Jakob Pelletier is ready to fight for a spot with the Calgary Flames

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A year ago, Jakob Pelletier began training camp as the favorite for a spot on the Calgary Flames' opening roster.

This path is less clear today.

Two shoulder injuries have derailed Pelletier's 2023-24 season, limiting him largely to AHL duties with the Calgary Wranglers. Despite the prevailing belief that the Flames are in the midst of a rebuild, there are arguably more wingers ahead of him on the roster now than there were a year ago.

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The last year has been challenging physically and emotionally, but after a summer of spending time with his family, rehabbing his shoulder and playing a lot of golf, he feels centered and like himself again.

“You kind of get back to basics. There's a lot of things that happened off the ice that people don't know,” Pelletier said. “Going home and seeing my family and my brothers and spending time with them, that was the most important thing. You just need a break, it was like — sorry, but it is what it is. I took a break, I cleared my head.”

With a clear view and in impeccable health, Pelletier hopes to pick up where he left off in the 2022/23 season, when he scored three goals and provided four assists in 24 games in the second half of the season.

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However, the 23-year-old has his hands full if he wants to earn a place in the squad after the training camp.

The signing of Anthony Mantha and Ryan Lomberg as free agents has added depth to the Flames' roster on the wings. The signing of Andrei Kuzmenko last season had the same effect, and the emergence of Connor Zary and Martin Pospisil – who may play centre this year – into productive NHL players who impress on a daily basis means there aren't many open spots on the wings just waiting to be filled.

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Before last season, Flames GM Craig Conroy talked about leaving spots open for young players, but they didn't really do that during the offseason.

If guys like Pelletier and Matt Coronato want to play a lot of minutes in the NHL this year, they will have to compete against some guys who have significantly more experience.

“They have to earn their spot, nothing is given to them,” Flames head coach Ryan Huska said. “I know everyone wants a young player and if they can displace someone and be better than someone else, then that's great because that makes our team better.”

“There is a lot of competition at the front of our team, and this is where we are strongest.”

Pelletier, the Flames' first-round pick in 2019 (26th overall), isn't complaining about the challenge. He himself admits that, through no fault of his own, last year simply didn't go the way anyone would have wanted.

After a serious shoulder operation and a lengthy rehabilitation, a second shoulder injury followed shortly after his return to action. This shook his self-confidence.

But after a great summer, he is now feeling better both mentally and physically and has no problem earning his place this year.

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“I was kind of the underdog everywhere I went, from Midget to here,” Pelletier said. “I proved all the time that I could play, and now it's my turn to do it again. I remember my first year in the AHL, not many people would have put me where I was, but I told myself, 'Pelts, you just have to go back to basics and play the game that got you here,' and that's what I'm going to do now and for the next six or seven months.”

ICE CHIPS

Matvei Gridin finally knows where he will play next year. The Flames' first-round draft pick, 28th overall, was traded from the Val-d'Or Foreurs to the Shawinigan Cataractes on Friday morning. Gridin was scheduled to play at the University of Michigan this season, but opted to go through the Canadian juniors and was drafted first by Val-d'Or in the annual import draft. He is currently at Flames training camp … Kevin Bahl did not participate in practice at Winsport for the second straight day on Friday. Huska said he is getting better every day and will not be out long, but he will not practice Saturday either … The Flames have extended their partnership with Play Alberta and will wear a patch featuring the AGLC's responsible gambling program, GameSense, on their home helmets and a Play Alberta badge on their home jerseys. The Stampeders, Wranglers and Roughnecks will also all incorporate the Play Alberta logo into their uniforms.

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