With his 28th birthday coming up on November 21, Nick DeSimone’s professional career thus far has seen him log 274 career AHL games under his belt. However, given the current injury chaos inside the Flames’ defence corps, DeSimone will be making his NHL debut tonight on the third pairing alongside Connor Mackey when the puck drops this evening versus the New York Islanders at UBS Arena.
DeSimone’s time with the Calgary Wranglers
DeSimone’s initial one-year, two-way deal with the club came on July 28, 2021, and through 68 games in Stockton last season, he registered four goals and 21 assists for 25 points, while tagging along a +10. His performance in 2021–22 earned him a two-year, two-way extension ($762,500 AAV) with the club this past summer when free agency opened on July 13.
This is DeSimone’s second professional season inside the Flames organization, and the right-handed shot defenceman has gotten off to a pretty solid start with the Wranglers out of the gate. DeSimone has so far registered one goal and five assists, for a total of six points through eight games played this season—making for a pace of 0.75 points per game. He currently ranks seventh on the Wranglers in team scoring and is the only other defenceman besides Jeremie Poirier currently ranking inside the top 10.
Ready to fill in
With no current set timetables on the returns of Chris Tanev (upper body injury—he made the trip and did skate this morning, but will be missing his third straight game tonight), Michael Stone (currently undisclosed—will be on the IR for at least a week) and Oliver Kylington (personal reasons), let’s hope the team is able to weather the current storm of losses on the backend as much as possible.
That’s what we like to hear. The Flames are out East, so for the first time this season, puck drop is at 5pm MST. Don’t miss it!
Photo from calgarywranglers.com.
