If you’ve followed the Calgary Flames’ American Hockey League farm teams over the years, or are a regular reader of FlamesNation‘s fabulous prospect coverage, you’ve probably noticed the annual surge of players joining AHL farm teams on late-season try-outs.

Every season, the Wranglers (and before them, the Stockton Heat and many others) see a mixture of new and familiar faces suddenly appear on their roster. Often, they’re Canadian major junior players whose teams have been eliminated from the playoffs – Hunter Brzustewicz, Parker Bell, Etienne Morin, Jaden Lipinski and Sam Honzek all migrated in this fashion – or players who’ve signed NHL or AHL deals for the following season getting a teaser – Joni Jurmo, David Silye and Sam Morton joined the Wranglers via this path.

But typically, these newcomers don’t make much of an impact on the AHL lineup.

Sure, they may give the coaching staff the ability to provide a much-needed night off for AHL regulars here and there, but by late in the season the lineup card for a playoff-bound team is prime real estate, and between healthy incumbents and injured players getting healthy down the stretch, players on try-out deals don’t usually make a dent.

Which is why it was pretty notable that Morton, a 24-year-old college centre from Minnesota State Mankato, quickly became a fixture for the Wranglers upon arriving in town.

Morton signed a one-year deal with the Flames (for the 2024-25 season) on Mar. 18 and, also inking a try-out agreement, joined the Wranglers for the remainder of the season. He debuted on Mar. 19 and registered an assist. The following day, he scored his first AHL goal.

Aside from a night off on Apr. 11 against Abbotsford, Morton was an everyday Wrangler from his debut until their second-round playoff elimination against Coachella Valley.

“I think any time you get an opportunity, you’ve got to try to make the most of it,” said Morton during Flames development camp at Winsport, prior to being awarded the camp’s fitness award. “I’m really grateful of the opportunity that I got. I was able to play with some really good players and I think they helped me a lot along the way and helped me maintain a spot in the lineup. So, I think I just learned that you’ve got to go and grind and put your best foot forward, try to keep it simple but at the same time play your game. I was fortunate to get an opportunity and to hold onto it for the time that I did, but credit to the guys I was playing with did a lot of the work as well.”

The Colorado product joined the Wranglers after four seasons with the Mavericks, culminating with him being named his conference’s top player. After playing a full 37-game collegiate season, he ended up extending his season by another 19 games with the Wranglers. He posted seven points in 13 AHL regular season games and four points in six playoff games.

Aside from crediting captain Brett Sutter and linemate Jakob Pelletier with helping him adjust, Morton declined to single any specific Wranglers that helped him adjust to pro hockey.

“It’s hard to single out certain guys because everyone in that locker room was such a good guy and super great resource for me at the time,” said Morton.

After his pro hockey appetizer, Morton will return to Calgary in the fall for his first pro camp. While grateful for the opportunities he’s had, he remains hungry to make an impression with the Flames.

“My goal going into main camp is to be the hardest guy to cut,” said Morton. “So the goal is just to be the hardest work and play the best hockey that I can.”