If you’ve watched the Calgary Wranglers during the 2024-25 season, you’ve probably seen a lot of blueliner Ilya Solovyov.

On the Flames’ American Hockey League affiliate, Solovyov has been a problem solver for the Wranglers’ coaching staff. The Wranglers have boasted a pretty youthful roster, particularly on the back end, and the coaching staff has done their level best to maintain consistent defensive pairings for Artem Grushnikov & Jeremie Poirier and Yan Kuznetsov & Hunter Brzustewicz for much of the season.

The way they’ve done that is by using Solovyov with basically everybody else. Due to injuries, scratches and other factors, Solovyov has played big minutes at five-on-five with functionally everybody at some point during the season, but his main role has been to slot in – on the left or the right side – with whoever needs a stabilizer.

When Joni Jurmo played his first AHL games ever, he played with Solovyov. When Tyson Barrie played a pair of games on his conditioning stint, his first games in two months, he played with Solovyov. When Jarred Tinordi returned from injury, he played with Solovyov. When Jonathan Aspirot returned from the Spengler Cup, he played with Solovyov.

Solovyov has been leaned on for heavy defensive zone starts, tough match-ups and heavy penalty kill deployments with the Wranglers. On Wednesday, the Flames summoned him from the AHL, with the hope that he can bring the same style to an NHL blueline that needs some stabilizing in the absence of Kevin Bahl.

“You know, the one thing that’s been a weakness of ours this year is the penalty kill,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska on Wednesday, via Flames TV. “And Solo is a guy that is killing a lot for the Wranglers. He’s fearless in regards to blocking shots. Like, he eats a lot of pucks. And then I think it’s just the left-handed shooter that he is, but also the size and strength that he can play the game with. So we’ll see how we go tomorrow and make a decision here later today, early tomorrow.”

In Bahl’s absence, the Flames have used two pairings fairly consistently, with the new-look top four consisting of MacKenzie Weegar with Jake Bean and Joel Hanley with Rasmus Andersson. The third pairing has been in flux, with Brayden Pachal lining up with both Tyson Barrie (on his off side) and Daniil Miromanov.

Asked why this was the right time to bring up Solovyov from the Wranglers, Huska provided his thoughts.

“I mean, last night, I don’t think our back end was great,” said Huska, referring to the Flames’ challenges in their loss to Toronto. “I mean, I think they’ve done a good job of trying to pick up the slack in Kevin’s absence. But I do think we miss a player that’s like Solo. So there is a time and a place where they need an opportunity to see if they’re able to take that next step. So, as I said, I think now is a good time.”

Now in his fifth year of pro hockey – including 10 NHL games last season – the 24-year-old Solovyov knows what he is. While he’s posted solid offensive stats this season, his bread and butter is being a really reliable, predictable, borderline dull defender. And that’s meant as a compliment: he’s big, physical and smart, which has allowed him to tweak the details of his game to his rotating cast of very different defensive partners and provide really strong minutes for the Wranglers.

Solovyov has been the problem-solver on the Wranglers blueline this season. Can he fill the same role for the Flames?