The Calgary Flames have started trimming their training camp group ahead of Sunday’s pre-season opener against the Seattle Kraken, sending three players on American Hockey League contracts to the Calgary Wranglers.
Defencemen Kyle Walker and Kent Anderson, along with forward Alex Gallant, were assigned to the AHL club at Winsport, cutting the Flames’ camp roster to 45 players.
Walker, 26, has taken a winding route to this point. The Leduc, Alta., native spent four seasons in the Western Hockey League with Everett and Regina before moving on to USports and Mount Royal University.
After finishing there, he signed with the ECHL’s Reading Royals and later got a call to join an injury-riddled Wranglers team last spring. That stint was enough to earn him an AHL contract for this season.
He is a left shot defender.
Anderson’s path is similarly interesting. The 22-year-old Calgary product moved through McKnight minor hockey, CNHA, the Northstars and the Canucks before joining the AJHL’s Drumheller Dragons.
He then spent a season with the Green Bay Gamblers in the USHL before heading to college for four years with the NCAA’s University of Denver Pioneers. During that run, he won two national championships and served as captain in his senior season.
He, too, is on an AHL deal this year and is a right shot defender.
Gallant is the veteran of the trio and a familiar name in the Flames’ minor-league setup. The 33-year-old is entering his eighth season with the Heat/Wranglers and has built a reputation for his physical edge, his loud style, and his memorable fights.
He may not be known for high-end puck skill, but he has carved out a long pro career after two seasons in the QMJHL, followed by time in the SPHL and ECHL. A left shot winger, he’ll likely wear a letter for the Wranglers and won’t be in the lineup every night, but he’ll make his presence known when he is.
The Flames now have four goaltenders, 14 defencemen and 27 forwards left in camp. They still need to get down to a cap compliant 23-man roster by 3 p.m. MT next Monday.
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