you?’ and I told him it’s more the little things,” Brzustewicz said. “Like (MacKenzie) Weegar. The first day I was here, the first drill he was like ‘Call for the puck. Keep your feet moving’ and you look at the high-end guys and it’s not so much a backhand toe-drag or whatever dangle, it’s more that every pass they catch or they receive, it’s 100%. It’s on the tape, there’s no mess-ups.
“Obviously they do extravagant stuff and the high-end guys definitely do some really cool stuff, but the big thing I take away is just those little details and habits, they’ve really narrowed them down.”
Brzustewicz was among six prospects who were sent to the Wranglers on Thursday morning, including Sam Morton, Justin Kirkland, Clark Bishop, Jonathan Aspirot and Martin Frk.
There’s certainly no shame in getting sent to the AHL as a 19-year-old and Brzustewicz had a strong camp, but never has played pro hockey before.
Last year with the Kitchener Rangers, he had 13 goals and 79 assists.
Over the past couple of weeks, he showed that those high-end offensive skills should translate in the pros, but a little more seasoning in the AHL will do him nothing but good.