Flames rookies set to join Young Stars
Tkachuk among notables on Calgary team headed to pre-training camp tourney in B.C.
It’s that time of the year again.
After an eventful off-season, the Calgary Flames rookies report to WinSport on Thursday for physicals and fitness testing as they get set to head to Penticton for the annual Young Stars tournament.
Headlining the group is Matthew Tkachuk, Calgary’s sixth-overall pick from this past summer’s draft along with 15 other forwards, nine defencemen and four goalies.
Other notables on the roster include Morgan Klimchuk, the 28th-overall pick from 2013, Mark Jankowski, a long-term college project who inked a two-year pact with the Flames this past spring, and goaltender Jon Gillies, who is coming off hip surgery last season.
The Flames welcome back a few players who skated with them at the summer development camp, including Lethbridge Hurricanes point-producing LW Brayden Burke, C Dennis Kravchenko out of U-Mass Amherst, heavyweight LW Justin Doucet, who split last year between Drummondville and Baie-Comeau of the QMJHL, LW Mathieu Sevigny of Drummondville, and D Roman Dyukov, a 20-year-old Belarusian on an AHLonly deal. Also receiving free-agent invites: LW Mikkel Aagaard, a Danish player out of Sudbury (OHL) and Calgary Hitmen D Aaron Hyman.
The Flame roster features three draft picks from 2012 (Gillies, D Ryan Culkin and Jankowski), two from 2013 (D Keegan Kanzig and Klimchuk), three from 2014 (G Mason McDonald, RW Hunter Smith and RW Austin Carroll), four from 2015 (D Rasmus Andersson, D Oliver Kylington, LW Andrew Mangiapane and D Riley Bruce) and six from this past draft in Buffalo (Tkachuk, G Tyler Parsons, C Dillon Dube, RW Eetu Tuulola, C Matthew Phillips and D Stepan Falkovsky).
Calgary brass will also observe D Kenney Morrison (who played 44 games with the Stockton Heat last year), C Ryan Lomberg (who impressed during training camp last season and played 15 games with the Stockton Heat and 43 contests with Calgary’s ECHL affiliate in Adirondack). They’ll also have another look at LW Brett Pollock, who was part of the Kris Russell trade to the Dallas Stars last winter.
Action starts Friday against the Winnipeg Jets (5 p.m. MT) and continues Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers (8:30 p.m. MT). The Flames have an off-day on Sunday and wrap up the annual prospects jamboree Monday versus Vancouver (4 p.m. MT).