Who’s Left? What’s Next? And Other Questions

8 years ago

The Calgary Flames made a few roster moves today.

Who’s left in camp? What’s going to happen next? We take a swing at the questions that you’ve got on your mind heading into the very end of training camp.

WHO’S LEFT IN CAMP?

28 players are left in camp, presuming Drew Shore will be immediately demoted to the AHL’s Stockton Heat if he clears waivers. Players who are waiver exempt are noted.

#1 Jonas Hiller [G]
#31 Karri Ramo [G]
#37 Joni Ortio [G]
#4 Kris Russell [D]
#5 Mark Giordano [D]
#6 Dennis Wideman [D]
#7 T.J. Brodie [D] INJURED (Hand)
#8 Joe Colborne [F] INJURED (Hand)
#11 Mikael Backlund [F]
#13 Johnny Gaudreau [F]
#15 Ladislav Smid [D] INJURED (Neck)
#16 Josh Jooris [F]
#17 Lance Bouma [F]
#18 Matt Stajan [F]
#19 David Jones [F]
#21 Mason Raymond [F]
#23 Sean Monahan [F]
#24 Jiri Hudler [F]
#27 Dougie Hamilton [D]
#29 Deryk Engelland [D]
#32 Paul Byron [F]
#44 Ryan Wilson [D]
#52 Brandon Bollig [F]
#60 Markus Granlund [F] WAIVER EXEMPT
#61 Brett Kulak [D] WAIVER EXEMPT
#67 Michael Frolik [F]
#79 Micheal Ferland [F]
#93 Sam Bennett [F] WAIVER EXEMPT (but can only go back to the OHL)

The 28-man roster includes 3 goalies, 9 defensemen and 16 forwards.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Flames need to get down to 23 bodies by 3pm MT on Tuesday. That means they need to make 5 players inactive – either by sending them to the AHL, trading them or placing them on the injured reserve.

If we presume that Brodie, Colborne and Smid are going to be on the shelf for the first chunk of the season, that’s three spots cleared up right there, and the Flames just need to trim out two bodies.

Which two bodies depends on what they want to do…

IF THEY CARRY THREE GOALIES: Then two skaters are going bye-bye, likely in the form of Markus Granlund (because he doesn’t require waivers) and one of Ryan Wilson or Brett Kulak. Bear in mind that Wilson doesn’t have a contract with the NHL club right now and would need to be signed by Tuesday to stay. The team would carry 3 goalies, 6 defensemen and 14 forwards.

IF THEY CARRY TWO GOALIES: Then one of the goalies goes on waivers on Monday and they send a forward down. Again, it’ll probably be Markus Granlund going to the AHL because he doesn’t require waivers and is the easiest to send down. The team would carry 2 goalies, 7 defensemen and 14 forwards.

Either way, they play tomorrow against Winnipeg. Then expect any waivers action to take place on Monday morning, with the team making its final moves on Tuesday morning before submitting their opening roster to the league office at 3pm MT.

WHEN DOES EVERYONE GET HEALTHY?

According to a tweet by Pat Steinberg, Bob Hartley indicated today that Colborne is week-to-week. Ladislav Smid is also probably week-to-week as he gets back into the swing of things after neck surgery – though that’s 100% speculation. Brodie is expected back around the end of October (or could be out until mid-November) – with more specific timelines probably becoming available fairly soon.

What happens to free up roster spots is unclear. On the blueline it’s pretty simple – whichever of Wilson or Kulak (or both) go down to make room for Brodie and/or Smid. Opening up a forward spot is much more difficult and will likely involve the waiver wire.

But that’s a problem for a week or two down the line.

SO, GRANLUND, WILSON KULAK HAVE MADE THE TEAM?

Not necessarily. Even if they’re here on Tuesday, it’s likely that one (or both) get demoted when Colborne or a defenseman get healthy.

WHEN DO GAMES START?

Wednesday night. Calgary plays Vancouver.