Flames prospect Lucas Ciona looking to build on already amazing 2023

Lucas Ciona skates during the Calgary Flames’ development camp at WinSport’s Markin MacPhail Centre on Thursday, July 6, 2023.

Lucas Ciona has been on an incredible ride in 2023.

It’s been a year to remember for the Calgary Flames prospect, that’s for sure.

Already, he captained the Seattle Thunderbirds to the WHL championship in the spring and earned the opportunity to play for the Memorial Cup.

Then, he relocated to Calgary this summer and began training to begin his professional journey.

That started this weekend, as Ciona took the ice with the Flames’ prospects at the Young Stars Classic in Penticton, B.C.

He made his mark there, too.

“Yeah, it’s been a lot,” Ciona said with a laugh last week. “It’s been fun. You win the (WHL championship), go to the Mem Cup and then have a quick summer and you’re here.

“It’s been a lot of fun. I’m just looking forward to even more from 2023.”

Picked in the sixth round, 173rd overall of the 2021 NHL Draft, Ciona has not-so-quietly begun looking like he might have been a steal for the Flames.

At 6-foot-2 and weighing in at 220 lbs., he’s definitely got the build of a professional hockey player, and he stepped up his production in a major way last season with the Thunderbirds. In 63 games, Ciona would pot 28 goals and add 47 assists during a regular season that saw his team steamroll most of their WHL competition.

That doesn’t guarantee anything in the pros, though, and that’s something Ciona is all-too-aware of.

It’s why he relocated to Calgary early to skate with other Flames and Wranglers players.

“The only way you can get better is if you keep working, just put your head down and keep going,” Ciona said. “It was a good summer training in Calgary here, I spent most of it here, working and training with the guys here, so it was a lot of fun. To get better, you just have to kind of realize you’re not already the best and keep striving to get to the best. You’re never going to be there if you don’t work.

“It’s just about putting the work in, keep your head down and go to work.”

While it only offers a small sample size, Ciona definitely looked like he belonged at the Young Stars Classic.

In Friday night’s game against the Vancouver Canucks’ prospects, Ciona scored the Flames’ only goal. It wasn’t the prettiest tally you’ll ever seen, but Ciona was still driving hard to the net when an Adam Klapka shot deflected off his body and into the back of the net. He was in the right place at the right time, though, and that matters.

Ciona also dropped the gloves for a scrap with the Canucks’ Quinn Schmiemann, showing that he’s happy to get involved in the physical side of the game, too.

The 20-year-old was involved on both ends of the ice in the Flames’ 4-3 overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers prospects on Saturday night and their 4-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets’ young guns on Monday morning, too.

All-in-all, the tournament seemed to be an encouraging start to Ciona’s pro journey.

That journey will take him to the AHL this year and a gig with the Calgary Wranglers.

With the way Ciona’s 2023 has gone, you can bet the Wranglers are going to be happy to have him.

FINISHING STRONG

William Stromgren made his mark on the Young Stars Classic tournament on Monday morning, potting two goals as the Flames finished off their three game set in Penticton with a 4-2 win.

Stromgren opened the scoring in the first period and then finished the job with an empty-netter in the dying minutes of the third, while Klapka and Jaden Lipinski added goals of their own for the Flames.

Considering that the Flames started the tournament with a 7-1 loss at the hands of the Canucks, it was certainly encouraging to see the team bounce back with wins over the Oilers and Jets.

The group will now head back to Calgary, where they’ll be joined by the veterans for the start of training camp. Fitness testing goes Wednesday, with on-ice sessions getting underway on Thursday.

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