Calgary Flames recall blueliner Ilya Solovyov from the AHL’s Wranglers

The Calgary Flames have made a roster move in advance of Saturday’s meeting with the Vancouver Canucks. The club announced on Friday that they’ve recalled defenceman Ilya Solovyov from the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers. It’s Solovyov’s second recall of the season.

Solovyov, 23, is a left shot defenceman from Belarus who’s in the third and final year of his entry-level deal. He’s progressed nicely through the Flames’ farm system, to the point where he’s seen as ready to challenge for regular NHL duty. He had zero points in two NHL games in October, and five points in 16 AHL games with the Wranglers. He’s been used in a shutdown role with the Wranglers over the last season or so, and he’s been quite effective in that role. Presumably, he’ll be given the chance to play that part with the big club now.

Solovyov carries an $828,333 cap hit and he’ll be a restricted free agent at the end of the season. His call-up gives the Flames 22 players on their active roster: two goaltenders, seven defencemen and 13 forwards. The Flames now have $82.96 million in cap commitments, approximately $483,000 below their accruable cap space limit (per Cap Friendly) of $83,443,500. So the Flames are able to carry an extra blueliner and forward, and still accumulate cap savings for future use later in the season.

All-in-all, not a bad bit of business.