The Calgary Flames made some roster moves on Friday afternoon that will pave the way for the return of one of their most important players.

The club announced that they’ve assigned forward Matvei Gridin to the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers. Gridin’s re-assignment opened a roster spot, which they filled by activating forward Jonathan Huberdeau from the injury reserve list.

The 19-year-old Gridin was a first-round pick by the Flames in the 2024 NHL Draft, selected with the 28th overall pick that the club acquired from Vancouver in the Elias Lindholm trade. Gridin had a really strong training camp and definitely deserved a look in the regular season, which the injuries to Huberdeau and Martin Pospisil allowed the Flames to give him.

Gridin scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game – a pass that went into the Edmonton net off Noah Philp’s skate – and he consistently used his speed, skill and positional smarts to do a lot of good things on the ice. And he did so playing with Nazem Kadri and Matt Coronato against the opposition’s top defenders. But with the team getting healthy, the Flames needed to open up a spot on the wings and Gridin was the easiest player to send down, especially with Sam Honzek finding a nice rhythm with Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman on the third line.

Make no mistake: Gridin impressed during his first four NHL games. He’ll undoubtedly be back with the big club whenever they need to bring up an offensive-minded player.

The 32-year-old Huberdeau returns to a Flames team that’s 1-4-0 and could use a boost. One of the team’s alternate captains, Huberdeau is a savvy veteran who’s a really skilled passer. Moreover, Huberdeau is a player that touches every part of the game, usually skating on the top forward line, the top power play unit and the second penalty kill group. He probably won’t have another 115-point season in his career, but Huberdeau remains someone that can help a hockey club in a lot of different areas.

Per Sportsnet’s Derek Wills, Huberdeau practised Friday on the Flames’ top line alongside Kadri and Joel Farabee.

The Flames return to action on Saturday night when they face the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.

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