2023 FlamesNation prospect rankings: #12 Ben Jones

Ben Jones made one of the largest jumps in the FlamesNation prospect rankings going from 20th last year all the way up to 12th this year. One of the main reasons for this jump is we’ve now seen a season of him in the Flames system and we can more accurately compare him to the other players in the prospect pool. Jones was a great role player for the Calgary Wranglers in their inaugural season and worked his way up to be a top liner between Jakob Pelletier and Matthew Phillips towards the back half of the season. Not to mention, he was also quietly one of the Wranglers’ most effective points producers.

Ben Jones 

Left-handed centre

Born February 26, 1999 (24 years old) in Waterloo, Ontario

6”0, 187 lbs

Drafted in the seventh round (189th overall) by Vegas in 2017

Ben Jones played the second most amount of games last season just behind Connor Zary. He skated in every game but one, playing in 71 competitions through the regular season. He also came to the Wranglers as a new player and on a short list of guys who had prior NHL experience. Brief NHL experience including two games with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2021-22, but NHL experience nonetheless.

Jones was perhaps the most underrated player on the Wranglers last season. He was extremely consistent and you had to look pretty hard to find a costly error in his game. He keeps up with any pace the game is rolling at. Whether that means stepping up the physical game or keeping up with some of the speedier skaters in the league. He also owns the faceoff dot and sets up a lot of opportunities for his linemates. 

Because Ben Jones was not super flashy, he was a secret weapon for the Wranglers. While everyone talked about Matthew Phillips, Jakob Pelletier, and Connor Zary among others, Jones was rising to the top of the ranks in team scoring. He finished the year third in Calgary scoring underneath Phillips and Zary. He beat his personal best pro season by 13 points with 17 goals and 37 assists for a total of 54 points. 

In playoffs, he was more around the middle of the pack in scoring. He played in all nine playoff match-ups but only put up a goal and an assist. His points were only in the first two games of the Abbotsford Canucks series too. Jones was one of the clutch players the Wranglers needed down their post-season stretch to come up with a big goal to maybe buy them a ticket to the next round. His lack of playoff production caught up to him and he was down near the bottom of the line combinations by the end of their run.

Expectations for 2023-24

Jones was re-signed with Emilio Pettersen on July 6 to a one-year, two-way contract extension and will join the Calgary Wranglers in the fall of 2023.

Next season, I’d like to see Jones stay within the top two lines of the Wranglers’ combinations. He had some time on the third or fourth line when he was not performing as well but when Radim Zahorna was traded, it was one of Ben Jones’ best opportunities to prove his place in the lineup. Others had their shot, but Jones had the most consistent playing time centering that top line. 

Jones has lots of AHL experience and lots of playoff experience under his belt. His next goal should be to be higher up on the Flames’ radar for call-ups. Again, there are two new head coaches on the NHL side and AHL side so some of the expected call-up orders could switch on a dime. 

Jones may not be the first guy to be called up but he is still a cusp player that very well could add to his NHL game count in the next couple of years. Maybe even as early as next season. We will see how soon that can become a reality depending on how he looks out of camp this year.