Canadian team places young forward on waivers to terminate his contract
The Calgary Flames are off to a great start this year, and now they are reportedly terminating young AHL forward Ilya Nikolaev.
This season was meant to be a rebuilding one for the Calgary Flames, with fans expecting to see plenty of new, young talent emerging to lead this team into the future like they did a season ago with the likes of Dustin Wolf, Martin Pospisil, and Connor Zary.
However, they are now rolling with a 12-7-4 record through 23 games played, with the Stanley Cup Playoffs seemingly a goal for them this season, and they have now made a shock decision on a 23-year-old AHL forward.
According to a report, the Flames are terminating the contract of center Ilya Nikolaev, who was a third-round draft pick of the team back in the 2019 NHL Draft, with the reason behind the move unknown at this point.
In nine games played for the AHL's Calgary Wranglers this season, Nikolaev has posted four assists and a -3 differential, and with the NHL squad's dire need for centers, it's certainly an intriguing decision for them to make.
In pre-season action over the last few years, Nikolaev has been solid, and while he wasn't banging down the door for a role on the NHL team, it's safe to say that this move came out of nowhere.
Through his career thus far, the Russian forward has seemingly stayed out of trouble and has done the right things on and off the ice, so at this point, it's unclear what has happened for Calgary to make this move for now.
Ultimately though, Nikolaev likely wasn't playing into their plans very shortly, so while he has the potential to make a career for himself elsewhere, it appears that simply won't be with Calgary.
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