Hunter Brzustewicz and Sam Morton were new names to the Calgary Wranglers this season. What was known of Morton is just what he showed on his ATO at the end of the 2023-24 season and into the AHL playoffs. What was known of Brzustewicz was his outstanding play in the OHL and his part in <a href="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/2024/01/31/calgary-flames-trade-elias-lindholm-to-vancouver-for-andrei-kuzmenko/">the trade that sent Elias Lindholm to Vancouver</a>. Hunter Brzustewicz earned his place as a highly regarded prospect and fans were eager to see him play this year.
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By the end of the 2024-25 season, both of these players were known as AHL graduates with an NHL game under their belts.
Sam Morton made an immediate impact with the Wranglers in his first few games at centre, putting up an assist in his professional debut and scoring in just his second game in the league. He ended up finishing the 2023-24 season with seven points in 13 games player. In the playoffs, he put up four points in six games.
In 2024-25, his impact was still felt even when he was not scoring. He’d go on runs of points and by the end of the season, he finished with just over a point every two games with 20 goals and 25 assists in 70 games played. Even when his name didn’t appear on the scoresheet, he still found ways to contribute
When that last point was brought up in Wranglers exit meetings, Morton said:
<blockquote>“I mean, I try to pride myself on having a B game, so, like, you have your A game where, you&#8217;re kind of feeling it, you have the puck on your stick a lot, you&#8217;re creating chances and then your B game&#8217;s gotta be your backup plan. So if you don’t have it, how else can you contribute?”</blockquote>
Morton continued on about the point of consistency in his game saying:
<blockquote>“It&#8217;s funny you say that, because I think it&#8217;s something that I need to work on and get better at, is just making sure I always have those B game attributes, all the time, non negotiably. So, I think it&#8217;s something that I&#8217;ve tried to work on over the past couple of years, but still can get better.”</blockquote>
Hunter Brzustewicz, on the other hand, played his first professional games in the fall of 2024. He took some time to get used to the new pace, but once he hit the second month of play, <a href="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/2025/02/27/flames-prospect-hunter-brzustewicz-is-growing-and-adapting-in-first-season-with-the-wranglers/">he was finding consistency in a big way</a>. Brzustewicz had a six game point streak between the end of November and mid-December.
Seasoned blueliner Yan Kuznetsov took Brzustewicz under his wing this year as his regular defensive partner. Brzustewicz said around the midway part of the season that some of the communication was a learning curve with the language barrier, but they saw their way through that with 53 points between the two of them. Brzustewicz’s numbers finished with five goals and 27 assists in 70 games played with the Wranglers this season.
Even with other choices on the roster and guys that got NHL games this year, these two showed they deserved that rookie lap and an extra boost of confidence to carry into their post-season play and off-season training.
Sam Morton spoke on his brief NHL experience, saying:
<blockquote>“It&#8217;s unforgettable for sure. It&#8217;s just excitement, just really cool. Honestly, it kind of leaves me speechless, but it was a really fun experience and, just kind of makes me feel grateful and like the whole process of getting here and getting to that point. There&#8217;s a lot of long days and a lot of sacrifice from other people that help get you there, so that part&#8217;s cool.”</blockquote>
Not only did Morton have the experience to remember forever, <a href="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/2025/04/17/watch-zayne-parekh-sam-morton-score-first-nhl-goals-in-los-angeles/">but he also wasted no time putting up his first NHL goal</a>. He scored the second goal of the season finale for the Flames 6:05 into the third period off a set up from Ryan Lomberg and Dryden Hunt.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
WELCOME TO THE LEAGUE! 🥳
Sam Morton’s family had the best reaction after he scored his first NHL goal. 🥹 <a href="https://t.co/YpkxDzGjeU">pic.twitter.com/YpkxDzGjeU</a>
&mdash; Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1913077789713965172?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Morton was one of four rookies in this debut with the Flames and having his teammate along for the ride was really special. Morton said:
<blockquote>“Well, it was fun to be able to get to have that experience with someone else, I think just being able to share it is really fun. So, yeah, we had no idea what we were doing. There&#8217;s a lot of new stuff. We were both trying to sort out together, so that&#8217;s, yeah, it&#8217;s something that we&#8217;ll share forever. Yeah. And having a taste of that experience now shifting focus into developing over the off season.”</blockquote>
Hunter Brzustewicz also enjoyed the shared experience saying:
<blockquote>“When we were on the plane, me and Sam, he was like after the game, &#8220;We forever have a bond now.&#8221; And I was like, &#8220;We didn&#8217;t have a bond before?!&#8221;</blockquote>
That day is something neither of them will forget anytime soon and they still had work to do in the AHL. Both Morton and Brzustewicz played in the Wranglers season finale against the San Jose Barracuda. Playoffs were short lived and only went to two games in their best of three series against the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Morton played in both and Brzustewicz only played in the first playoff game after suffering a lower body injury.
Sam Morton and Hunter Brzustewicz got a shared taste of the big league and are going into the off-season hungry for more. Expect these two to have a good camp and more appearances with the Flames come the 2025-26 season, maybe as a packaged deal once again.
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Hunter Brzustewicz and Sam Morton were new names to the Calgary Wranglers this season. What was known of Morton is just what he showed on his ATO at the end of the 2023-24 season and into the AHL playoffs. What was known of Brzustewicz was his outstanding play in the OHL and his part in <a href="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/2024/01/31/calgary-flames-trade-elias-lindholm-to-vancouver-for-andrei-kuzmenko/">the trade that sent Elias Lindholm to Vancouver</a>. Hunter Brzustewicz earned his place as a highly regarded prospect and fans were eager to see him play this year.
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By the end of the 2024-25 season, both of these players were known as AHL graduates with an NHL game under their belts.

Sam Morton made an immediate impact with the Wranglers in his first few games at centre, putting up an assist in his professional debut and scoring in just his second game in the league. He ended up finishing the 2023-24 season with seven points in 13 games player. In the playoffs, he put up four points in six games.

In 2024-25, his impact was still felt even when he was not scoring. He’d go on runs of points and by the end of the season, he finished with just over a point every two games with 20 goals and 25 assists in 70 games played. Even when his name didn’t appear on the scoresheet, he still found ways to contribute

When that last point was brought up in Wranglers exit meetings, Morton said:
<blockquote>“I mean, I try to pride myself on having a B game, so, like, you have your A game where, you're kind of feeling it, you have the puck on your stick a lot, you're creating chances and then your B game's gotta be your backup plan. So if you don’t have it, how else can you contribute?”</blockquote>
Morton continued on about the point of consistency in his game saying:
<blockquote>“It's funny you say that, because I think it's something that I need to work on and get better at, is just making sure I always have those B game attributes, all the time, non negotiably. So, I think it's something that I've tried to work on over the past couple of years, but still can get better.”</blockquote>
Hunter Brzustewicz, on the other hand, played his first professional games in the fall of 2024. He took some time to get used to the new pace, but once he hit the second month of play, <a href="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/2025/02/27/flames-prospect-hunter-brzustewicz-is-growing-and-adapting-in-first-season-with-the-wranglers/">he was finding consistency in a big way</a>. Brzustewicz had a six game point streak between the end of November and mid-December.

Seasoned blueliner Yan Kuznetsov took Brzustewicz under his wing this year as his regular defensive partner. Brzustewicz said around the midway part of the season that some of the communication was a learning curve with the language barrier, but they saw their way through that with 53 points between the two of them. Brzustewicz’s numbers finished with five goals and 27 assists in 70 games played with the Wranglers this season.

Even with other choices on the roster and guys that got NHL games this year, these two showed they deserved that rookie lap and an extra boost of confidence to carry into their post-season play and off-season training.

Sam Morton spoke on his brief NHL experience, saying:
<blockquote>“It's unforgettable for sure. It's just excitement, just really cool. Honestly, it kind of leaves me speechless, but it was a really fun experience and, just kind of makes me feel grateful and like the whole process of getting here and getting to that point. There's a lot of long days and a lot of sacrifice from other people that help get you there, so that part's cool.”</blockquote>
Not only did Morton have the experience to remember forever, <a href="https://publish.flamesnation.ca/2025/04/17/watch-zayne-parekh-sam-morton-score-first-nhl-goals-in-los-angeles/">but he also wasted no time putting up his first NHL goal</a>. He scored the second goal of the season finale for the Flames 6:05 into the third period off a set up from Ryan Lomberg and Dryden Hunt.

https://twitter.com/sportsnet/status/1913077789713965172

Morton was one of four rookies in this debut with the Flames and having his teammate along for the ride was really special. Morton said:
<blockquote>“Well, it was fun to be able to get to have that experience with someone else, I think just being able to share it is really fun. So, yeah, we had no idea what we were doing. There's a lot of new stuff. We were both trying to sort out together, so that's, yeah, it's something that we'll share forever. Yeah. And having a taste of that experience now shifting focus into developing over the off season.”</blockquote>
Hunter Brzustewicz also enjoyed the shared experience saying:
<blockquote>“When we were on the plane, me and Sam, he was like after the game, "We forever have a bond now." And I was like, "We didn't have a bond before?!"</blockquote>
That day is something neither of them will forget anytime soon and they still had work to do in the AHL. Both Morton and Brzustewicz played in the Wranglers season finale against the San Jose Barracuda. Playoffs were short lived and only went to two games in their best of three series against the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Morton played in both and Brzustewicz only played in the first playoff game after suffering a lower body injury.

Sam Morton and Hunter Brzustewicz got a shared taste of the big league and are going into the off-season hungry for more. Expect these two to have a good camp and more appearances with the Flames come the 2025-26 season, maybe as a packaged deal once again.

Sponsored by bet365:
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