16 players have dressed for both the Flames and Wranglers this season (so far)
By Ryan Pike
5 months agoIn the grand scheme of things, having a good development system and a farm team that can be utilized well is a benefit for both the parent NHL team and its minor league affiliate. For the Calgary Flames, the 2023-24 season has seen them utilize the AHL’s Wranglers a lot.
Sometimes they’ve used them for injury replacements. Sometimes they’ve swapped players back and forth to freshen their lineup. All-told, 16 different players have dressed in games for both the Flames and Wranglers.
16 players have dressed for both teams
| Player | First Flames game | First Wranglers game |
| D Ilya Solovyov | Oct. 26 vs. STL | Oct. 13 @ MB |
| F Connor Zary | Nov. 1 vs. DAL | Oct. 13 @ MB |
| F Matt Coronato | Oct. 11 vs. WPG | Nov. 3 vs. SJB |
| D Jordan Oesterle | Oct. 11 vs. WPG | Nov. 3 vs. SJB |
| F Martin Pospisil | Nov. 4 @ SEA | Oct. 13 @ MB |
| D Nick DeSimone | Nov. 4 @ SEA | Oct. 13 @ MB |
| G Dustin Wolf | Nov. 10 @ TOR | Oct. 13 @ MB |
| F Dryden Hunt | Oct. 24 vs. NYR | Nov. 10 @ SD |
| D Yan Kuznetsov | Jan. 9 vs. OTT | Oct. 13 @ MB |
| F Walker Duehr | Oct. 11 vs. WPG | Jan. 19 @ CV |
| F Adam Klapka | Jan. 20 vs. EDM | Oct. 13 @ MB |
| F Cole Schwindt | Jan. 23 vs. STL | Oct. 13 @ MB |
| D Oliver Kylington | Jan. 25 vs. CBJ | Jan. 11 vs. ONT |
| F Jakob Pelletier | Feb. 6 @ BOS | Jan. 26 @ SJB |
| F Kevin Rooney | Feb. 6 @ BOS | Jan. 26 @ SJB |
| G Dustin Nickel | Nov. 27 vs. VGK | Feb. 9 vs. SD |
The details:
The Flames basically went through two segments of their season where they seemed to active shuffle things up to get new looks or a different vibe: November and January.
- Solovyov was an injury recall early in the season during Rasmus Andersson’s suspension.
- Zary came up when Solovyov went down, using the freed-up roster spot.
- Coronato and Oesterle were swapped to the Wranglers when the Flames called up Pospisil and DeSimone.
- When Zary solidified himself in the NHL, Hunt was the 14th forward and was sent to the AHL to play.
- Wolf came up for the first time when Jacob Markstrom suffered a minor injury (and the team carried three goalies on their active roster for their eastern Canada road trip).
- Kuznetsov came up in January for a spell.
- Klapka came up when Duehr went down.
- Schwindt came up originally in January after a few players become unavailable due to injury.
- Kylington was activated off LTIR in January.
- Pelletier and Rooney came up after the All-Star break.
- Nickel dressed as EBUG for the Flames (when Markstrom was ill) and the Wranglers (when Wolf was called up and a Rapid City call-up couldn’t arrive in time).
So far, the Flames have sent Oesterle and Duehr down to the AHL to get some reps in, and both players have returned to the NHL. They’ve also brought up a few players – Zary, Pospisil, Rooney, Schwindt and Pelletier so far – that look like they’ll be sticking around in the NHL for now.
Bringing up Zary and Pospisil, and the performances of both players, went a long way to turning around the Flames’ season after a really rough start.
(For comparison’s sake, in 2022-23, eight players dressed for both clubs: Matthew Phillips, Nick DeSimone, Radim Zohorna, Kevin Rooney, Dennis Gilbert, Jakob Pelletier, Walker Duehr and Dustin Wolf.)
Recorded points with both teams
Nine players have recorded a point with both the Flames and Wranglers: Zary, Pospisil, Coronato, Solovyov, Oesterle, DeSimone, Duehr, Rooney and Pelletier.
Scored goals with both teams
Four players have scored goals with both the Flames and Wranglers: Zary, Pospisil, Coronato and Rooney.
Earned wins with both teams
Wolf has won games with both the Flames and Wranglers in 2023-24. (He also did this in 2022-23.)
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