The Calgary Flames will formally announce their opening night roster later today. Since arriving in Calgary in the spring of 2014, general manager Brad Treliving has consistently warned that the opening roster is a starting point but not necessarily set in stone.
Looking back at his tenure, two trends emerge:
- There have always been roster changes within a few weeks of the season’s start.
- Treliving has usually been up to some kind of weird shenanigans that surrounded the opening roster deadline, which often involved creativity in roster construction or salary cap management.
The 2014-15 season
Goalies (2): Jonas Hiller and Karri Ramo
Defensemen (7): TJ Brodie, Raphael Diaz, Deryk Engelland, Mark Giordano, Kris Russell, Ladislav Smid and Dennis Wideman
Forwards (14): Mikael Backlund, Brandon Bollig, Lance Bouma, Paul Byron, Joe Colborne, Johnny Gaudreau, Curtis Glencross, Jiri Hudler, David Jones, Brian McGrattan, Sean Monahan, Mason Raymond, Devin Setoguchi and Matt Stajan
Injured: D Corey Potter, F Emile Poirier, F Sam Bennett
Josh Jooris was recalled from Stockton by mid-October after a strong camp (and injuries to Lance Bouma and David Jones that opened up a roster spot).