2021 Flames Top 25 Under 25: #22 – Johannes Kinnvall

#22 – Johannes Kinnvall

Position: Defence

Age: 24

Team: HV71 (SHL)

Stats: 7G, 15A, 22 points in 32 games

Signed as a Free Agent by the Flames on April 29, 2020

2020 Ranking: #20 (-2)

Little Sweden in Calgary? With a core largely comprised of established Swedish stars, it should come as no surprise that for the third time in just 4 profiles we feature another Swede.

Johannes Kinnvall arrives in Calgary under somewhat unusual circumstances, as he was signed during the COVID-19 NHL pause in April 2020, but will just now be arriving to play North American hockey for the first time. Kinnvall, then 22, had attended Flames development camps before, and translated that into a monster 2019-20 season which earned him a 2-year contract.

He spent the first year of that on loan with HV71 in the SHL in 2020-21. Injuries and a much weaker HV71 team caused his numbers to drop a little from the 40 points he had put up in 51 games the season prior. On a now-relegated (to HockeyAllSvenSkan) HV71 team, he began the season red-hot at over a point-per-game, but the aforementioned injuries slowed his numbers to a still-respectable 22 in 32 games.

The 6-foot, right-shot defenceman will arrive at a perfect time in Calgary, with a clear gap on the third pairing. His exceptional shot and offensive skills could put him in the running for big powerplay minutes both in Calgary and Stockton, with the departure of Mark Giordano from the first unit, and the inconsistency of Rasmus Andersson and Noah Hanifin in that role.

by Gordie Taylor