After dominating the AHL from the moment the season kicked off, Rory Kerins is officially getting his first NHL opportunity after he was recalled by the team Friday morning. This mirrors Connor Zary being placed on IR after a scary hit he took Tuesday against the Anaheim Ducks.
Forward Rory Kerins has been recalled from the @ahlwranglers!
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) January 10, 2025
📄: https://t.co/AFPSWZJivA#Flames | @original16beer pic.twitter.com/aCYstzKJlL
A well-deserved opportunity for Kerins
It has been one fantastic season so far from Kerins in the AHL as he currently sits second in scoring with 34 points in 34 games. The sixth-round pick from the 2020 NHL Draft has scratched and clawed his way through the ranks and seemed to be a forgotten prospect the last couple of years, but he certainly made some noise with how well he has played with the Wranglers and this will be hopefully his first chance of many with the Flames.
It will be interesting to see how Kerins is used against the LA Kings on Saturday night. I wonder if they will throw him right into the thick of things and use him as Zary’s direct replacement down the middle on the line with Yegor Sharangovich and Jakob Pelletier.
If that is the case, it will be a huge chance for Kerins to solidify himself in the team’s future if he can perform well. Whether it works out or not, this opportunity is absolutely deserved.
Kerins’ dream coming true
If it wasn’t exciting enough for Kerins to get his first NHL chance, doing it for the team he grew up cheering for can only make it that sweeter. This is what Kerins tweeted back in 2020 after he was drafted.
crazy how some things workout in life… thank you @NHLFlames – dreams come true. @OHLHoundPower pic.twitter.com/fCNPTa67Gp
— Rory Kerins (@kerinssy23) October 8, 2020
Crisis averted with Zary and his injury
On the flip side of things, it looked like the Flames avoided a major disaster with Zary’s injury as there are reports that his injury may not be as serious as it was once feared.
Update: Bit of good news on #Flames forward Connor Zary as sources say initial imaging on Thursday indicated no damage to ACL or MCL in his left knee.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) January 10, 2025
Still assessing injury and more medical opinion(s) required to determine exact timeline, but a couple major bullets dodged.
The Flames have yet to give an official update on Zary, but we can only hope that is good news and that the forward will only miss a short amount of time.
