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Series preview: Wranglers add NHL talent in time for Tucson Roadrunners series
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Photo credit: David Moll/Calgary Wranglers
Paige Siewert
Feb 6, 2026, 12:00 ESTUpdated: Feb 6, 2026, 00:14 EST
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The Calgary Wranglers play throughout the Olympic break starting with a home series against the Tucson Roadrunners this weekend. This will be the last couple of games before the players go on the AHL All-Star break for a few days then return to game action next weekend. The Wranglers have some work to do in the standings and need some points this month to keep themselves in the playoff conversation. Hopefully, some reinforcements from the Calgary Flames can help make that happen. 

Last game’s lines

Calgary
Rory Kerins – Justin Kirkland – William Stromgren
Dryden Hunt – Sam Morton – Martin Frk
Carter King – Clark Bishop – Aydar Suniev
Parker Bell – David Silye – Lucas Ciona
Nick Cicek – Gavin White
Artem Grushnikov – Daniil Miromanov
Turner Ottenbreit – Simon Mack
Arsenii Sergeev
Tucson 
Forwards – Owen Allard, Jack Ricketts, Ryan McGregor, Ty Tullio, Kevin Rooney, Ben McCartney, Michal Kunc, Sammy Walker, Austin Poganski, Andrew Agozzino, Cameron Hebig, Julian Lutz, Noel Nordh, Maxim Barbashev, Daniil But, Sam Lipkin, Jalen Luypen, Miko Matikka
Defencemen – Robbie Russo, Scott Perunovich, Artem Duda, Maveric Lamoureux, Terrell Goldsmith, Dmitri Simashev, Llyeton Moore, Kevin Connauton, Max Szuber, Montana Onyebuchi
Goaltenders – Jaxson Stauber, Matthew Villalta 

Leaders

Calgary 
Dryden Hunt – 31GP, 13G, 26A
Martin Frk – 45GP, 16G, 20A
Rory Kerins – 42GP, 13G, 23A
Tucson
Ben McCartney – 43GP, 18G, 23A
Cameron Hebig – 39GP, 15G, 21A
Austin Poganski – 41GP, 11G, 17A

Notes and expectations

After the Flames’ win over the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night to lead them into the Olympic break, the team assigned Matvei Gridin and Hunter Brzustewicz to the Wranglers. This is not being viewed as a demotion, but rather an opportunity for these players to get more games in. Matvei Gridin will be representing the Wranglers in next week’s All-Star game and both of these players were the only remaining waiver-exempt players up with the NHL squad. 
With two new players in the Wranglers’ lineup, the team sent blueliner Xavier Bernard back to the Rapid City Rush. Bernard only appeared in one game with the Wranglers. Even with time in the NHL, Gridin and Brzustwicz are still in the top 10 for scoring on the team. Gridin is at fifth with 28 points in the AHL and Brzustewicz is at 10th with 12 points. In addition to these two, the Wranglers also received Justin Kirkland from the Flames and Kirkland had an assist in their game against the Bakersfield Condors on Tuesday. 
The roster options the Wranglers will have for the next couple of weeks may prove to be beneficial in more ways than one. Obviously, Gridin, Kirkland and Brzustewicz bring the overall talent of the team up, but it also creates competition for spots. If you have NHL-calibre guys at practice coming for spots of guys that might need the extra motivation, the whole team should hopefully elevate their skillset. Hopefully, this move comes at the right time so some of these players can return for a Wranglers playoff run. 
One player who has been leading the offence as of late is Sam Morton. Morton enters this series on an active four-game, five-point streak. This includes four goals in his last three games. All of which were on the road. Morton’s on-ice leadership has been especially prevalent in the last week and a bit and he’ll be a player to continue to watch in this weekend’s series. 
This series starts on Friday at the Saddledome with a 7:00 p.m. MT puck drop. The back half of this series will be on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. MT. Streaming options are available for a fee on Flo Hockey and Ryan Pike, and I will have game updates on X (formerly Twitter).

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