While Okhotiuk would have been a candidate for a third-pairing role in the coming season, his departure isn’t a major whammy for the Flames
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Nikita Okhotiuk isn’t planning to stick around the Saddledome for next season.
After spending the final six weeks of the 2023-24 campaign with the Calgary Flames, the rugged rearguard is reportedly heading home to Russia. According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, Okhotiuk is signing a two-year contract with CSKA Moscow of the KHL.
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The 23-year-old Okhotiuk is a restricted free agent this summer, and the Flames can retain his NHL rights by extending a qualifying offer.
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Okhotiuk arrived in a deadline-day trade from the San Jose Sharks — the return price was a fifth-round draft pick in 2024 — but suited up for only nine games in Calgary’s colours, recording one assist, four penalty minutes and a minus-2 rating. Originally a second-round selection of the New Jersey Devils, he has so far totalled 67 appearances in the NHL spotlight.
While Okhotiuk would have been a candidate for a third-pairing role in the coming season, his departure isn’t a major whammy for the Flames. Both Brayden Pachal and Ilya Solovyov play a similar hard-nosed style, while veteran Joel Hanley was added via waivers and a crew of kids — Artem Grushnikov, Yan Kuznetsov, Jeremie Poirier and maybe even Hunter Brzustewicz — will be pushing for a job on the big-league blue-line.
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A more pressing concern for Flames general manager Craig Conroy is negotiating a new contract for Oliver Kylington. The 27-year-old is set to be an unrestricted free agent in July.
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Kylington returned to action in late January after missing a season and a half for mental-health reasons, an inspirational story that earned him a nod as a Masterton Trophy finalist. As long as he re-signs, the smooth-skating Swede will be leaned on for major minutes in 2024-25. On Calgary’s current defence depth chart, he would be pegged for a spot on the second pairing.
ICE CHIPS: This time, Flames forward Andrew Mangiapane is returning empty-handed from the world hockey championship. Mangiapane and his Canadian teammates suffered a 4-2 loss to Sweden in Sunday’s bronze medal game. The 28-year-old winger finished with seven points — a goal and six helpers — in 10 tournament outings. Mangiapane won gold with Canada in 2021.
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