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Dennis Gilbert Returned To AHL

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The Calgary Flames have reassigned Dennis Gilbert to the AHL now that Chris Tanev is healthy and activated from injured reserve.

This has been Gilbert’s fate for most of the season, bouncing up and down between leagues whenever required. He has played in nine games with the Flames and 26 more with the Calgary Wranglers, scoring six points in total between the two levels. Perhaps more notable are the 61 penalty minutes he has, which include six fighting majors.

That total likely would have gone up had he been dressed yesterday, given the three fighting majors the team received after huge hits from the New York Rangers. When the Flames need a little bit more bite, or suffer another defensive injury, you will likely see Gilbert back up in the NHL.

Whenever his next appearance does happen with the Flames, Gilbert would then need to clear waivers again before being assigned to the minor leagues. Sending him down now will keep him available for those injury call-ups and maintain the organizational depth he represents.

Calgary Flames Activate Chris Tanev

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The Calgary Flames have activated defenseman Chris Tanev, according to a team tweet. Tanev has been out with an injury since January 23rd, when he left early in a 4-3 overtime win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Flames now are left with eight defensemen on their active roster with this activation, thanks to the recent recall of Dennis Gilbert from the AHL. It’s possible Gilbert’s recall was made with the intention of him being a contingency plan in case Tanev wasn’t ready to go for tonight’s game against the New York Rangers, so he could be on the way back to the AHL should the team want to carry only seven defensemen and add another forward to the mix.

That being said, though, the Flames are on an East Coast road trip, meaning they also might prefer to keep Gilbert with the team for the rest of the trip rather than just send him home with zero games played. Worth noting is that the Flames do have veteran forward Kevin Rooney in the AHL, seemingly out of place there since the team so recently gave him a two-year, $1.3MM AAV guarantee.

The Flames get a major boost with Tanev’s return just as they enter a crucial stretch of their season. They’re looking to keep pace with other Western Conference contenders in the race for a playoff spot, and Tanev will undoubtedly help them in that pursuit. Long regarded as one of the league’s better stay-at-home defensemen, Tanev has been a crucially important defensive anchor for head coach Darryl Sutter.

Tanev is the centerpiece of the Flames’ penalty kill, skating nearly three minutes a night with the opponent on the man advantage. He’s blocked 85 shots this season as well, and beyond more traditional defensive counting stats, which have their limit in usefulness, public analytics models remain exceedingly high on Tanev’s work in the defensive zone.

While his return won’t solve the Flames’ lingering issues in net and with underperforming top forwards such as Jonathan Huberdeau, he will help the team close out games where they maintain a late lead.

For a club seeking to build momentum and return to the playoffs, getting a player like Tanev back to full health can mean the difference between picking up or leaving behind those few standings points that separate the playoff teams from the near-misses.

Calgary Flames Recall Jakob Pelletier, Dennis Gilbert

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The Calgary Flames have announced that forward Jakob Pelletier and defenseman Dennis Gilbert have been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers. The two recalls fill two vacant spots on the Flames’ roster, leaving them with 22 out of 23 used spaces on their active roster.

Pelletier, 21, is the bigger name in this duo. He’s a 2019 first-round pick who is among the Flames’ top prospects, recently ranked third in their system by The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler. (subscription link) Pelletier was first called up to the NHL in January and ended up playing four games for coach Darryl Sutter’s side.

Sutter’s cold evaluation of Pelletier’s NHL debut to the media made headlines, and in his first two games, Pelletier got just 6:50 and 7:36 time on the ice, respectively. His ice time ticked up in his final two games, though he didn’t manage to register his first NHL point.

Pelletier is a talented offensive player who has scored very well at the junior and AHL levels. He has 36 points in 33 games for the Wranglers this season and has been a point-per-game player in his 99-game AHL career. He’ll be able to provide an offensive spark to the Flames’ lineup as they prepare for a road trip.

Gilbert, 26, is not nearly as flashy of a recall but does have more NHL experience than Pelletier. The American blueliner has played in 34 career NHL games, nine of which have come this season. He last played in the NHL on January 27th, logging just over 13 minutes in a 5-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken.

Now back on the NHL roster, it’s likely that Gilbert will serve as the team’s seventh defenseman for the duration of their road trip, if not longer. He seems to have settled nicely into his role as a priority call-up and number-eight or nine blueliner on the Flames’ depth chart and gives the organization top-four play in the AHL as well as competence in limited minutes in the NHL.

Flames Assign Three Players To AHL

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Calgary’s roster was full for last night’s victory over Seattle but it’s considerably smaller now as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve assigned forwards Walker Duehr and Jakob Pelletier plus defenseman Dennis Gilbert to Calgary of the AHL.  No corresponding recalls were made.

Duehr and Pelletier were both recalled three weeks ago with Duehr seeing regular action while Pelletier was more limited.  Duehr got into eight games with the Flames, picking up his first two NHL goals while averaging a little over nine minutes a night.  This season at the AHL level, the 25-year-old has ten goals with the Wranglers, just one shy of his output from a year ago in 28 fewer games. Duehr is in his second full professional campaign after signing a two-year entry-level deal with Calgary as an undrafted college free agent in 2021.

Pelletier is widely considered to be one of Calgary’s top prospects so when he was brought up, there was some excitement to see how he’d fare against top competition.  However, he was a regular scratch early and only got into four contests where he logged less than 11 minutes a night.  That’s not necessarily the most optimal usage for a player that had 34 points in 31 games in the minors this season but he at least now has a taste of what things are like at the NHL level.

As for Gilbert, this NHL stint was a short-lived one as he’s going down just two days after being recalled.  The 26-year-old has played in nine games for the Flames this season, collecting an assist along with 19 hits and 20 penalty minutes while averaging 10:35 per contest.  He also has five points in 24 AHL contests.

The Flames are off until February 6th so these three assignments are likely being done to bank some cap space.  The demotions will free up a little over $13K per day and add to their cap room heading into the deadline.  However, it remains to be seen if these three will be back with the big club when they resume play or if someone else will get an opportunity.

Snapshots: Islanders, Tanev, Guzda

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The New York Islanders have now lost six in a row, scoring just 11 goals in the process. A group that was once expected to be serious buyers at the trade deadline have nearly fallen out of the playoff race entirely, making it a much different situation as February approaches.

When discussing the team’s deadline plans (as best as he can figure, with Lou Lamoriello at the helm), Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet noted on today’s 32 Thoughts podcast that there was real interest in Jakob Chychrun at one point. Apparently, the Islanders balked at the asking price, something that Friedman understands, given their current position.

  • With Chris Tanev already ruled out through the All-Star break, the Calgary Flames have moved him to injured reserve. Brett Ritchie has been activated to fill his spot, and is expected to be in the lineup tonight when the team takes on the Seattle Kraken. Ritchie last played on New Year’s Eve, leaving the game after just six shifts.
  • The Florida Panthers will go with Alex Lyon in net again tonight, and are set to have Mack Guzda as the backup after recalling him this morning. To make room, Grigori Denisenko was returned to the minor leagues. Lyon has allowed 17 goals in four games so far, including seven on 49 shots Tuesday night.

Calgary Flames Recall Dennis Gilbert

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With Chris Tanev out for at least the next couple of games, the Calgary Flames have recalled Dennis Gilbert from the minor leagues.

It’s a nice reward for Gilbert, who was recently handed a two-game suspension by the AHL for an illegal check to the head. He already served the ban, but it wouldn’t have stopped him from being recalled to the NHL anyway.

Now, he’ll join the Flames ahead of their match against the Chicago Blackhawks tonight, the first half of a back-to-back situation. Calgary is due to play in Seattle tomorrow, before heading into the All-Star break.

Gilbert has played in eight games so far, averaging just over ten minutes a game. That comes along with four fighting majors, a role he’ll likely step right back into for the Flames during this stretch.

Chris Tanev Out Through All-Star Break

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The Calgary Flames won’t have Chris Tanev back before the All-Star break, as head coach Darryl Sutter told reporters including Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet that the veteran defenseman will miss at least the next two games. Tanev left Monday’s game with an upper-body injury.

Now 33, Tanev has eight points in 40 games this season while playing his usual shutdown role for the Flames. With him out early against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Nikita Zadorov ended up playing nearly 27 minutes, his second-highest total of the season.

Radim Zohorna Sent To AHL Calgary

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  • The frequent shuffling of Radim Zohorna continues as the Flames have returned him to AHL Calgary, notes Flames Nation’s Ryan Pike (Twitter link). The moves are being made to save a little bit of cap space and extend his waiver exemption as long as possible.  The 26-year-old has played in eight games with the Flames so far this season with him needing waivers once he gets to ten so his exemption is likely to expire soon, assuming he’s eventually recalled once more.

Flames Aren't Ruling Out Oliver Kylington Returning This Season

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While the Flames have been without defenseman Oliver Kylington all season so far due to a personal matter, GM Brad Treliving told Sportsnet’s Eric Francis that they’re not giving up on the idea that he will be back at some point in the second half.  Kylington had a breakout year in 2021-22, collecting 31 points in 73 games, earning himself a two-year, $5MM contract in the process and his return would certainly be a big boost to Calgary’s back end.  At the moment, there haven’t been any discussions with him about when he might be able to return but with the trade deadline now less than two months away, it stands to reason that those conversations will be taking place at some point in the near future as if Kylington isn’t able to return, Calgary may have to make a move to find a replacement for the stretch run.

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