For whatever reason, the Calgary Flames have found a lot of good value late in the NHL Draft. In 2019, they drafted Dustin Wolf in the seventh round, and he’s become a pretty decent NHL goaltender. In 2020, they selected a pair of players in the last two rounds that have played NHL games so far: sixth-rounder Rory Kerins and seventh-rounder Ilya Solovyov.

Solovyov, in particular, has quietly become a pretty important player within the Flames system. And while he may lack elite upside – it’s probably fair to say that Zayne Parekh will probably produce more points than Solovyov – Solovyov seems like he could be pushing for a regular NHL opportunity in the near future.

Solovyov entered the 2023-24 season with a good amount of momentum on his side. He found his stride as an AHL defender in 2022-23 on a pairing with Nick DeSimone, and he continued to be paired with DeSimone for the first part of the 2023-24 campaign – before DeSimone was called up to the Flames and then subsequently claimed on waivers by New Jersey mid-season.

While he was with the Wranglers, Solovyov posted 15 points over 51 games. He played with a rotation of different blueliners, including Jordan Oesterle, Mark Pysyk, Jonathan Aspirot and Brady Lyle. His role was to provide the defensive prowess that allowed the club’s more offensive-minded D-men to do their thing.

The Flames went through a lot of personnel changes during the 2023-24 season, and Solovyov ended up being one of the first blueliners called up early in the season, stepping in briefly when Rasmus Andersson was suspended. Solovyov made his NHL debut on Oct. 26, 2023 and his second NHL game was actually the 2023 Heritage Classic. Because of injuries and trades, Solovyov ended up playing 10 games with the Flames across three call-ups, registering three points.

Solovyov in the NHL was a lot like Solovyov in the AHL: quiet, reliable, and able to block a lot of shots.

He was ranked 14th in FlamesNation’s summer prospect rankings, slotting in fourth among the organization’s defensive prospects.

Solovyov signed a two-year contract extension over the off-season. He cleared waivers after training camp and headed back to the Wranglers. On the farm, he’s done basically what he did last year: he’s the defensive conscience of the team, and he’s been used to shore up a bunch of different pairings with a rotation of partners – Joni Jurmo played his first handful of AHL games alongside Solovyov, for example.

While serving as the defensive conscience, Solovyov has also posted the best offensive numbers of his AHL career this season, with 21 points over 43 games. He was called up to the NHL just before the 4 Nations Face-Off break, playing in the top four alongside Rasmus Andersson and looking quite effective.

Solovyov has played over 200 AHL games and he’s a pretty known quantity at the pro level. He plays a really simple, low-risk style of hockey. He’s a physical, defence-first kind of player. The Flames have a ton of players in their system with high offensive upside – among them Zayne Parekh, Henry Mews, Hunter Brzustewicz and Jeremie Poirier. Solovyov doesn’t quite have that upside, but he may be the ideal type of player to play alongside those puck-moving defenders in the coming seasons.

Solovyov’s two-year deal converts to a one-way deal next season; he’s making NHL money in 2025-26 regardless of where we’re playing. We’re optimistic that he’ll be in the mix for a full-time NHL gig.