The Calgary Flames had an open roster spot and it sounds like they’re going to be using it to evaluate one of their more promising defensive prospects.

As announced by the club, the Flames have recalled defenceman Yan Kuznetsov from the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers.

Kuznetsov is a 23-year-old left shot defender originally from Murmansk, Russia. He was a second-round selection by the Flames in the 2020 NHL Draft and has quietly become one of the more reliable 200-foot defenders in the AHL. Over the past couple of seasons he’s been relied upon to be the defensive conscience on pairings with some offensive-minded prospects. In 2024-25, he was primarily paired with Hunter Brzustewicz in Brzustewicz’s first pro season, one that saw the American defender adapt incredibly quickly to the AHL game alongside Kuznetsov. This season Kuznetsov has played with old Memorial Cup teammate Jeremie Poirier.

On Monday’s edition of Flames Talk, Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson suggested he would like to see Kuznetsov called up to play alongside Flames top prospect Zayne Parekh. When you consider how Kuznetsov has been a strong compliment to Brzustewicz and Poirier, the stylistic match could work quite nicely.

In 10 games with the Wranglers this season Kuznetsov has two goals and a plus-5 plus/minus rating. This is his third consecutive NHL season with a call-up: he played one game in 2023-24 and was brought up as injury insurance in 2024-25 but didn’t end up playing in any games. Since he cleared waivers to start the season, Kuznetsov remains waiver exempt until he’s on the NHL roster for 30 days or dresses for 10 NHL games.

With Kuznetsov’s call-up, the Flames’ active roster now consists of 23 players: two goaltenders, eight defencemen and 13 forwards. Martin Pospisil remains on the injury reserve list.

The Flames are back in action on Wednesday night when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets.

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