Flames assign Adam Klapka to the AHL’s Wranglers

The Calgary Flames have earned themselves a couple of days of rest following a hard-fought victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night. But before that break, they made a roster move, assigning forward Adam Klapka to the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers, as was announced on Saturday morning.

The 24-year-old Klapka is a big dude, a right shot winger listed at 6’8″ and 235 pounds. He was called up from the Wranglers on Nov. 11. While he was on the Flames’ roster for their past three games – Monday against Los Angeles, Tuesday against Vancouver and Friday against Nashville – he was a healthy scratch for all three. With the Flames idle until Tuesday’s game with the New York Islanders and Klapka having last played last Sunday for the Wranglers against Henderson (when he scored two goals), it made sense to send him down.

There’s no guarantee that Klapka leaps right into the Wranglers’ lineup, but we suspect that’s what will happen given his layoff. The Wranglers are beginning a pretty lengthy road trip, facing the San Jose Barracuda on Saturday and Sunday. After that, the Wranglers’ trip continues along with games against San Diego (Wednesday), Tucson (next Friday and Saturday) and Manitoba (Nov. 29 and Dec. 1) before returning home to host Tucson on Dec. 6.

We’re not sure how long Klapka will remain with the Wranglers; we suspect somebody will be called up from the Wranglers before the remainder of the Flames’ homestand, but it could be Klapka or it could be somebody else.

Klapka has split this season between the Flames and the Wranglers. He’s played five NHL games (with zero points) and five AHL games (with five points). In FlamesNation’s off-season staff voting, he was listed as the Flames’ 15th-best prospect.