Coming off a truncated trip to southern California, the Calgary Flames have made two related roster moves. On Friday morning, the club announced that they’ve recalled forward Rory Kerins from the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers. In a related move to open up a roster spot, they’ve placed forward Connor Zary on the injury reserve list.

It’s the first-ever call-up for the 22-year-old Kerins, who will wear #86 for the Flames based on training camp.

Zary, 23, was injured in the second period of Tuesday’s game in Anaheim on a hit by Ducks defender Drew Helleson. His IR placement is retroactive to Tuesday and he won’t be eligible for activation until he’s been out for a week. The Flames’ first-rounder in 2020, Zary has become a really effective player for the Flames. He was centring a top nine line and had 10 goals and 22 points this season – he ranked third on the team in goals and was tied with MacKenzie Weegar for third in points.

On Friday morning, our colleague Frank Seravalli on Daily Faceoff provided some reporting on Zary’s injury: in short, it might not be as horrific as once feared.

Kerins was a sixth-round selection of the Flames in the 2020 NHL Draft and was a star with the Ontario Hockey League’s Soo Greyhounds, posting 118 points in his 19-year-old season (2021-22). Kerins went pro in 2022-23 and struggled initially to find his footing as a pro, spending his first season in the ECHL and his second season as a healthy scratch for a significant portion. But he really found his game in 2024-25, playing a really consistent offensive game and meshing really well with his linemates on the Wranglers’ top line.

In 34 games with the Wranglers this season, Kerins has 21 goals and 13 assists for 34 points. He leads the league in goals and he’s second in points, and he was named to the AHL All-Star Classic earlier this week. He had 16 goals and 32 points in all of last season, so it’s an impressive turnaround for a player who had looked at times like a long-shot to push for an NHL spot.

If Kerins gets into a game with the big club, he’ll be the fourth player from the Flames’ 2020 draft class to play for the team – following Zary, Yan Kuznetsov and Ilya Solovyov.

The Flames return to action on Saturday night when they host the Los Angeles Kings.