The Calgary Flames have announced that defenseman Ilya Solovyov has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers. The move puts Solovyov, 23, in a position to potentially make his NHL debut.
Solovyov has been a nice developmental success story so far for the Flames, who selected the six-foot-three Belarusian defenseman 205th overall at the 2020 draft. Solovyov had gone undrafted the prior two seasons but after a 40-point performance in the OHL with the Saginaw Spirit he finally heard his name called at the NHL draft.
Solovyov then spent 2020-21 playing regular minutes for Dynamo Minsk in the KHL, before coming to North America in 2021-22. Solovyov has been a regular presence for the Stockton Heat and now Calgary Wranglers since that point, and by weathering heavy minutes he has shown his readiness for a shot at playing in the NHL.
The Flames have now lost three straight contests and surrendered a total of 12 goals in that span. With Rasmus Andersson still serving a suspension, the Flames were forced to rely on 26-year-old depth defenseman Dennis Gilbert to play a top-four role next to Chris Tanev. Perhaps with this recall, Solovyov will get a shot to handle that job instead.
In terms of creating the necessary cap space to facilitate this recall, no corresponding move was included in the Flames’ announcement.
But FlamesNation’s Ryan Pike writes on X that the Flames moving Kevin Rooney from standard injured reserve to long-term injured reserve would allow the Flames to exceed the cap by an additional $1.3MM, which would create the necessary space for this Solovyov recall.