Calgary Flames place Chris Tanev on injury reserve, activate Brett Ritchie from IR

Ritchie last played on Dec. 31, when he suffered an upper body injury. Tanev was injured against Columbus on Jan. 23, so his first day on the IR (retroactively) would be Jan. 24. He’ll be eligible to return after being (retroactively) on the IR for seven days, which would make him able to be activated as of Jan. 31. The Flames are heading into the All-Star Break and won’t play for nine days, so this move doesn’t hamper the Flames’ roster flexibility in any way.

Heck, activating Ritchie and placing Tanev on the IR does a few things. It makes Ritchie eligible to play against Seattle on Friday. It keeps the Flames at a 23-man active roster, so if they want to get down to a minimum active roster size for their gap between games to maximize cap space, they could send Dennis Gilbert, Walker Duehr and Jakob Pelletier to the AHL and remain at the legal roster limit.

It’s a simple swap of an injured player for a recovered player, but it likely gives the Flames a bit of breathing room and flexibility in the short and medium-terms.