In 2017-18, the Calgary Flames had a prospect pool that was highly regarded around the NHL. They seemed to have drafted well in previous years, and the future looked bright. Let’s take a look back at the Flames’ top five prospects from that season and how they panned out.
Tyler Parsons
Tyler Parsons was regarded as the Flames’ top prospect in 2017-18 and one of the premier goaltending prospects in the entire NHL. At just over 6 feet tall, he was highly touted for his quickness in the net. Prior to his professional career, he had some of his best games as a goalie in big moments, playing lights out in the World Junior Championship Final and the Memorial Cup. Unfortunately, he never panned out as an NHL goaltender; he spent the entirety of his professional career in the minors, as he struggled with injuries and mental health issues.
Mark Jankowski
Mark Jankowski was the Flames’ highest-rated skating prospect in 2017-18. He went to Calgary with the 21st overall pick of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft before heading to Providence College, where he played four years of college hockey. After Providence, he joined the Stockton Heat of the American Hockey League (AHL), playing his first NHL game in 2016-17.
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The following season, Jankowski joined the Flames as a full-time NHLer and put up solid numbers as a rookie with 33 points. That season, however, was his peak in Calgary. He put up a combined 26 points in 2018-19 and 2019-20, before signing with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2020 offseason. He has spent the past three seasons with three different teams bouncing between the AHL and NHL, but he has not had the production to be considered a highly successful NHL player.
Rasmus Andersson
Rasmus Andersson was the Flames’ top defensive prospect in 2017-18 and the only member of this list who is still in Calgary. The Swede was selected by the Flames with the 53rd pick of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, and he made his NHL debut in 2016-17. Since then, he has been a consistent presence on the Flames as a top-four defenceman. He had 57 points in 2019-20, earning a six-year extension worth $27 million which will keep him in Calgary through 2025-26. Though he has not matched that point total since, it is safe to say that Andersson was as good as advertised.
Adam Fox
Adam Fox, the Flames’ fourth-rated prospect from 2017-18, has had the best career of all. They drafted him with the 66th overall pick of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. He played three seasons of college hockey at Harvard University. While there, the Flames traded his rights to the Carolina Hurricanes who then traded him to the New York Rangers, with whom he signed an entry-level contract.
Fox played his first season in New York in 2019-20, and over the past four years he has established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the NHL, contending for the Norris Trophy for the league’s best defenceman on an annual basis. He is so far the only player from the Flames’ 2017-18 prospect pool to pan out as a star.
Juuso Valimaki
Juuso Valimaki rounds out this list as the youngest of the group. He was drafted by the Flames with the 16th overall pick of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. He made his NHL debut in 2018-19 and ended up playing three seasons for the Flames, in which he appeared in 82 games and put up just 16 points. He was put on waivers prior to last season and was picked up by the Arizona Coyotes, having a solid season for them with 34 points. The Coyotes extended Valimaki on a one-year deal worth $1 million; it appears that he may have found his groove in the NHL, though he has not had an incredibly noteworthy career thus far.
Looking Back
The Flames’ 2017-18 prospect pool showed great promise, however, Andersson was the only one of their top five prospects to have a career in Calgary. Fox has proven to be the best player out of the bunch, while top-two prospects Parsons and Jankowski did not have notable careers. Finally, Valimaki seems to have found his game and is on his way to becoming a solid NHL defenceman, just not with the Flames.
