The Calgary Flames have had some rough luck over their history when it comes to drafting goaltenders. Once you get past the likes of Mike Vernon, Trevor Kidd and Pat Riggin, the impacts of homegrown goaltenders with the Flames franchise have been… sparse.
But one netminder that seemed to keep appearing when the Flames needed him throughout the 1990s was Russian goalie Andrei Trefilov. Trefilov was a late-round pick in 1991, but he just kept popping back up when the Flames had a need for a short-term goaltender.
(As an aside, Trefilov is one of three pretty impactful 12th-round selections from Russia made by the Flames. The other two were Sergei Priakin, the first Russian player to be permitted to play in the NHL without defecting, and Sergei Makarov, the Red Army legend.)
As we await Ryan Lomberg’s return to the C of Red and his addition to the illustrious ranks of two-time members of the Flames franchise, let’s delve into Trefilov’s fascinating history.

Arrival #1: 1991 NHL Draft

The 1991 NHL Draft was the first under the regime of new general manager Doug Risebrough, who inherited the gig from Cliff Fletcher when he departed for Toronto a month earlier.
Results were… not great.
The Flames made 14 selections in the draft. Only six players played any NHL games, combining for 807 career games – with 736 of those games being Sandy McCarthy’s. Trefilov played the second-most games, suiting up for 54 in his NHL career.
Trefilov came over from Russia in 1992 and played his entry-level deal split between the Flames and their minor-league teams in initially Salt Lake City and later Saint John. He played 18 NHL games during that run, peaking with a brief run as Trevor Kidd’s backup in the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season.

Departure #1: Left as a free agent

At the end of his entry-level deal, Trefilov became a Group 6 free agent and looked at new opportunities. He ended up getting a pretty hefty raise on a three year deal with the Buffalo Sabres.
Here’s how his three years under that contract went:
  • 27 NHL games played with Buffalo and, later, Chicago.
  • 9 AHL games played with Rochester and, later, Indianapolis.
Injuries really limited how much Trefilov played, which in turn put a ceiling on his development.

Arrival #2: Trade with Chicago

We’ve written about the 1998-99 Flames season: it was ugly. The Flames began the season with veteran Ken Wregget as their presumptive starter and youngster Tyler Moss as backup. A slew of injuries led the Flames to use seven goaltenders during the season.
  • Wregget was injured on Nov. 3, so the Flames brought up Jean-Sebastian Giguere from the AHL.
  • Moss was injured on Dec. 11, so the Flames brought up OHLer Tyrone Garner on emergency recall.
  • Giguere was injured on Dec. 27, so the Flames made a trade with Chicago, acquiring Trefilov for a a seventh-round pick.
  • Trefilov was injured on Jan. 4, so the Flames called up Igor Karpenko from the AHL. (Because of concerns that Karpenko may not arrive in time for the first game, the Flames had someone drive ECHLer Pavel Nestak from Johnstown, PA to Pittsburgh in case he was needed as an emergency backup.)
  • The Flames signed Fred Brathwaite from the Canadian National Team and sent Karpenko back to the ECHL.
  • When Giguere got cleared to play, Garner was returned to the OHL.
  • When Trefilov got cleared to play, he was sent down to the AHL.
  • When Moss got cleared to play, Giguere was sent back to the AHL.
  • When Wregget got cleared to play, Moss was sent down to the AHL.
Trefilov began the year with Ak Bars Kazan, then signed with Chicago and was assigned to the IHL’s Indianapolis Ice after playing one game with the Blackhawks. He was acquired by the Flames in late December and after a brief stop in Saint John, he was re-assigned to the IHL’s Detroit Vipers for the rest of the season. He remained under contract for 1999-2000, but spent the year on loan to the IHL’s Chicago Wolves.

Departure #2: Left as a free agent

By the time Trefilov’s last deal with the Flames expired, he was 30. But for whatever reason he remained on the club’s reserve list – we won’t profess to be experts on the 1995 collective bargaining agreement or the terms of the NHL’s transfer agreement with Russia at the time.
While the Flames retained Trefilov’s North America rights, he headed back to Europe to continue his playing career. He played six seasons in Germany before hanging up his pads in 2006. He did briefly make some news in Calgary, in a weird way: the Flames protected him in the 2003 waiver draft, opting to keep his rights but dangle backup netminder Jamie McLennan on the waiver wire in the process. (McLennan cleared and ended up being a pretty big piece of the team that season after Roman Turek was injured early in the season.)