Top 25 Under 25: #20 Garnet Hathaway

#20 Garnet Hathaway

Position: RW

Age: 24

Team: Stockton Heat/Calgary Flames

Undrafted, Signed 2 Year ELC on April 13, 2015

Garnet Hathaway at #20 is the first entry on our Top 25 Under 25 that has actually played games in the NHL. After 4 seasons at Brown University, he managed to secure an NHL contract with the Flames organization, following a successful AHL season in Adirondack. The scrappy winger followed that up with another solid AHL season, where he earned a call up and managed to get into 14 NHL games, posting 3 assists. He was placed up and down throughout the line up, even getting a bit of playing time alongside Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau on the top line. He also fought the mountain man from San Jose, Brent Burns.

Hathaway has actually played in the NHL and could be a regular as soon as this season. However, he comes onto this list behind some players who will likely never make it on to the Flames roster. As a player whose best season in college was 21 points in 33 games, the offensive upside is limited with Hathaway. His ceiling is essentially an NHL fourth liner, while his floor is a good AHL player. While it is pretty easy to see that he can make a contribution and play for the Flames, he is not going to be leading the team forward by any means. That said, we saw the significance the physicality of one player can make last playoffs when Micheal Ferland dominated the Vancouver Canucks in the first round. Hathaway could end up being a valuable piece of a Flames fourth line that is a nuisance for the opposition, but also manages to play a reliable shift.

Hathaway enters his third professional season this year; we should expect him to continue to be a leader for the youth movement in Stockton. We should also not be surprised to see him in a Flames uniform at any point this season, possibly as soon as opening night. 

by samwell9