If he clears, Pelletier will presumably be assigned to the AHL’s Wranglers, but be claimed by another team
The Flames placed Pelletier, their first-round draft pick in 2019, on waivers Sunday.
If he clears, the 23-year-old left-winger will presumably be assigned to the AHL’s Wranglers. He could, however, be claimed by another team during the 24-hour waiver period, with the results revealed Monday at around noon MT.
Flames third-string netminder Devin Cooley and up-and-coming centre Cole Schwindt were also on waivers Sunday. Depth defenceman Joel Hanley was not, which indicates he will be on the initial 23-man roster.
While wingers Sam Honzek and Adam Klapka don’t require waivers, it continues to look like both will make the team.
“But I think it’s on me to kind of force their hand to play me each night and to stay here.”
Pelletier has totalled four goals and 10 points in 37 career contests at the NHL level. He was limited to only 13 games in 2023-24 due to a pair of shoulder injuries and has been passed on the forward depth chart by fellow youngsters Connor Zary, Martin Pospisil and now Klapka and Honzek.
The should-be sparkplug is waiver-eligible for the first time.
Pelletier was held off the score sheet in his five pre-season appearances this fall and Flames head coach Ryan Huska has acknowledged that he wanted to see more consistency from the popular prospect.
“We need to see the pace from him, where he hurries an opponent or a defenceman into mistakes. It’s using his speed to his advantage to create some problems for people,” Huska explained Friday, reminding that he auditioned Pelletier alongside the trusted shutdown duo of Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman. “We need to see that consistently from him. That’s a real part of the role that he is going to have to play. There’s a little bit of energy to his role.
“He has to be a guy who is responsible away from the puck. He had opportunities to play with Mikael and Blake for a couple games, because we see that in him, the kind of characteristics that we feel he can fit in that role. So it’s doing it consistently, and I think that’s probably the biggest thing you could say for most younger players that are trying to crack the lineup.”
Signed as a free agent over the summer, Cooley was impressive in his first camp with the Flames. The 27-year-old posted a .929 save percentage in 100 minutes of exhibition work.
Schwindt, 23, had one assist and a plus-3 rating in his four auditions.