Wranglers inaugural season roster: Where are they now?

The wider the range of skills you have on a roster, the more interesting the games. The Calgary Wranglers’ inaugural season roster in 2022-23 has many exciting games with a variety of skill sets, which are now benefiting the Calgary Flames at the NHL level. In the three short years since the team made the move, there have been many successes that prove the system for developing the Flames’ prospects is working.

Here’s where the first Wranglers are these days.

Dustin Wolf

This player is top of mind for many Flames fans and has earned attention across the league now. The Calder Trophy candidate last season, Dustin Wolf, has turned into the special player we expected him to be. Last year in his first full season in the NHL, he played 53 games, earned a .910 save percentage, a 2.64 GAA and finished with a 20-12-3. He was a main part of the reason the Flames were even in a playoff conversation. 

Wolf has emerged as a franchise goaltender for the Flames and locked himself in to Calgary in a seven-year contract extension earlier this month valued at $53.5 million ($7.5 million per season). He has earned his era as the Flames’ starting goaltender for the next many years and wears that with pride and love for the city of Calgary. 

Connor Zary

Connor Zary had a bit of injury trouble last season with knee injuries that kept him out for weeks at a time. His second flare-up towards the end of the season ended his season with the Flames on Mar. 27. Despite these setbacks, Zary still got 54 games in with the Flames and put up 27 points consisting of 13 goals and 14 assists. 

This month, Connor Zary signed a three year extension through the end of the 2027-28 season. He’s earned his spot in the NHL and has played 117 games to date with 61 points in that time. 

Martin Pospisil

Pospisil has been in the Calgary Flames’ system since the 2019-20 season. By the time he was on the Wranglers, he was pretty much on his way to being an NHLer. He only played in 20 games that season due to injury, but the following year, once he recovered, he spent most of the year at the NHL level. Since then, he’s played 144 NHL games and has 49 points to date.

Last season, he played in all the Flames games with the exception of one. His point totals last season were 25 points made up of four goals and 21 assists. Martin Pospisil was another off-season contract piece of business that took place. He signed a three year contract extension back at the end of July.

Adam Klapka

Adam Klapka turned heads with his 6’8” stature and emerging physical game after the Wranglers’ inaugural season. He got his first handful of NHL games, then last season had nearly an even split between the NHL and AHL. For the Wranglers, he had 26 points in 33 games and for the Flames, he had 10 points in 31 games. 

He earned himself a two year contract extension in early June and status as a full-time NHL winger. 

Brett Sutter

The Wranglers’ first captain in team history has hung up his jersey and picked up his suit to emerge into the coaching side of things. What started as an assistant coach role turned into an interim head coach role around the midway mark of last season and has now become a permanent head coaching role. 

Clark Bishop

Clark Bishop remains as one of the AHL vets with the Wranglers. Once his linemate, Brett Sutter, moved on to coaching, he took the reins as captain of the team. He put up career totals last season and earned a six-game look with the Flames for his first NHL games since the 2021-22 season, and even put up a goal in his first game back at that level. Bishop was re-signed to a one year, two-way contract extension at the end of June. 

Dryden Hunt and Ilya Solovyov

While these two play different positions, they feel like they’re in a similar spot between the Flames and Wranglers. A fringe spot, to be exact. They’re both reliable players with NHL experience and seem to be one of the first call-ups made when injuries or circumstances call for it up at the Flames. 

Hunt serves as alternate captain when he’s with the Wranglers and played 49 games with them last season. He put up 49 points and was a key part of the top line. He spent some time with the Flames as an extra body as well and ended up getting into five games where he put up three assists.

Solovyov was a similar story but played 10 more games in the AHL. He had 28 points in the AHL and one assist in the 5 games he played in. Both these players had more NHL time in the season prior in 2023-24.

Hunt signed a two-year, two-way contract extension in June. Solovyov’s two-year contract extension was back in 2024, and he plays the last year of it this season. 

Flames still hold NHL rights

Connor Zary, William Stromgren, Martin Pospisil, Adam Klapka, Rory Kerins, Dryden Hunt, Clark Bishop, Parker Bell, Ilya Solovyov, Jeremie Poirier, Yan Kuznetsov, Dustin Wolf, Daniil Chechelev

NHL rights held by another team

Cole Schwindt (Las Vegas), Walker Duehr (Winnipeg), Ben Jones (Minnesota), Dennis Gilbert (Philadelphia), Nick DeSimone (Utah), Jakob Pelletier (Tampa Bay)

Everyone else who played on the inaugural season roster, like Matthew Phillips, Emilio Petterson, Mitch McLain, Radim Zohorna, are either on AHL or ECHL deals, retired or playing in international leagues. 

This team that came to Calgary from Stockton, CA, had an exceptional first season, earning the AHL regular season title and the Pacific Division title. Those banners can be seen during Wranglers games, and for how far most of that roster has gone in the seasons since, you can really tell how special that team was.