Calgary Flames acquire AHL defenceman Kristians Rubins from Ottawa Senators

The Calgary Flames have acquired defenceman Kristians Rubins from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for future considerations, the two clubs announced Friday.

Rubins, 25, will report to the Calgary Wranglers to bolster their push for the Calder Cup. The 6’5″ left-handed defender is ineligible to play in the National Hockey League for the rest of the season because he was traded after Mar. 3 (the date of the NHL trade deadline).

Friday marks the American Hockey League trade deadline, and the Wranglers are doing what they can to load up for a championship run. After back-to-back wins over the Colorado Eagles this week, the Wranglers currently rank second in the AHL with a 40–15–3 record and a .716 points percentage with 14 games remaining in the regular season.

Rubins has three games of NHL experience to his name, all of which came as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2021–22. The Jurmala, Latvia product has two goals and six points in 45 AHL games this season with the Belleville Senators, Ottawa’s affiliate.

The Maple Leafs originally signed Rubins to an AHL deal in 2018 as an undrafted free agent from the Western Hockey League’s Medicine Hat Tigers, later giving him his first NHL deal in 2020. Rubins is currently under contract at a $750,000 NHL cap hit (and a $130,000 AHL salary) through the end of the 2022–23 season, at which point he’ll be eligible to become a Group 6 UFA.

The Wranglers will return to action at Toyota Arena in Ontario, CA on Friday night to take on the Ontario Reign at 8:00 p.m. MT. Calgary’s next home game, against the San Diego Gulls, is scheduled for Mar. 22 at 7:00 p.m. MT.