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Flames place five players on waivers

Photo credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

By Ryan Pike

Sep 23, 2019, 12:55 EDTUpdated: Sep 23, 2019, 14:29 EDT

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In advance of their impending roster cut-down, the Calgary Flames have placed a handful of pro veterans on the waiver wire. Per the club, they’ve waived defenders @Andrew Nielsen and @Rinat Valiev and forwards @Justin Kirkland, @Byron Froese and @Buddy Robinson. Once they clear, they’ll be assigned to the American Hockey League’s Stockton Heat.

Pat Steinberg

@SteinbergYYC

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#Flames have five on waivers this morning: Byron Froese, Justin Kirkland, Buddy Robinson, Andrew Nielsen, and Rinat Valiev. They’ll all go to Stockton if they clear. Calgary down to 44 in camp: 25 forwards, 14 defencemen, 5 goalies.

4:09 PM · Sep 23, 2019

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(The roster numbers do include Juuso Valimaki but do not include Matthew Tkachuk.)

None of these assignments are much of a surprise:

The last piece left over from the Kent Nilsson-Joe Nieuwendyk-Jarome Iginla-Morgan Klimchuk asset chain, Nielsen is a depth AHL piece at this point.
Valiev is a useful tweener body, as he was recalled twice last season but never played a game. He’ll be a huge glue guy in Stockton with the expected Russian presence there.
Kirkland was solid but unspectacular in camp.
Froese was more than solid in camp, but likely a victim of the numbers game as the Flames have far more tweener bodies than NHL roster spots at forward.
Robinson didn’t stand out in camp so his assignment isn’t terribly shocking.

Expect more moves later today as the @Calgary Flames move around some bodies that either don’t have NHL contracts or don’t require waivers for assignment to the minors.