Don’t be too surprised if Jakob Pelletier is back in the NHL by Christmas.
After going unclaimed when the Calgary Flames placed him on waivers earlier this month, Pelletier has gotten off to a great start with the Calgary Wranglers and is looking much more like the player he was before a severe shoulder injury derailed his 2023-24 campaign.
The 23-year-old winger is tied with linemate Rory Kerins for the AHL scoring lead with eight points (all assists) through his first four games of the 2024-25 campaign, helping the Wranglers move into first place in the Pacific Division with a 3-1-0 record.
Along with veteran winger Dryden Hunt, Pelletier and Kerins have formed one of the AHL’s most potent forward partnerships in the early goings of the season. Playing against the Henderson Silver Knights on Friday night, Pelletier fired four shots on goal (second only to Kerins) and racked up three helpers en route to a 5-3 victory.
After looking a little lost and tentative at points with the Flames in the 2024 preseason, Pelletier seems to be playing with a renewed sense of purpose with the Wranglers this fall. It’s that very same gumption that helped Pelletier rack up 27 goals and 62 points in 66 games as a 20-year-old AHL rookie with the Stockton Heat in 2021-22.
Not even two weeks ago, each of the NHL’s other 31 teams declined to take a flier on Pelletier for free when the Flames placed him on waivers. Going unclaimed must have been a bit of a gut punch for a player battling to find his game after a lost season. At the same time, it almost certainly gave Pelletier even more motivation to prove his doubters wrong. In five years, there’s a chance we look back at it as a turning point in his career.
The Flames evidently saw more than enough in Pelletier to justify selecting him in the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft. Generously listed at 5’11” and 180 pounds, Pelletier definitely isn’t the biggest guy in the Flames’ system, but he’s offered plenty of reasons for hope and optimism since turning pro back in 2021. And now, he’s looking once again like one of the best players outside the NHL.
It might take an injury or two for Pelletier to return to the Flames’ lineup, or he might even have to wait for one of the team’s veteran incumbents to be traded. As it stands, the Flames already have a relatively large contingent of NHL-calibre wingers, including fellow Wranglers alumni Matt Coronato, Adam Klapka, and Sam Honzek. But at this point, Pelletier looks like the leading candidate to get the call if the need arises.
Kerins and Clark Bishop both scored twice while Walker Duehr added a goal of his own as the Wranglers defeated the Silver Knights by a 5-3 final score. Wranglers goaltender Waltteri Ignatjew stopped 32 of the 35 shots he faced to pick up the win in his AHL debut; Kerins and Pelletier were respectively named the game’s first and second stars.
The Wranglers are slated to take on the Silver Knights once again on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. MT. Our very own Paige Siewert will have a more in-depth recap of the two-game series here at FlamesNation later this weekend.