The Calgary Flames announced today that forward Dryden Hunt has been recalled from their AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers.
The move adds a healthy 13th forward to the Flames’ roster. Hunt’s served in that role before, both throughout his professional career and during his tenure in Calgary. He was last on the NHL roster in December, dressing most recently for the club’s Dec. 2 loss to the Nashville Predators.
A 30-year-old winger, Hunt has become a key depth piece in Calgary. He’s a top scorer for the Wranglers, notching with 11 goals, 31 points in 26 games this season. Last year, he managed 49 points in 49 games. Alongside being a point-per-game AHL player, Hunt is a dependable, steady fourth-line fill-in player. He brings 237 games of NHL experience to the table, including five games of playoff experience, most recently coming in 2021-22 with the New York Rangers.
While the Flames don’t appear poised to make the playoffs this season, the wealth of experience Hunt brings helps to stabilize the bottom portion of the Flames’ roster. With Calgary considering more significant trade moves to its forward corps (Blake Coleman‘s name specifically is surfacing in trade rumors), it appears likely that down the line this season, Hunt could earn an extended stay on the NHL roster.
Seeing as he’s currently playing on a two-way contract, any NHL recall comes with a very real financial benefit for Hunt. He earns a $825K NHL salary, $400K AHL salary, and a hefty $500K total guarantee in each year of his two-year deal. With each day spent on the Flames’ NHL roster, it becomes increasingly likely Hunt will be able to surpass that $500K guarantee in terms of total compensation by the end of the season. Today’s recall will certainly help him in that pursuit.
As for what role exactly Hunt might slot into within head coach Ryan Huska’s lineup, it’s likely to be a limited one. Hunt averaged 10:36 time on ice in his two prior NHL games of 2025-26, and averaged 11:39 time on ice per game in five contests in 2024-25. It’s unlikely his deployment moving forward will deviate much from that established trend.
Good thing the Flames are playing younger players to give them some experience.
Oh wait…?!
He hopefully won’t be playing so easier to healthy scratch him here a young but you’re right this franchise hates young players
The Flames have played 46 games. They have 12 guys on the roster age 25 or younger. Five of these have played 44,45, or 46 games. Two others have played 32 and 36 games, including one of the goalies. Somehow you manage to convince yourself that the Flames hate young players.
25 or younger doesn’t mean a lot these days in the NHL. The Flames keep bringing up 29-30 year olds that have no future with the team, instead of some younger players that obviously deserve a look. I don’t convince myself of nothing. I just see what’s in front of me. The Flames still think they can make the playoffs, so they operate that way.
Ah, having guys of a young age on the roster does not mean that the roster has a bunch of young guys. Got it. Oh, and had you read my post, and comprehended it, you would have noticed that it was meant for the poster below you. The paraphrasing of one of his sentences was the giveaway.
Settle down Dog. You really take this stuff seriously (personally).
Seeing as I was saying pretty much the same thing as him…my mission statement stands.
It is now my mission to question you on everything. L0L
The Flames are in the top half of the league for holding the oldest rosters. They are pretty much done, when it comes to playoff hockey. The question is…why are they constantly bringing up 29-30 year old “forwards” when they have quite a few younger “forwards” that can really use the experience.
There are quite a few 23-26 year old players in the league. The league is starting to be referred to as a “young man’s league” more and more. So no, it’s not out of the ordinary for players that young to be playing in the NHL.
If you don’t include the likes of Parekh, Kuznetsov, Brzustewicz, or Wolf (which consists of the backend), this team is quite long in the tooth.
Just saying…
Sorry Dog…I meant to say “It’s hockey. Lighten up. A lot.”