The Calgary Flames have placed forward Ilya Nikolaev on waivers for the purposes of a mutual contract termination, PuckPedia reported Thursday afternoon.
Nikolaev, 23, collected four assists in nine games with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers to start the 2024-25 regular season. The 6′, 195-pound centre also skated in two games with the ECHL’s Rapid City Rush last weekend but did not record a point.
The Flames originally selected Nikolaev in the third round (No. 88 overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft. The Yaroslavl, Russia product never skated in a single NHL game with the Flames, and now his time in the organization appears to be at its end.
Nikolaev is represented by mega-agent Dan Milstein, whose clients also include Flames players Andrei Kuzmenko, Yegor Sharangovich, Dan Vladar, Martin Pospisil, and Daniil Miromanov, as well as prospects Zayne Parekh, Matvei Gridin, Ilya Solovyov, and Devin Cooley.
Nikolaev played in the Loko Yaroslavl junior system in the MHL and VHL before making the jump to North America in 2021, spending a full season playing alongside the likes of Gavin Brindley and Arsenii Sergeev, as well as disgraced ex-Bruins and Coyotes prospect Mitchell Miller, with the USHL’s Tri-City Storm.
After scoring 72 points in 58 games as a 20-year-old with Tri-City in 2021-22, Nikolaev jumped straight into the pro ranks of the Flames organization, spending the majority of the 2022-23 season with Rapid City before splitting time between the Rush and the Wranglers in 2023-24. He ultimately appeared in just 44 regular season and playoff games over parts of four AHL seasons with the Wranglers and Stockton Heat, collecting three goals and 10 points.
With Nikolaev on his way out of the organization, the Flames now have just two members of their 2019 NHL Draft class remaining in the organization: Jakob Pelletier, their first-round pick; and Dustin Wolf, their seventh-round selection and the current Calder Trophy frontrunner. Pelletier, who has 18 points in 19 AHL games this season, will likely rejoin Wolf on the NHL roster at some point in the coming weeks and months.
The Wranglers made another transaction earlier on Thursday, recalling defence prospect Joni Jurmo from ECHL Rapid City to add to their group of AHL defenders. Jurmo could play Thursday as the Wranglers take on the Manitoba Moose, but we now know for certain that Nikolaev will not.