The Calgary Flames have assigned winger Matvei Gridin to the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers to make room to activate Jonathan Huberdeau off of injured reserve. Huberdeau has been sidelined since sustaining an undisclosed injury in a preseason matchup against the Vancouver Canucks on October 1st. He missed the first seven games of Calgary’s season.
Gridin played in the first four games of his NHL career to start the season, but found his way to the press box after posting one goal and a minus-three. He is among Calgary’s top prospects, and is set to become one of just six 19-year-olds in the AHL. A taste of NHL minutes, and continued pro challenge in the minors, could be exactly what Gridin needs to grow his game.
He looked fast and flashy in the QMJHL last year, posting 96 points in 72 games over the course of the Shawinigan Cataractes’ full season. That performance earned him the QMJHL’s ’Rookie of the Year’ award. The 2024 first-round pick spent two seasons in the USHL prior to his draft. He scored 99 points in 108 total games in the league. That includes a league-leading 83-point season in 2023-24, the second-highest scoring season in Muskegon Lumberjacks history.
While Gridin develops in the minors, Huberdeau will look to keep up his momentum from last season. He scored 16 points in 18 games to finish the 2024-25 season, pushing him to 28 goals and 62 points in 81 games on the year. It was Huberdeau’s highest-scoring season since he posted 115 points with the Florida Panthers in 2021-22. His dip in scoring with the Flames has shadowed his last three seasons, but he showed a click next to Morgan Frost and Matthew Coronato that could propel the Flames’ offense this season. Coronato currently leads Calgary in scoring, with three points in five games. Frost has two points.
He looked promising. Like his game
Sad when a Huberdeau sighting is reason for optimism, but such is the state of the Flames, a leading candidate for draft lottery winners 2026-28…