Friends, the Calgary Flames brought Dustin Wolf on their trip east to Ontario and Quebec due to Jacob Markstrom dealing with a minor injury. Well, Markstrom’s been given the green light to play on Tuesday night in Montreal and, no longer needing a third goaltender for insurance, the Flames have re-assigned Wolf back to the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers.

Wolf made his first NHL start of the 2023-24 season on Saturday in Ottawa, making 34 saves in a 4-1 Flames loss. Wolf heads back to a Wranglers team that is absolutely rolling right now, rocking an 8-1-1 record through their first 10 games and generally bringing the type of swagger folks like to see from a hockey club at any level. (Wolf’s strong play at the AHL level has been one of the sources of that swagger.)

Since Wolf’s still on his entry-level deal, he doesn’t require waivers to send back and forth from the AHL. So the idea likely is to give him as many key developmental reps as possible this season so that he’s ready, in the event one of the established NHL goaltenders is no longer with the Flames, to jump into the fray full-time at short notice.

Wolf heads back to the AHL, but he’s (obviously) very much in the big club’s long-term plans.