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Walker Duehr

West Notes: Suter, Athanasiou, Flames

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Vancouver Canucks forward Pius Suter has not been in the team’s lineup since a November 12th victory over the Montreal Canadiens. That could soon change, as Rink Wide Vancouver’s Jeff Paterson reports that Suter was on the ice in a regular jersey for Canucks practice today, rather than a non-contact one.

Signed to strengthen the Canucks’ bottom-six center depth, Suter has been uneven in Vancouver. His offensive numbers are well below expectations, but with Suter as a regular face in their lineup the Canucks won far more often than they lost. The Canucks have fallen off a little bit, and have won just five of their last ten games. Perhaps the return of Suter, who scored 15 goals and 36 points in 2021-22, can help them return to their winning ways.

Some other notes from the NHL’s Western Conference:

  • The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus relays word from Chicago Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson who says that forward Andreas Athanasiou is inching closer to a return and is close to returning to skating. Although a full return to the ice is still a long way off for Athanasiou, this is a positive development as the forward works his way back from a groin injury. The speedy 29-year-old last played on November 9th and scored 20 goals and 40 points last season.
  • There appears to be a bit of a flu bug going around the Calgary Flames, as the team has announced that two forwards, Walker Duehr and A.J. Greer, did not skate today as a result of the flu. Greer played yesterday against Carolina while Duehr last played on December 5th, but this announcement puts into question each player’s availability for the Flames’ next game, which is tomorrow afternoon against the New Jersey Devils.

Calgary Flames Sign Walker Duehr To An Extension

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The Calgary Flames have announced that they’ve re-signed forward Walker Duehr to a two-year one-way contract extension. Elliotte Friedman is reporting that the deal comes with an annual cap hit of $825K, not a bad payday for a player who had played in just a single NHL game prior to the start of the 2022-23 season.

The 25-year-old enjoyed a solid first season in the NHL putting up seven goals and 11 points in 27 NHL games. Duehr also holds the unusual distinction of being the first South Dakota born player to score a goal in the NHL.

Prior to his breakthrough last season Duehr had spent two plus seasons playing in the AHL with Calgary’s AHL affiliates and four seasons in the NCAA with Minnesota State University. Despite his 11 points with the Flames last season in limited action, Duehr has never been one to put up much in the way of offense. He hasn’t eclipsed 27 points at any level dating back to 2011-12, however given his low cap hit and his track record, he likely won’t be relied upon for anything more than bottom six minutes.

It’s a gamble for Calgary, but given the work to be done this summer re-tooling a team that disappointed in the regular season, it was a safe, low risk move to make with a player they are quite familiar with.

Calgary Flames Recall Walker Duehr; Move Michael Stone To IR

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After being seen in a walking boot recently, Calgary Flames defenseman Michael Stone has been moved to injured reserve. To fill his spot on the roster, Walker Duehr has been recalled from the minor leagues.

Stone, 32, has been a regular in the Flames lineup this season after playing just a handful of games in each of the last four seasons. With 46 appearances and ten points, he has played and scored the most since 2017-18, even if he only averages a little over 13 minutes in those games. The veteran defenseman has been rather effective in that depth role, one he now cedes to Dennis Gilbert for the time being.

Both Stone brothers are now on injured reserve, as Vegas Golden Knights forward Mark Stone was also recently shifted there. Their next meeting, which would have been on Thursday, will have to wait.

Duehr, 25, has appeared in eight games this season for the Flames, scoring two goals. The undrafted forward has 15 goals and 26 points in 41 games with the Calgary Wranglers of the AHL, enough to earn him a little more time in the NHL. With three road games coming up this week, the Flames needed an extra body. He’ll get some nice bonus pay, even if he doesn’t get into the lineup on a regular basis.

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.

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