As the 2024-25 regular season winds down, we’ll start turning our attentions to the future.

Quietly, one of the most important parts of the National Hockey League’s roster building tools is the waiver wire: the Calgary Flames currently feature a pair of blueliners (Joel Hanley and Brayden Pachal) that they acquired for the waiver fee.

But waiver statuses often change between seasons – especially for younger players. The Flames organization currently features nine players, three NHLers and three minor-leaguers, that will lose their waiver exemptions when the 2024-25 season concludes.

(Stick-taps to our pals at PuckPedia for providing all the contract details.)

Two of the players losing their exemptions are players that we doubt will be considered for a demotion to the AHL anytime soon. Goaltender Dustin Wolf, currently the club’s top netminder and a Calder Trophy contender, and right wing Matt Coronato, currently third on the club in goals, will require waivers to go down to the minors. The duo were both highly-touted prospects, and have graduated into pretty strong NHL players.

The third player, though, is a bit fascinating: big-bodied winger Adam Klapka. Klapka has been up and down from the Wranglers a half-dozen times this season. He’s listed at 6’8″ and 235 pounds, and while he’s more of a gentle giant than a wrecking ball, his sheer size makes him really challenging for other teams to deal with. He’s currently on the NHL roster and attempting to carve out a full-time spot for himself on the fourth line.

He’s not nearly as cemented into the big club’s plans as Wolf or Coronato are, and if he hits the waiver wire next season, it might be tough for another team to resist claiming a player with his sheer size.

Six current AHLers will be losing their waiver exemptions after this season: goaltenders Waltteri Ignatjew and Connor Murphy, defencemen Yan Kuznetsov and Jeremie Poirier, and forwards Rory Kerins and Sam Morton.

Ignatjew has played one season in North America, primarily serving as Devin Cooley’s backup. He’s shown flashes of strong play, but likely wouldn’t merit a claim from an NHL club. The same goes for Murphy, who’s been really reliable depth over the past two seasons for the Wranglers – he was recently rewarded with an NHL contract.

The four skaters are a bit more unclear.

Kuznetsov and Kerins have each gotten NHL looks over the past couple seasons. Kuznetsov projects as a shutdown defender, and teams always need those, and has been a valuable steady partner for Hunter Brzustewicz as he’s adjusted to pro hockey. Kerins has been the most consistently dangerous offensive player for the Wranglers this season. He’s far from a complete 200-foot player, sure, but he can score goals.

Poirier projects as more of an offensive-minded defender. His production is a little bit less than in his first pro season, but he’s possibly still getting his swagger back after missing a lot of last season with a really nasty skate cut. Meanwhile, Morton is playing his first pro season after signing out of college last spring. He’s built his game pretty nicely this season as a two-way forward, and his offensive production over the past month or two has seen a bit of an uptick.

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