As the Calgary Flames’ top American Hockey League affiliate prepares for a pair of weekend games out east, the parent club has announced a transaction. On Friday afternoon, the Flames announced that they’ve recalled forward Aydar Suniev from the Wranglers.

The Flames’ third-round pick from the 2023 NHL Draft, Suniev was acquired with a pick the Flames originally traded away to the Seattle Kraken in the Calle Jarnkrok trade and reacquired from New Jersey in the Tyler Toffoli trade. He’s a 21-year-old left shot winger who’s posted 15 goals and 23 points in 55 AHL games this season with the Wranglers in the first season of his pro career.

Originally from Kazan, Russia, Suniev moved to North America in 2019 – just prior to his 15th birthday – and bounced around a bit as he tried to find regular games amidst a pretty weird environment for a teenager with a Russian passport trying to play youth hockey in Canada and the United States, between the pandemic and general diplomatic tensions with Russia at the time.

Suniev caught on with the British Columbia Hockey League’s Penticton Vees midway through 2021-22 and posted 20 points in 17 games, then he found another level with the Vees in 2022-23 as he racked up 45 goals and 90 points in 50 games. The Flames selected him in the third round, 80th overall.

The following season Suniev headed to college to play the University of Massachusetts under head coach Greg Carvel. He was a pretty effective offensive player right away, but had to build up his game away from the puck. He managed to do so and became a more and more trusted player during his two seasons with UMass. He posted 25 points in 36 games in 2023-24 as a freshman and 38 points in 35 games in 2024-25 as a sophomore.

He signed his entry-level deal following the 2024-25 NCAA season and made his debut with the Flames in their regular season finale last season against the Los Angeles Kings – alongside fellow debutantes Zayne Parekh, Sam Morton and Hunter Brzustewicz.

Suniev’s game away from the puck with the Wranglers has been a work in progress and he’s become better and better throughout the year at using his teammates effectively. But he’s got a heck of a shot and knows when and how to use it well, which makes him a really exciting prospect in the Flames system.

With Suniev’s recall, the Flames’ active roster is up to 27 players: two goaltenders, eight defencemen and 17 forwards. They’ve also used four of their “regular” recalls following the trade deadline; they’re limited to five of those recalls, and only four players can be on the NHL roster on post-deadline “regular” recalls at a time. If the Flames wish to use their fifth and final call-up, one of their called-up players – Matvei Gridin, Brzustewicz, Brennan Othmann or Suniev – would need to be returned to the Wranglers.

The Wranglers are in action on Friday evening in Laval. The Flames are in action on Saturday evening in Anaheim.