Flames Release Ryan Wilson; Kulak Makes The Team

Following last night’s pre-season finale, the Calgary Flames made a roster move today.

They officially released defenseman Ryan Wilson from his professional try-out. As a result, it appears that rookie Brett Kulak has made the opening night roster as one of the team’s six healthy defensemen.

Wilson, 28, played 5 pre-season games with the Flames and gradually looked more and more out of place as the pace of the games sped up. Wilson’s only played 32 professional hockey games over the past two seasons due to injury, and that became readily apparent as the pre-season wore on. His counterpart, the 21-year-old Kulak played a pair of games in
Penticton and then five of Calgary’s pre-season games, and actually
seemed more at-ease on the ice as the games got more filled with actual
NHL players.

As a result? The Flames end up starting one of their own draft picks on their opening night roster rather than bringing in a veteran from elsewhere to fill in for a bit. It also appears that the Flames will begin the season with six defensemen, which may or may not telegraph their move (or lack thereof) with their goaltenders.

The Flames officially have 27 players in camp: 3 goalies, 8 defensemen and 16 forwards.