Former first rounder Juuso Valimaki among three players waived by Flames

The Calgary Flames have placed prospect defenceman Juuso Valimaki on waivers Saturday.

Valimaki, who turned 24 on Thursday, was the No. 16 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft. 

“I think you guys know I don’t like to comment too much on that until we go through the process, but those three are on waivers today,” Flames general manager Brad Treliving said. 

“I think the longest sort of guy here with me is Juuso. And I think we all know it’s been a tough couple years for Juuso. He’s had some injuries and then just getting some traction here the last little bit. We’ll see. We’ll see where it all goes.

“We’re like everybody else. We’ve got to get down in our roster situation. The Oliver Kylington situation…our No. 1 focus is Oliver’s well-being…but there’s also cap implications and all those types of things that factor in. We’ve got some things going on.”

Kylington is away from the team because of personal matters.

Valimaki has been plagued with injury issues throughout the past four seasons. He missed 28 games in the 2018-19 season because of a lower-body injury, and the entire 2019-20 season because of an ACL injury. 

He has 16 points (three goals, 13 assists) in 82 career NHL games. 

Valimaki was one of three players on waivers for Calgary on Saturday, including blueliner Dennis Gilbert and recently-acquired forward Radim Zohorna.