Flames recall Ryan Lomberg and Buddy Robinson

With the statuses of James Neal and Sam Bennett up in the air, the Flames have recalled Stockton Heat forwards Ryan Lomberg and Buddy Robinson from the AHL, while also demoting recent recall Kerby Rychel. Andrew Mangiapane has also been listed on the NHL’s IR page.

Lomberg was very likely to be recalled sooner rather than later, as his demotion was mostly due to salary cap constraints. The energy winger has been an effective PKer and bottom six option for Stockton. At the NHL level, he’s shown fearlessness when facing off against other tough guys and hasn’t been afraid to mix it up, which is probably why the Flames keep calling him up. This season, he’s played three games and been suspended for two others.

This is Robinson’s first recall since signing with the Flames. A high school teammate of Johnny Gaudreau, the 6’7 right-shooting left winger has played a bit of a similar role to Lomberg in Stockton. He currently has 12 points in 26 AHL games.

Rychel, one of Stockton’s most impressive players thus far, only played two games for the Flames before being sent down. He didn’t really impress in one way or the other, so the team chose to go with players that made more of a noticeable impact.

Given who was recalled, you can likely suspect that these players are only sticking around for the short haul. The injuries to Bennett and Neal haven’t received a lot of press, but they’re likely not out for much longer than the holidays.

Also in news today is that Andrew Managiapane, recent AHL demotion, has been listed on the NHL’s injured reserve list retroactive to Dec. 15 against the Minnesota Wild. Mangiapane only played 7:48 and looked pretty bad throughout. We will hedge our bets and say that this could be a mistake on the NHL’s part, as the NHL is reporting it but the Flames have made no announcements yet. He was scratched for Wednesday’s Heat game, so if he wasn’t going to be recalled, it’s likely injury.

For the Tampa game, you can probably expect Lomberg to play on the fourth line, as he’s been a bit of a roster regular over the past few weeks. Robinson is likely around just in case someone can’t go at game time.