Approximately 24 hours after placing Jordan Oesterle on waivers, the Calgary Flames have called up defenceman Nick DeSimone from the Calgary Wranglers.
DeSimone, 28, is in the second year of a two-year deal he signed during the 2022 offseason with the Flames. The seven-year pro was able to see the first NHL action of his career in 2022-23, suiting up for four games on the Flames blue line while averaging 11:15 minutes per outing.
Though DeSimone hasn’t gotten much opportunity at the NHL level to this point in his career, he has become a very good AHL defenceman over the years. In 65 games with the Wranglers last season, he had an impressive eight goals and 46 points. He’s off to another solid start in 2023-24 with four helpers through six appearances.
DeSimone will likely be competing with Dennis Gilbert as to who the Flames use as their sixth defenceman on a nightly basis. Gilbert doesn’t have the same offensive upside as DeSimone but brings a physical element which Flames head coach Ryan Huska has found very useful early in the season.
This sequence of moves is one that the Flames are believed to have done in order to try and get a spark out of the players. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman recently reported that there was a chance they would put a veteran on waivers to send a message, and they did just that with Oesterle. The 31-year-old has since cleared waivers and is expected to be reassigned to the Wranglers.
Whether this move does indeed get a spark out of the Flames remains to be seen, but they could desperately use one. They are currently on a six-game losing streak which has resulted in their record falling to 2-7-1 on the season. Their first chance to get back into the win column will come tomorrow night in a game against the Seattle Kraken.
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