As a new week begins, the Calgary Flames have added a promising young player to their National Hockey League roster. Per an announcement by the club, the Flames have recalled defenceman Hunter Brzustewicz from the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers.

The Flames had an open roster spot, so no corresponding roster move was required to add Brzustewicz to their roster.

The 21-year-old Brzustewicz is a right shot defender who’s in his second year of professional hockey. Originally a third-round selection by Vancouver in the 2023 NHL Draft, he was sent to the Flames in the Elias Lindholm trade – along with Andrei Kuzmenko, Joni Jurmo, a first-round pick (used to take Matvei Gridin) and a fourth-round pick (subsequently traded down into other picks and used to select Eric Jamieson and Luke Misa).

A product of Washington Township, Michigan, Brzustewicz came up as an offensive-minded blueliner through Michigan area hockey and landed with the U.S. National Development Program. But after a season with their National Under-18 Team, he made the jump to the Ontario Hockey League and spent two seasons with the Kitchener Rangers – his 92-point outburst in 2023-24 made him the second-best defender in points in that league aside from Zayne Parekh.

Brzustewicz signed his entry-level deal in March 2024 and joined the Wranglers. He spent 2024-25 basically attached to Yan Kuznetsov, and the duo became really, really effective. Brzustewicz adapted really nicely to the AHL and posted 32 points over his 70 game rookie season – tied for fourth among rookie blueliners. He’s continued his strong, steady play this season, posting 12 points through 23 games playing mostly with Nick Cicek on the team’s top pairing.

This is Brzustewicz’s second NHL call-up of his pro career. He was summoned at the end of last season and made his NHL debut in Game 82 against the Los Angeles Kings. He played pretty well in a Flames win. We’ll see if he can continue to build upon that positive experience and a lot of really good hockey with the Wranglers.

The Flames are back in action on Monday night when they host the Buffalo Sabres.