The Calgary Flames received some good news and bad news on Monday morning during the league-wide waiver crunch. Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, forward Jakob Pelletier and goaltender Devin Cooley cleared waivers. However, forward Cole Schwindt was claimed by the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Flames have subsequently announced that Pelletier and Cooley have been assigned to the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers.
The 23-year-old Schwindt is a right shot forward who primarily plays centre. He was acquired by the Flames from the Florida Panthers in the Matthew Tkachuk deal. Like some other players in that trade, Schwindt didn’t quite find his footing in 2022-23 as he tried to figure out his spot in the Flames system. But he really found a rhythm and a niche as a tough-minutes centre in 2023-24, being relied upon for key face-offs in every game situation down the stretch. He played four games with the Flames in 2023-24 on the fourth line.
When the Flames acquired Schwindt in 2022, the hope was that he could develop into a reliable bottom-six centre at the NHL level. He’s been making progress in that regard, and evidently it was enough for Vegas to try him out.
Meanwhile, the Flames maintain the rights to Pelletier and Cooley.
Pelletier’s placement on waivers was controversial, as he was their first-round pick in 2019 and has shown promise at the NHL level – especially before his shoulder injuries last season. He wasn’t great during training camp, though, and he needs some playing time to get his swagger and confidence back, so he’s headed to the Wranglers to do just that.
Cooley was signed to be the Flames’ third goaltender and provide competition for Dan Vladar and Dustin Wolf. He lived up to that assignment, and he was only really on waivers because neither of Vladar or Wolf faltered in camp. Cooley also heads to the Wranglers, where he’ll likely form a netminding tandem with Finnish import Waltteri Ignatjew for the start of the season.
Schwindt’s departure drops the Flames’ active roster to 25 players. Presuming that Pelletier and Cooley are headed to the AHL, the Flames won’t need to make any other moves to get down to their 23-man roster before the 3 p.m. MT league deadline.
