Saturday: Hunt’s stint on Calgary’s roster was short-lived as the team announced that they have sent Hunt back to the Wranglers. He didn’t wind up playing against Winnipeg. They’re now back to carrying an open roster spot.
Thursday: The Calgary Flames announced today that they recalled forward Dryden Hunt from their AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers. The move brings the Flames to a full 23-man active roster, with the full slate of 14 forwards and seven defensemen.
Today’s recall puts Hunt in a position to potentially make his 2024-25 debut tomorrow when the Flames play the Winnipeg Jets. The Flames have gotten off to an extremely poor start to 2025-26, sitting 31st in the NHL with a 1-6-1 record through eight games. Should the San Jose Sharks defeat the New York Rangers tonight, the Flames will end the day in last place in the NHL.
The most significant reason behind their struggles has been a lack of offense – they’ve scored just 13 goals so far this season. They’re generating a fair number of shots (they took 37 in last night’s overtime loss to Montreal). Still, they simply have not been able to generate high-quality looks or reliably finish the high-end chances they do manage to generate.
Recalling Hunt, 29, won’t solve those problems on its own. Although Hunt has proven to be a quality AHL scorer (he has 251 points in 322 career games) he hasn’t translated that scoring ability to the NHL level. He has one season as a full-time NHL regular on his résumé, coming in 2021-22 with the New York Rangers. But even though he won’t solve the Flames’ offensive woes on his own, there are definitely worse players a team could call up to help fill a bottom-six role.
Hunt has gotten off to a fast start in the AHL this season (six points in just four games) and does bring 235 games of NHL experience. He can be a tenacious player and has worked his way from being an undrafted WHL star and someone who was playing in the ECHL as a rookie pro into a solid NHL/AHL bubble forward.
2023 first-round pick Samuel Honzek has not registered a point through six games this season, and after managing just 21 points in 52 AHL games last season, it’s possible he could be well-served getting a stint in the AHL to help build his confidence as a pro scorer. If the Flames take that view, Hunt could land on the team’s third line in Honzek’s spot, on a line with Morgan Frost and Connor Zary.
Although this recall has some financial implications for Hunt, the raise he’ll receive for his time spent on the NHL roster compared to his AHL salary will be relatively limited. Hunt’s two-way contract has one of the higher AHL salaries in the league, containing a $450K base salary and $500K total guarantee. Depending on how long he can manage to spend on the NHL roster, this recall could go a long way in helping Hunt surpass his $500K guarantee by the time the season concludes.