Blueline prospect welcomes new opportunity with Flames

Hunter Brzustewicz celebrated signing his first professional contract in a couple different ways.

There were a lot of conversations with family, and his mom in particular sent him a lot of exciting texts — which is only appropriate.

Then, there was dinner with his agent at Charcoal’s Steakhouse in Kitchener, Ont. They each got a Tomahawk steak.

Then, it was back to his Kitchener Rangers teammates.

But Brzustewicz can probably start mapping out the next few steps of his hockey journey.

He’s going to wind up in Calgary at some point soon, he can bank on that much.

Brzustewicz was an important part of the package that the Vancouver Canucks sent to the Flames in exchange for Elias Lindholm at the end of January.

The 6-foot-0, 190-pound blueliner was selected in the third round (75th overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft by the Canucks, but has only seen his stock rise in the time since.

With the Rangers this year, he’s scored 12 goals and added 73 assists in 62 games. Nobody has more assists in the OHL than the 19-year-old and his 85 points are the ninth most in the league.

So there’s every reason to be excited about the Rochester, Michigan native’s potential, especially for a Flames team that had a pretty empty cupboard when it came to young defencemen a few months ago. As GM Craig Conroy dealt away veteran soon-to-be unrestricted free agents over the past couple months, getting young blueliners back was a priority.

And Brzustewicz has the potential to be as impactful as any of the guys they’ve added to their system.

There will be opportunity, too, both with the Flames and their AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers. That wasn’t necessarily true in Vancouver.

“The opportunity is way more here, with the prospect pool and not having as many guys there might be a quicker opportunity or more opportunity down the road,” Brzustewicz said about joining the Flames. “It’s really exciting when a team trades for you and I think it’s really cool that they did. With Calgary not having as many prospects as Vancouver, it’s really cool being part of the young wave coming in.”

The Flames are certainly happy to have acquired Brzustewicz in the deal that also brought defensive prospect Joni Jurmo, the Canucks’ first-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft and a conditional fourth-round pick in this summer’s draft.

Brzustewicz could potentially join the Wranglers when the Rangers’ season is over, although he’s playing for a good team in Kitchener and there’s no guarantee that Calgary crew will be playing deeper into the spring than his OHL team.

But he’ll presumably be with the Wranglers next year and should add a little extra offensive flair to their blue line.

“He moves well and sees the ice with great vision and hockey sense,” Conroy said in a news release. “As a right shot defenceman, Hunter provides us with a highly regarded skill-set.”

Brzustewicz still has work to do before he’s NHL ready, just like every 19-year-old defenceman.

But he’s very aware of the opportunity that lies ahead of him. Signing his first professional contract is just the first step.