And then there were 28.
With three preseason games remaining, the Flames trimmed down their roster Sunday, and now have 15 forwards, 10 defenseman and three goaltenders remaining in camp.
Walker Duehr, Adam Klapka, Yan Kuznetsov, Mitch McLain, Jakob Pelletier, Cole Schwindt, Ilya Solovyov, Brett Sutter and Connor Zary were all assigned, while Clark Bishop, Oscar Dansk, Nick DeSimone, Ben Jones, Matthew Phillips and Colton Poolman were placed. on waivers for the purpose of being assigned to the Wranglers.
Flames head coach Darryl Sutter had high praise for the players, and gave his assessment on what he saw from them.
“The 18 players that went today, they all had good camps,” he said. “They fall into three brackets: entry-levels, guys out of entry-level, and the older group. There’s guys in every group that were really good and guys in that group that outperformed guys that are still here.
“It’s a good group and you can tell that they are the right type of guys. There’s guys in each position that got to take that next step. There’s guys in those entry-levels that maybe weren’t quite as good in this camp they ‘ve got work to do. That’s the evolution of a young player.”
“It’s tough to go to the next level, very simple. There’s size, strength, knowledge, everyone has lots to work on.”
Video: “Now tighten it up, and take the next step”
LINEUP AT PRACTICE:
Jonathan Huberdeau – Elias Lindholm – Tyler Toffoli
Andrew Mangiapane – Nazem Kadri – Dillon Dube
Kevin Rooney – Mikael Backlund – Blake Coleman
Milan Lucic – Cody Eakin – Trevor Lewis
Sonny Milano – Adam Ruzicka – Brett Ritchie
Noah Hanifin – Rasmus Andersson
Nikita Zadorov – MacKenzie Weegar
Jeremie Poirer – Chris Tanev
Connor Mackey – Michael Stone
Juuso Valimaki – Nicolas Meloche
Jacob Markstrom
Dan Vladar
UP NEXT:
The Flames preseason schedule continues Monday when they take on the Kraken at the Scotiabank Saddledome at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed on CalgaryFlames.com.
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