On Tuesday, the Calgary Flames sent a pair of players to the American Hockey League. On Wednesday, the Flames called up a pair of players from the AHL.

On Tuesday, forward Connor Zary and defenceman Brayden Pachal cleared waivers and were assigned to the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers. On Wednesday, forward prospects Aydar Suniev and Jonathan Castagna were recalled to the Flames from the Wranglers.

Suniev, 21, is a left shot forward who plays the wing. A third-round pick from 2023, he’s in the third year of his entry-level contract, which carries a $923,333 cap hit this season. This is his second call-up to the NHL, following two weeks in the NHL at the end of last season. (He was also briefly in the NHL at the end of the 2024-25 season after signing out of college.) He was the big breakout story of training camp, scoring several goals in pre-season and looking like he had built upon a really promising first full pro season in 2025-26.

Suniev has one assist in two AHL games this season. He wears #61 at the NHL level.

Castagna, 21, is a left shot forward who plays centre and the wing. A third-round pick (by Arizona) from 2023 that was traded to Calgary in the MacKenzie Weegar trade, he’s in the first year of his entry-level contract, which carries a $1.075 million cap hit. This is his first call-up to the NHL. He signed his NHL contract late last season after Cornell was knocked out of the NCAA national tournament, but he was nursing an injury and signed a deal that began this year instead.

Castagna has two goals in two AHL games this season. He wears #38 at the NHL level.

The two call-ups bring the Flames’ active roster to 23 players: two goaltenders, seven defencemen and 14 forwards. They practice on Wednesday ahead of a home date on Thursday night with the Colorado Avalanche.

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