Calgary Flames assign Yan Kuznetsov back to the AHL’s Wranglers

The 21-year-old Russian blueliner was on his second recall, having been called up back on Jan. 5 after an injury suffered by Gilbert in a game in Nashville. Kuznetsov was on the NHL roster for eight days, serving as a healthy scratch four times but making his NHL debut on Jan. 9 in a win over Ottawa.

Selected by the Flames in the second round of the 2020 NHL Draft, Kuznetsov joined the Flames organization with a reputation as a big, rangy defensive defender. His time in the AHL solidified that reputation, and nothing we saw during his brief NHL appearance did anything to dissuade that – he had a goal bounce in off of him, but that was far more about bad luck than poor play.

Kuznetsov has 0 points in 1 NHL game and 7 points in 31 AHL games this season. With Gilbert seemingly nearing a return to action, there was simply no reason to have two extra defencemen on the roster so he heads back to the Wranglers.

Following this move, the Flames have 22 players on their active roster (2 goaltenders, 7 defencemen and 13 forwards) and 1 player on their injury reserve (Oliver Kylington). Their cap number drops to $81.338 million, including their active roster and Kylington.

The Flames are back in action on Tuesday when they host the Arizona Coyotes.