The Flames announced Tuesday they’ve recalled forward Adam Klapka from AHL Calgary and reinstated defenseman Tyson Barrie from his conditioning loan. They only had one open active roster spot, but that’s all they needed since Barrie still counted against the limit during his short-lived demotion.
Barrie could have stayed in the minors for up to 10 more days on his conditioning stint, but he once again finds himself available to dress in an NHL contest. That hasn’t happened since Nov. 12, though, the reason behind his first AHL action in 11 years. The offensive-minded veteran scored once and added a pair of assists in two appearances for the Wranglers over the weekend.
After signing Barrie to a one-year, $1.25MM deal following a successful PTO during training camp, Calgary has only played him in nine of their 48 games this season. The 33-year-old posted a goal and an assist with a minus-two rating while averaging a career-low 15:20 per game. He’ll now return to a battle for minutes with depth defenders Jake Bean, Joel Hanley, Daniil Miromanov, and Brayden Pachal – a battle he’s clearly lost thus far.
The hulking 24-year-old Klapka comes up to replace upstart Rory Kerins as a fourth-line option after the latter was demoted yesterday. The 6’7″ Czech forward skated in six games for Calgary over the first two months of the campaign, going without a point but recording 20 hits in 8:29 of average ice time. He ranks among the AHL club’s point-per-game leaders this season with 25 through 29 appearances, though.