Flames recall Rasmus Andersson from AHL, place Travis Hamonic on IR

Christmas has come a little bit early for one of the Calgary Flames’ top young prospects. Defenseman Rasmus Andersson has been summoned from the American Hockey League’s Stockton Heat, taking the roster spot vacated by Travis Hamonic (who has been placed on the injured reserve).

Andersson, 21, is in his second year of pro hockey after being selected by the Flames in the second round of the 2015 NHL Draft. He played one game last year (after a month-long recall) and he’s already played one game this season, both as an injury replacement. He’s a right-shot defender who gets a bit of time in the Show as a reward for his hard work this season in Stockton. It’s unclear right now if he’ll play at all, given Matt Bartkowski is still around.

Hamonic, 27, hits the injured reserve for the second time this season with a soft tissue injury – the thought is it’s a groin issue. He was previously on the IR from Nov. 5-13. Given that he was injured on Dec. 20, his IR stint is retroactive to that date, meaning he’s eligible to be activated from the IR when the holiday roster freeze is lifted on Dec. 28.

This is likely a short-term insurance move for the Flames to ensure they have enough bodies around, but it’s a nice reward for one of their top prospects: rather than making $2,700 for one week on the farm, Andersson will pocket around $29,000 in the bigs. Merry Christmas, indeed.