Calgary Flames Unexpectedly Terminate the Contract of Young Centre
The Calgary Flames unexpectedly terminated the contract of the young center Ilya Nikolaev.
General Manager Craig Conroy decided to make an official roster move on Thursday afternoon by placing Ilya Nikolaev on waivers with the purpose of terminating his contract.
According to Puck Pedia, this is a mutual agreement between the player and the organization.
Nikolaev was drafted 88th by the Calgary Flames in 2019. Since then, the 23-year-old Russian forward spent his time between the AHL and the ECHL.
Since joining the AHL in 2022, he only took part in 43 games with the Calgary Wranglers, and 48 in the ECHL with the Rapid City Rush.
This season, he had four assists and a -3 rating with the Wranglers in nine games.
This may seem like a small move, but all decisions and changes can impact the team in the long run.
It'll be interesting to see what happens for the next chapter of his hockey career. Players of that age who never got a shot at the NHL often think about moving their careers to somewhere else, like in Europe or Russia.
By cutting his contractual ties with his NHL organization, Nikolaev could be on his way out of the league, and even out of North America.
As for the Flames, who knows what they'll do with that additional contract spot?
The team has had a surprisingly good start to the season, currently 2nd in the Pacific Division with a 12-7-4 record.
If Calgary keeps that rhythm, the organization could be interested in making acquisitions before the trade deadline.
Adding a top-six forward or a top-four defenseman would greatly help their chances of making the playoffs, especially with teams like the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks in their division.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Taylor Hall | 3 | - | 3 | |
| Brayden Point | 3 | - | 3 | |
| Brock Nelson | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Bryan Rust | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Pavel Zacha | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Quinn Hughes | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Carter Verhaeghe | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Erik Karlsson | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Elias Lindholm | - | 3 | 3 | |
| David Pastrnak | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Tim Stutzle | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Adam Gaudette | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Dylan Holloway | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Brad Marchand | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Aleksander Barkov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sam Bennett | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sean Couturier | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Alex DeBrincat | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack Drury | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Cutter Gauthier | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 23 | 18 | 5 | - | 36 | |
Hurricanes | 22 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 33 | |
Wild | 22 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 32 | |
Devils | 25 | 15 | 8 | 2 | 32 | |
Capitals | 22 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 31 | |
Golden Knights | 23 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 31 | |
Maple Leafs | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Flames | 23 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 28 | |
Panthers | 23 | 13 | 9 | 1 | 27 | |
Kings | 23 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 27 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||