Kerins Earns AHL Player of Week After Seven-Point Weekend in Laval

A sixth-round pick from the 2020 draft just carried Calgary's offense through the most important road trip of its season, and the AHL noticed.

Rory Kerins collected seven points across two games against the North Division-leading Laval Rocket last weekend, earning the Howies Hockey Tape/AHL Player of the Week award for the period ending April 5. The 23-year-old from Caledon, Ontario, touched scoring on seven of the Wranglers' eight combined goals in the two-game set, a performance that crystallized both his individual ceiling and the degree to which Calgary's offense runs through him when he is locked in.

The numbers inside those two games are striking on their own terms. Kerins produced at a 3.50 points-per-game rate over the weekend, nearly quadrupling his already elite season pace of 1.00 PPG, where he sits at 53 points in 53 games. Friday's performance alone was remarkable: he registered four points in the second period alone, potting two goals and adding two assists as Calgary controlled the game and won 5-2. The Wranglers outshot Laval 29-18, with William Stromgren, Martin Frk, and Sam Morton also scoring. Saturday's 4-3 shootout loss still produced three more points from Kerins, and the single standings point Calgary banked matters in a Pacific Division race where positions are being settled one weekend at a time.

That banked-points framing is the real story beneath the Player of the Week headline. With the regular season in its final weeks, each point separating Calgary from the playoff cutline carries compounding weight. Winning Friday and banking a point Saturday against a Laval team that entered with 85 points and first-round bye positioning doesn't just help the Wranglers' standings math; it signals the kind of road-trip production that contending teams need from their offensive drivers in April.

Kerins has been here before. He made the AHL All-Star team in 2025 after posting 33 goals in 63 games, and this season he has improved his playmaking output while reaching 53 points in fewer games. His involvement in scoring chances runs deep: his even-strength IPP sat at 77 percent last season, meaning he was driving offensive events rather than simply finishing them. That kind of impact reflects consistent usage and coaching trust, not just hot streaks.

For the Flames organization, the question now is familiar. Kerins keeps proving he is a dominant AHL scoring force at exactly the moment Calgary's NHL roster is searching for reliable middle-six production. The Player of the Week award is recognition; the playoff push is the real audition.