Ahead of the American portion of the club’s five game road trip, the Calgary Flames have made a roster move. On Tuesday morning, the Flames announced that they’ve assigned centre Sam Morton back to the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers.

The 26-year-old Morton was recalled by the Flames back on Nov. 17, along with Dryden Hunt, as part of a series of transactions that also saw Sam Honzek placed on the injury reserve list and Rory Kerins assigned to the Wranglers. The following day, the Flames claimed John Beecher off waivers from the Boston Bruins.

Even with the 24-year-old Beecher probably slotted in ahead of him based on his youth and more extensive NHL experience, Morton impressed during his call-up. He played in three games, all of them centring the fourth line and playing on the penalty kill, and while he didn’t hit the scoresheet with any points, he went 16-for-24 in the face-off dot (a 67% win percentage) and was a perfect 4-for-4 on face-offs on the penalty kill. (His performance in Chicago, just hours after Beecher was claimed off waivers to ostensibly replace him on the roster, was simply excellent.)

Morton was a healthy scratch for the Flames’ 5-2 win over Vancouver on Sunday, bumped to the press box (a) so that Ryan Lomberg could get back in and (b) so that Beecher could play centre after two games on the wing. Considering how highly the Flames value Lomberg’s energy on the fourth line, and Beecher’s youth, Morton’s options were likely sitting idle in the press box or rejoining the Wranglers on their current road trip.

The Flames obviously opted to keep Morton active in the AHL. (Hunt remains on the NHL roster as their 13th forward.) Morton was on the NHL roster for eight days and played three games, so the Flames retain a ton of flexibility with his waiver status for the rest of the season. Considering how impressive Morton was, it seems likely that we’ll see him with the big club again this season.

The Flames now have 22 players on their active roster: two goaltenders, seven defencemen and 13 forwards. They’re back in action on Wednesday night in Tampa Bay.