The Calgary Flames have officially lost a depth piece as the San Jose Sharks claimed forward Walker Duehr off waivers today. He will join former Flame Tyler Toffoli in the Bay Area.
End of an era for Duehr
Signed out of Minnesota State Mankatoat the end of the 2020–21 season, Duehr was a reasonably consistent depth piece for the Flames for the last two seasons. However, what started off well did not last, as he became more of a healthy scratch than an option in the lineup.
Known for his size and skating, he had 19 points in 20 games for the Wranglers this year, but just couldn’t put it all together at the NHL level, with just one assist in 16 games for the Flames. He ends his tenure in Calgary with 19 points in 84 games, but 11 of those points came in the 2022–23 season.
What does this mean for the Flames?
Realistically, the team already has a lot of wingers in the lineup, and even more close to NHL-ready in the AHL. Between Dryden Hunt, Clark Bishop, Martin Frk, William Stromgren, Sam Honzek and Adam Klapka, there are a lot of options to fill his role in case of injury.
The bigger impact is to the Wranglers’ depth, who lose a winger they probably would have loved to have had The team has struggled to get scoring of late, dropping their last game 6–1 to the Ontario Reign. While they do have options, losing a good AHLer is not good for the Wranglers’ depth.
While sad for those who believed he could have been a decent NHLer, all the best to the South Dakotan on the next step in his journey.
