Calgary Flames place forward Kevin Rooney on waivers

The Calgary Flames have placed forward Kevin Rooney on waivers. Rooney has been on Long-Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) all season due to a shoulder injury that required surgery before the season began. Last season, Rooney played 17 games for the Flames, scoring just one point. He played the bulk of the season with the Calgary Wranglers in the AHL, scoring 17 points in 51 games.

Rooney was an undrafted free agent signing of the New Jersey Devils after he completed his college career with Providence College in 2016. The Canton, Massachusetts native is a bottom-six grinder type of player. He established himself as an NHL fourth-liner with the Devils in the 2018-19 season, when he played 41 games for them and put up 10 points.

Rooney played some of the best hockey of his career after signing with the New York Rangers prior to the 2020-21 season. Over the following two seasons in New York, Rooney played 115 games and scored 14 goals and 26 points. That led the Flames to take a chance on him in the 2022 offseason when they inked him to a two-year, $2.6 million contract.

The 30-year-old center hasn’t lived up to expectations with the Flames. At a $1.3 million cap hit, it’s highly unlikely that any team will claim him. Due to the current salary cap rules, the Flames will still have $150,000 on their payroll when Rooney is playing in the minors.

As of now, the Flames have over $4 million in cap space so taking Rooney of LTIR will be no problem at all. The Wranglers are currently first place in the Pacific Division of the AHL but could always use more veteran help from a guy like Rooney.

The Flames are set to play the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday evening at 9:00 EST.