The Calgary Flames have made some moves to get closer to their opening night roster. On Thursday afternoon, the club announced that they’ve placed goaltender Ivan Prosvetov, defenceman Ilya Solovyov and forward Rory Kerins on waivers for the purposes of assigning them to the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers.

These moves reduce the club’s roster to 24 players: two goaltenders, eight defencemen and 14 forwards. They have to meet the NHL’s 23-man active roster limit by 3 p.m. MT on Monday. Matvei Gridin and Zayne Parekh, both 2024 first-rounders, are the only waiver exempt players on the training camp roster.

Prosvetov, 26, signed with the Flames as a free agent during the off-season after playing last season with CSKA Moskva. He played three pre-season games and was really sharp in road games against Edmonton and Vancouver… and was not good on Wednesday night against the Canucks, though neither was the team in front of him. Should he clear, he would be the top netminder with the Wranglers and potentially a mentor to first-year pros Owen Say and Arsenii Sergeev. He’s on a one year deal and slated to become a free agent at the end of the season.

Solovyov, 25, was a seventh-round pick by the Flames back in 2020, selected in his third year of eligibility. He’s played the past four seasons in the Flames system and has played 15 games with the Flames, split between the last two seasons. At the AHL level, he’s been a superb, reliable two-way defender. At the NHL level, he hasn’t quite shown the consistency to get a toe-hold on a full-time gig. Unless he plays 65 NHL games this season, he’ll become a Group 6 free agent at the end of the season.

Kerins, 23, was a sixth-round pick by the Flames in 2020. He’s worked his way up nicely from an initial pro season spent entirely in the ECHL. When it looked like he might not get a qualifying offer, he put together a superb body of work in 2024-25, scoring 33 goals and 61 points in the AHL, becoming an AHL All-Star, and getting his first NHL call-up with the Flames. The challenge for Kerins may just be that (a) we can debate if he’s good enough defensively to be a centre at the NHL level and (b) we can debate if he’s a good enough fit for a checking role on the fourth line. Should he clear, he’ll head to the Wranglers and likely be one of their offensive leaders.

We’ll find out if these three gentlemen clear waivers at noon MT on Friday. The Flames conclude their exhibition schedule on Friday night at home against the Winnipeg Jets.

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