Calgary Flames assign three players to AHL’s Calgary Wranglers

The Calgary Flames have made some roster reductions in advance of Monday’s roster deadline. The club announced on Saturday that they’ve sent defender Nick DeSimone and forwards Emilio Pettersen and Martin Pospisil to the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers.

All three players cleared waivers on Friday afternoon.

The roster moves reduce the Flames’ roster to 27 players: two goaltenders, nine defencemen and 16 forwards. (But since three of those players are likely headed to the injured/non-roster list – Oliver Kylington, Jakob Pelletier and Kevin Rooney – they’re down to 24 active players.)

DeSimone, 28, split last season between the Flames and Wranglers – four games in the NHL and 65 games with the AHL. He was productive in the AHL, posting 46 points and leading their blueline in that category. He’s a reliable, productive veteran blueliner. He joined the organization as a free agent a year ago.

Pettersen, 23, is from Norway! He’s spent his entire pro career in the Flames system. He’s shown flashes of brilliance due to his speed, smarts and creativity in the AHL, but he’s also drawn criticism – to the point where he’s occasionally been a healthy scratch – due to his inconsistency. If he can put it all together: look out. He was a sixth-round pick back in 2018.

Pospisil, 23, is from Slovakia. He’s spent his entire pro career in the Flames system. Like Pettersen, he’s shown flashes of brilliance, as he’s got size and the willingness to use that size to create havoc. But he’s struggled to stay healthy, unfortunately, and so he’s yet to put together a body of work large enough to get an NHL call-up. He was a fourth-round pick back in 2018.

The Flames have to be down to a cap complaint 20-to-23-man roster by 3 p.m. MT on Monday.

Here’s who’s left on the camp roster: