Welcome to the Oil Rig’s Pacific Division preview series. Today let’s take a closer look at the Calgary Flames.
Overview of the Flames
The Flames have yet to truly bottom out, softening any perception of a full fledged rebuild. Still, true hope for championship aspirations, and thus the focus, lies in the years ahead. While it has been a slower process, GM Craig Conroy has truly added to the future of the team.
More investments have been made into high end young defencemen, the blueline of the future is taking shape. With a plethora of forward prospects, the Flames might only be missing a top centre to build around. Of course, high end centres are hard to come by, as even a chance to pick first overall does not guarantee a franchise defining player.
The Flames will look to stay relevant within the playoff picture, but even that requires some hope. The lineup will already feature a lot of young players. This might lead to a rough regular season record. This might be best for the Flames long term future, as drafting a star forward next year might be enough to turn the Flames into a promising program.
In other words, the best lens to view this team from might be how things look in 2027–28, when their new arena opens. Follow the money, go figure.
Forwards
Gridin—Frost—Coronato
Zary—Backlund—Farabee
Honzek—Strome—Sharangovich
Tsyplakov—Posposil—Klapka
Extras: Huberdeau (Dec), Nylander, Kerins, Othmann
Although the team has never “re-built,” there are a lot of young players providing the shape of this lineup. Matvei Gridin likely steals the spotlight, or at least the hype train. It is a distinct possibility that he leads this team in scoring. His offensive flair brings intrigue. Matthew Coronato had a down year, but is still expected to be one of the Flames best options up front. He may not be a premier top line scorer, but he is a core member of the lineup long term.
Connor Zary is looking to join him, but things have been even tougher. Injuries have played a factor, but the Flames resistance to letting him play as a scoring centre might be part of it too. The team made a similar error with Sam Bennett. Investing a first-round pick, years of development at centre, and not even taking a look seems a bit puzzling.
Instead, the Flames feature a more veteran centre group. Mikael Backlund remains effective defensively, while Ryan Strome provides the same on offence. Both together in the middle-six leaves a lot to be desired. Morgan Frost might be a cut above at this point, but it’s a clear area of need. Yegor Sharangovich and Joel Farabee provide some known quantities on the wing.
Samuel Honzek has shown flashes of a smart checking forward with some power forward upside, but injuries have been plentiful. He can be an effective middle-six forward who provides dimension more than scoring but he has to stay healthy first. Perhaps he might even be an option at centre. Rory Kerins might be another centre worth a look, despite his limited NHL experience.
While the Flames do have some reasonable forwards, the lack of high end talent makes the group a bit formless. Lots of role players, but not the pillars that can benefit from the support structure.
Defence
Bahl—Nemec
Middleton—Parekh
Kuznetsov—Whitecloud
Extras: Hanley, Pachal, Brzustewicz
Things are a bit further along on the blueline. The Flames boast two high end offensive talents on the right side. Simon Nemec joins Zayne Parekh as the future. Nemec should be farther along this season, and has been excellent outside of his limited role on the New Jersey Devils. Parekh is full value as one of the league’s top prospects. It might not be this season, but the future looks promising with these two playing most of the game.
Kevin Bahl, Zach Whitecloud, and Jacob Middleton are all established defensive defencemen who would help any lineup in the league. They provide a lot of things that both Nemec and Parekh benefit from in a partner. Between this defensive group and their veteran centres, the Flames will be a respectable defensive team.
It has also made it easier for other defencemen to jump in. Yan Kuznetsov might have a bright future if he can hold down a spot. Joel Hanley and Brayden Pachal are veterans who can fit it. Hunter Brzustewicz might only be a failsafe for a Nemec or Parekh absence until he rounds out his game enough to differentiate himself.
In all it is a fairly exciting blueline. They are equipped to go as far as Nemec and Parekh can take them. Even before considering Carson Carels, this should be a really strong blueline in the near future.
Goalies
Wolf
Cooley
Dustin Wolf has performed at every level. The Flames have been solid defensively, which certainly helps, but Wolf is full value for a great start to his career. Devin Cooley benefited from the Flames defence as well, posting a strong season.
Prediction for this season
Being hard to score on can go a long way towards a team’s record. This might continue to keep the Flames out of the bottom five altogether. The team has a lot built, and the timeline can quickly pass by. Acquiring star forwards, especially centres, is paramount. Drafting a high end prospect, lottery or otherwise, is a priority.
Growth will be important. Two of Gridin, Honzek, or Zary will need to assert themselves as part of the team’s core. At least one of Honzek, Zary, and Kerins will need to do so at centre. Giving those opportunities while they can will be important.
Development will be huge, as the next season or two will see some high end forward prospects coming into play. Having two of Cole Reschny, Cullen Potter, or Ethan Wyttenbach as contributors at that point will be crucial. Still, that alone will not be enough. There might have to be a trade, something assertive to help define this forward group.
This season the Flames should present a test. They might have the defensive chops to steal wins from undisciplined efforts by opponents. A growing offensive flair on the blueline should help team offence. While they might be able to flirt with a playoff spot, the Flames simply do not have the firepower to threaten beyond that. More than likely there will be bigger disasters who earn better lottery odds.
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