Calgary Flames Recall Jakob Pelletier, Dennis Gilbert
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
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.
Flames Recall Two, Place Brett Ritchie On IR
The Flames announced (Twitter link) a trio of roster moves today in advance of their five-game road trip. They’ve recalled wingers Jakob Pelletier and Walker Duehr from AHL Calgary and to make room on the active roster, they’ve transferred winger Brett Ritchie on injured reserve.
Pelletier is one of Calgary’s top prospects and will get his first chance at making his NHL debut. The 21-year-old was a first-round pick (26th overall) back in 2019 and has been quite productive at both the junior and AHL level since then. This season, Pelletier sits second on the Wranglers in scoring with 15 goals and 19 assists in 31 games. The only player that he’s behind is Matthew Phillips but the Flames opted to sit the winger for most of the games he was up with the big club for so it’s not surprising that they’re trying Pelletier now instead.
As for Duehr, the 25-year-old has one career NHL appearance under his belt which came in November 2021. This season at the AHL level, he’s tied for third on the Wranglers in goals with ten, just one shy of his output from a year ago in 28 fewer games. This is only his second full professional campaign after signing a two-year entry-level deal with Calgary as a college free agent in 2021.
Meanwhile, Ritchie suffered what appeared to be a wrist injury last weekend against Vancouver and hasn’t played since then. Technically, that means that Calgary could back-date the placement to then, effectively making him eligible to be activated as soon as Sunday’s game in Chicago. The fact they’ve placed him on IR means he’ll be out longer than that but there is no timetable for his return. The 29-year-old has six goals and two assists in 30 games with the Flames so far this season.