Calgary boasts 27 healthy bodies in camp one week before the season opens
Dustin Wolf has been assigned to the AHL Calgary Wranglers and 2023 first-round draft pick Samuel Honzek has been returned to the WHL’s Vancouver Giants.
As much as the Calgary Flames and their fans had hoped both of those highly touted prospects would be making the jump to the big leagues right off the bat, it doesn’t appear in the cards.
Wolf, the AHL’s reigning two-time top goaltender and last season league MVP was strong in his second NHL pre-season outing, but the move comes as no surprise with a pair of goalies on one-way contracts in Jacob Markstrom and Dan Vladar — on top of Wolf not requiring waivers to be reassigned.
As for Honzek, the forward went through a steep learning curve through camp, but showed he was definitely not ready. Armed with as much as could be given at this point, Honzek is expected to have a strong season for the Giants, with a trip to the World Juniors also in the cards.
The Flames also assigned forwards Connor Zary, the 2020 first-round pick, and first-year pro forward Lucas Ciona, and defensemen Jeremie Poirier and Yan Kuznetsov (who was assigned to the minors on Tuesday, as well).
The cuts leave the Flames with 16 healthy forwards, which means Dryden Hunt, Cole Schwindt, Adam Klapka, Martin Pospisil and Emilio Pettersen remain in the mix for the 12th and 13th spots. Pospisil and Pettersen were placed on waivers Thursday, which likely means they're out of the running.
On defense, there are seven healthy players remaining who hold one-way contracts, plus Ilya Solovyov and Nick DeSimone. DeSimone was also placed on waivers on Thursday.
The Flames round out the pre-season on the road Friday against the Vancouver Canucks, with a deadline on Monday to announce their “opening night” roster.
Calgary opens the season next Wednesday at home to the Winnipeg Jets.
