Flames recall Rasmus Andersson from Stockton

One man’s injury is another man’s opportunity. With the Calgary Flames seemingly without defenseman Travis Hamonic, at least for a little bit, they’ve recalled blueliner Rasmus Andersson from their American Hockey League affiliate the Stockton Heat.

Andersson, 21, was Calgary’s second round selection in the 2015 Draft. Selected at 53rd overall from the Ontario Hockey League’s Barrie Colts, he was an offensively gifted player who had some conditioning issues. An import from Sweden, he scored at just shy of a point-per-game pace during his two OHL seasons.

Prior to starting his pro career, Andersson faced public criticism from general manager Brad Treliving regarding his conditioning. He responded to the criticism by working on his off-ice workouts – and he put up 22 points on Stockton’s top pairing. His performance earned him a month on the NHL roster, practicing with the big club during their push for a playoff spot, and allowed him to make his NHL debut in the final game of the season. In 10 games with the Heat this season Andersson has eight points.

However, it appears that he won’t be playing tonight, as Bartkowski will slot in for the injured Hamonic.

That seems predictable given the fact that Andersson played on Friday and was quickly jetted off to Calgary sometime on Saturday. Depending on the length and severity of Hamonic’s injury, we might see Andersson play but for now, Bartkowski slots in.

The Flames have placed Hamonic on IR, which means that he won’t be allowed to play until November 9th. Although the injury occurred at Saturday’s practice, it appears the Flames have attributed it to something that happened against Pittsburgh. This gives the Flames the option of playing Andersson Tuesday night against the Canucks, which would be a fine narrative (Andersson was selected with the draft pick Vancouver sent for Sven Baertschi).

IRing Hamonic also saves the Flames from the hassle of sending someone down. With Jaromir Jagr still on IR, the Flames are at 23 active skaters. Freddie Hamilton will likely be sent down before Tuesday’s game to activate Jagr.