Calgary Flames announce Jakob Pelletier out indefinitely with left shoulder injury requiring surgery

Pelletier was injured late in the first period of the Flames’ home game with the Seattle Kraken on Monday evening, being checked awkwardly into the boards by Kraken forward Marian Studenic. Studenic was given a boarding major and a game misconduct on the play.

Pelletier is a 22-year-old product of Quebec City and a left-shot winger. He was the Flames’ first-round selection in 2019 and has been steadily progressing since being drafted. He went pro in 2021-22 with the Stockton Heat and was named to the AHL’s All-Rookie Team. He made his NHL debut in 2022-23 and played 24 games, amassing four goals and seven points. He was pencilled in for an NHL job this fall, with general manager Craig Conroy commenting in interviews that Pelletier would have to have a really bad camp to not make the opening roster.

Pelletier’s deal carries an $863,333 cap hit, and with him beginning the season on the season-opening injury reserve, he’ll carry a $406,000 cap hit while he’s on the shelf. He would be eligible for placement on the long-term injury reserve if he was to miss 10 games and 24 days, which it unfortunately sounds like he will.

It’s a big setback for one of the most NHL-ready players in the Flames system.