The Calgary Flames have placed blueliner Dennis Gilbert on the injured reserve. Following a brutal slew-foot from Phil Tomasino in the Flames’ win over the Nashville Predators on January 4, Gilbert has been out of the lineup with what appears to be a concussion. Given the timeline, it is safe to assume that this move is retroactive to the date of his injury, allowing the Flames a little bit of additional cap room.
What does this mean for the Flames?
The Flames have been quite good without Gilbert in their last stretch—currently on a four-game winning streak. This isn’t a slight on him or his play, it’s just the results they’ve gotten. In his absence, the team has played Nick DeSimone and Jordan Oesterle as the bottom pair and opted to not have a seventh healthy defenceman in the lineup.
Moving Gilbert to the IR gives the Flames a roster spot but also additional cap flexibility. This may mean the Flames look to call up another defenceman to serve as the seventh blueliner or rotate into the lineup. Ilya Solovyov, Yan Kuznetsov, or Brady Lyle are all possibilities, with Solovyov being probably the most likely.
This is likely a short-term move as the team prepares for the return of Oliver Kylington, who had his conditioning assignment with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers extended. He should be finished with that assignment following the team’s game against the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Friday night. This move won’t impact the cap, as Kylington continues to count against it, but it will mean the Flames will need the roster spot available.
There is a lot of movement right now with the Flames. Walker Duehr is currently on waivers, and if he clears should be on his way back to the AHL, Jacob Markstrom is currently day-to-day with Dustin Wolf filling in, and this latest news on Gilbert, has made for an interesting time in the organization. This adds to the murkiness around exactly what the Flames are doing here, and whether there is something larger in the works that they are clearing room for.
No matter what happens, all the best to Gilbert in his recovery from injury.
