The Calgary Flames have announced their first eight roster cuts from the 2022-23 camp.
The club has assigned unsigned draft picks Cole Jordan (Moose Jaw), Jack Beck (Ottawa), Cole Huckins (Sherbrooke) and Cameron Whynot (Halifax) to their junior clubs, and released Chris Sedoff, Evan Boucher, Jake Lee and Cooper Walker from their tryouts.
The moves trim the Flames’ camp roster down to 59 bodies – six goalies, 19 defencemen and 34 forwards.
The cuts seem like pretty logical first steps towards getting the number of players down to a management figure: the four junior prospects weren’t going to make the Flames, and this gives them a chance to rejoin their junior teams and start their seasons.
The four tryout players all played in Penticton and were decent, with Sedoff arguably being the standout of the bunch. But with so many players already under contract on the blueline – signed to both NHL and AHL deals – the numbers game was conspiring against Sedoff.
The Flames begin their pre-season action on Sunday with a pair of split-squad games with the Vancouver Canucks.