Following their 3-2 home overtime loss to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night, the Calgary Flames conducted a trio of roster transactions. Per the American Hockey League’s site, the Flames have assigned blueliner Ilya Solovyov and forwards Dryden Hunt and Adam Klapka back to the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers.
The trio of moves come in advance of the NHL’s mandated break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, and keeps each player eligible to play a couple of games with the Wranglers next weekend. It also saves the NHL club 12 days of salary cap expenditures, and freezes Solovyov and Hunt’s waiver clocks for 12 days as well. (Klapka is waiver exempt this season.)
Most NHL clubs try to maximize their cap space, so the evening following each team’s final game before the break features a flurry of AHL transactions.
- Klapka was called up by the Flames on Jan. 28 following the demotion of Rory Kerins the day prior. During this recall, he played in six games and registered a goal and seven penalty minutes. He played primarily on the fourth line, though he was promoted to the third line and played a season-high 13:46 in the Flames’ win over Anaheim on Jan. 30.
- Solovyov was called up by the Flames on Feb. 5. He only played the one game against Seattle, playing a career-high 19:24 on a pairing with Rasmus Andersson.
- Hunt was called up by the Flames on Feb. 6, in a move paired with the demotion of Clark Bishop to the AHL. He also only played the Seattle game, amassing 12:33 of ice time on a line with Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman.
The Flames’ active roster is now down to the bare minimum of 20 players – two goaltenders, seven defencemen and 11 forwards – along with four players on the injury reserve list (Justin Kirkland, Anthony Mantha, Kevin Bahl and Connor Zary). Time will tell whether Bahl or Zary will be available when the Flames hit the ice following the break.
The Wranglers host the Ontario Reign in long weekend matinees on Sat., Feb. 15 and Mon., Feb. 17 at the Saddledome. The Flames return to game action on Feb. 23 against the San Jose Sharks.
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