As the Calgary Flames prepare for a road trip, they’ve made a roster move on Thursday morning. The club announced that they’ve re-assigned forward Dryden Hunt to the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers.

Hunt was originally called up by the Flames back on Nov. 17. Now, folks, he celebrated his 30th birthday during this past call-up, and given his age, reliability and versatility, he’s arguably the ideal 13th forward. His development won’t be stymied by sitting in the press box, but he can provide valuable minutes if he’s thrown in at short notice. He spent 24 days with the Flames on this past recall, and he played twice (registering zero points) and served as a healthy spectator for the other 11 games.

Since he cleared waivers prior to the season, Hunt is able to be moved freely between the NHL and AHL until he’s been on the roster for 30 days or has played in 10 NHL games. His tally currently is 24 days and 2 NHL games, so the Flames retain a bit of flexibility by sending him down to the Wranglers. He won’t be eligible to be called back up until he’s played in an AHL game with the Wranglers.

Consequently, the Wranglers host the Coachella Valley Firebirds at the Saddledome on Thursday evening. In 12 games with the Wranglers so far this season, Hunt has 13 points.

With Hunt’s return to the Wranglers, the Flames active roster sits at 22 players: two goaltenders, eight defencemen and 12 forwards – along with three players on the injury reserve list. (The active roster includes Jake Bean, currently nursing an injury that’s being evaluated.) Zayne Parekh, currently on the injury reserve, is expected to be activated and loaned to the Canadian national junior team as they begin their training camp this coming weekend in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

The Flames are back in action on Saturday night when they visit the Los Angeles Kings in the first game of a two game California road trip.

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