Keep them on track.
That’s the mandate of the Calgary Wranglers when it comes to being keepers of the Calgary Flames’ prized prospects.
Sure, it’s nice to win — and that’s certainly key for the organization’s culture.
But successful player development is the ultimate goal for the Flames’ affiliate, which is mere hours away from the puck-drop of its American Hockey League season.
“The guys that come through the door … my job is to coach them,” said Wranglers head coach Trent Cull, ahead of Friday’s opener versus the visiting Abbotsford Canucks at Scotiabank Saddledome (7 p.m.).
“We want to instil the same things that are being taught by the Flames,” continued Cull. “And I’m ecstatic when they get called up — I’m like a proud papa. You know … they’re your guys you’re working with, and when they’re playing their best game here, that hopefully is going to translate for them when they go play for the Flames.”
For now, however, they are playing for the Wranglers.
Some of the 24-ish talents are trying to find their footing, including a few fresh faces.
Only a few have AHL contracts.
The rest are armed with pacts that link them to the NHL in some fashion.
Of course, all want to live the big-league dream.
And it’s, indeed, the duty of Cull and his assistants Joe Cirella and Brett Sutter to bring them together to pay attention to the process at hand, because as Cull says, “Keeping them focused goes hand and hand with development.”
With no pre-season games to help unify them, the Wranglers jump right into the fire with regular-schedule action Friday.
The AHL’s Canucks and Wranglers then rematch Sunday at the Dome (1 p.m.) for Game 2 of each one’s 72-game docket.
“I’m excited to get started,” Cull said. ”And I’m excited with the group. I’ve got some young guys, old guys … a little bit of everything.”
The Wranglers’ goaltending has changed with all-star Dustin Wolf expected to be a fixture with the Flames. It’s newcomers Devin Cooley and Waltteri Ignatjew now guarding the goal for the AHL side.
Up front, there’s plenty of returnees — with Dryden Hunt, Walker Duehr, Jakob Pelletier, and William Strömgren in competition on the wing to be call-ups to the Flames forward units.
At centre, one of either Sam Morton or newcomer Justin Kirkland could get summoned to the Flames as early as Friday, with Kevin Rooney labelled day-to-day due to injury.
And on the blueline, the battle to be first to the Flames is on between Jarred Tinordi — a 32-year-old free-agent signee — Ilya Solovyov, Yan Kuznetsov, Artem Grushnikov and 19-year-old Hunter Brzustewicz.
“You have to stay on track — don’t take this for granted,” said first-year pro Brzustewicz, who was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks in the Elias Lindholm deal. “If you take one rep off, someone’s passing you (on the depth chart). There’s guys that give 100 per cent every single rep, even 110 per cent.
“It’s pretty cool to be out there, but you’ve got to stay on top of your game.”
With the Flames rebuilding and possible open spots at their fingertips to join them, that’s never been more the case than this year for the franchise’s prospects.
And that’s also meant more younger faces on the Wranglers than in past years here in Calgary, making Cull’s gig all that more crucial where development is concerned.
“We want to be a hard-working group, and we’ll have to see how we fit, how we rate against other teams — and we’re going to have to figure that out,” Cull said. “But most of the basics, most of the structure, how we play, what we want to accomplish and how we want to do it, hopefully, that’s going to be seen every night. And there’s going to be nights where we have some offence and others where we’re going to make mistakes.”
It’s all part of their development, which — of course — is the bottom line.
But Cull knows they won’t develop overnight.
It still takes time, with the prospects — and all eyes watching them — needing to show patience in the face of enthusiasm.
“I think that you got to give them a good runway here — you know what I mean?” Cull said. “That’s where I’m at right now. I mean … it’s one thing to play in (the) Penticton (Young Stars Classic) and one thing to play a few pre-season games. Now you get to see a guy’s body of work — five and 10 games — and then kind of see from there where we can help him, how we can help him as a staff, in situational play, what’s good for him and what’s going to make him excel, which helps the team.
“Everyone develops at a different pace,” added Cull. “We all learn differently. We all grow differently. That’s part of us just all being humans. And so I think that’s where we get to know these guys and see them over a little bit of time and kind of foster a plan that we think is going to help them get better.”
Wranglers roster
Goaltenders
1 Devin Cooley
40 Waltteri Ignatjew
Defencemen
2 Joni Jurmo
3 Artem Grushnikov
4 Jeremie Poirier
5 Hunter Brzustewicz
8 Ilya Solovyov
26 Jarred Tinordi
37 Yan Kuznetsov
48 Jonathan Aspirot
Forwards
6 Rory Kerins
11 William Stromgren
14 Ilya Nikolaev
15 Dryden Hunt
17 Lucas Ciona
18 Parker Bell
19 Clark Bishop
20 Alex Gallant
22 Jakob Pelletier
23 Justin Kirkland
25 David Silye
29 Martin Frk
34 Walker Duehr
41 Jaden Lipinski
45 Sam Morton