Carter King to Turner Ottenbreit for the shorty!
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FN AHL Report Cards: Turner Ottenbreit was a reliable defensive presence for the Wranglers
Photo credit: David Moll/Calgary Wranglers
Jun 8, 2026, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Jun 8, 2026, 00:23 EDT
Turner Ottenbreit joined the Calgary Wranglers as an extra body on the blue line in the 2025-26 season. He was added to the American Hockey League club’s roster on a PTO prior to training camp and earned himself a good long look with the team. Ottenbreit has bounced around the AHL and ECHL over his professional career and spent last season with the Milwaukee Admirals. By about a third of the way through his first season with the Wranglers, it was realized that he filled a need on this roster.
What were the expectations for Turner Ottenbreit in 2025-26?
Ottenbreit was expected to bring more of a veteran presence to the team and showcase his mature defensive abilities. He seemed to be a good and available option to add to the D-core to keep that friendly competition for a spot in the lineup while also being a body if injuries or call-ups happened. Ottenbreit had shown in previous years that he can score if given the opportunity, but this was not his main role for Calgary. He came into town off a two point, 49 game season with the Admirals.
How did Turner Ottenbreit perform in 2025-26?
Turner Ottenbreit ended up being very much a team guy from the get go and fit in really well with this squad. He knows quite a few guys around the league and has a playful way of bonding with his teammates with his chirps. These translate on the ice and he shows at times how he can be a scrappy agitator to his opponents. The 28-year-old defender was the oldest guy on the blue line by just a few days next to Daniil Miromanov and played on the same WHL team as Lucas Ciona as a leader, just a few years earlier.
Ottenbreit was rotated in and out of the lineup to start the season, but by the time Yan Kuznetsov made the jump to the Flames, he was an everyday defender. Once it was realized Kuznetsov was gone for the year and Hunter Brzustewicz would likely not be back to the Wranglers as a regular option, Turner Ottenbreit was signed to an AHL deal. He signed this on Dec. 12 and played out the rest of the season with the team.
Ottenbreit ended up appearing in 57 games with the Wranglers and put up his best numbers in his last four seasons, with three goals and 10 assists. One of these goals was a shorthanded goal in their winning streak in February.
He jumped around the pairings a little but was mostly on the left side with Daniil Miromanov. When he was not with Miromanov, he also got some games with Hunter Brzustewicz over his run with the Wranglers over the Olympic break, Jeremie Poirier prior to his trade, Gavin White, Etienne Morin or Simon Mack. He’d also serve as the extra defender when the Wranglers went to an 11 forward and seven defenceman option for a few of their games. Ottenbreit was reliable and clean on the back end and made room for his defensive partners to experiment and show their offensive capabilities from the blue line.
What’s the future outlook for Turner Ottenbreit?
Turner Ottenbreit is not pushing the envelope now for NHL time or to take up an NHL contract spot, so he’d really be an easy guy to bring back on an AHL contract if that’s what the team decides. Right now, the Wranglers have four options on defence. Axel Hurtig, Abram Wiebe, Etienne Morin and loosely Hunter Brzustewicz. Brzustewicz is still waiver-exempt but after his split season between the AHL and NHL, there’s a pretty good chance he might not be back with the Wranglers.
Daniil Miromanov has reportedly already made the decision to go back to the KHL and that leaves Artem Grushnikov and Gavin White as RFAs and Nick Cicek as a UFA. Continuing to have older guys on the back end really bodes well for the developmental intention of this league so extending a guy that already knows the system and performed for your team makes a lot of sense.
Ottenbreit is very much a family man and does the right thing on and off the ice. If the Wranglers end up having to part ways with some of their veterans, he’d still provide that mentorship as a role model for the younger players. Turner Ottenbreit has bounced around the AHL a bit so if he doesn’t land with the Wranglers next season, surely there’s another team that will put his skills to good use.
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