News Flames Team Notes

[Calgary Flames]

Should the Flames sign Ilya Samsonov for extra goaltending depth this season?

There was no better story last season than the dominance Dustin Wolf displayed in his first full NHL campaign. Now, the support Wolf will get heading into his second full season is up in the air at this time.

Heading into the off-season, it was clear the Calgary Flames would need to address their goaltending depth. With a strong chance Dan Vladar wouldn’t return — which he didn’t — a roster spot opened up heading into the 2025-26 season.

On the opening day of free agency, Calgary signed Russian netminder Ivan Prosvetov to a one-year deal. He was coming off a strong season in the KHL, posting a 2.32 goals-against average, a .920 save percentage, four shutouts and a 20-16-2 record.

The current plan is for Prosvetov to compete with Devin Cooley for the backup job at training camp. Cooley got off to a red-hot start in the AHL last season, earning an All-Star Game nod, but struggled down the stretch. It became clear he couldn’t simply be handed the backup role if it became available.

That sets up the Flames’ top three goaltenders as Wolf, Prosvetov and Cooley — a trio with a combined 101 career NHL games, 71 of which belong to Wolf. There’s not much of a safety net if injuries occur or if someone falters.

That begs the question: Should the Flames go with what they have and hope one of Cooley or Prosvetov builds off a strong 2024-25 campaign and becomes reliable at the NHL level? Or should they consider bringing in a veteran to add stability in the crease?

If the latter makes more sense, Ilya Samsonov could be a fit.

The 28-year-old Russian netminder is set to enter his seventh NHL season. Samsonov spent last season with the Vegas Golden Knights but was limited to just 29 games due to injury, finishing with a 16-9-4 record, a 2.82 GAA and an .891 save percentage.

Before joining Vegas, Samsonov spent two seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs and three with the Washington Capitals. He’s been a consistent and dependable option over the years, even appearing in 22 playoff games during his career.

If the Flames were to bring in Samsonov, it wouldn’t threaten Wolf’s starts — the crease belongs to him. But no goalie plays all 82 games. Prosvetov looked sharp in the KHL, but his past NHL stints have been rocky. Cooley, too, remains unpredictable. With a veteran like Samsonov, at least you have a clearer idea of what you’re getting. Plus, it would just be temporary. The Flames would not need to commit to Samsonov long term.

One thing the Flames will need to be mindful of, however, is the ripple effect at the AHL level. Prospect Arsenii Sergeev is turning pro this season, and if the Wranglers end up with three goalies, it could impact Sergeev’s development due to limited playing time. (The Flames have also signed college netminder Owen Say, and he’ll be playing pro, too.)

Perhaps the Flames roll with what they have. There’s nothing wrong with that — and a goaltending battle at camp could be fun to watch. Still, it doesn’t rule out the possibility of signing someone early in the season if things don’t go well. That’s a realistic option, too. There will likely be a few goalies left unsigned as the off-season wraps up, and Samsonov could be one of them.

Are you comfortable with the Flames’ current goaltending situation? Or should they bring in some additional help?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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Source: https://flamesnation.ca/news/should...sonov-for-extra-goaltending-depth-this-season

 

[Calgary Flames]

Parker Bell developed his 200 foot and physical game in his rookie season with the Wranglers

Parker Bell played his first professional season with the Calgary Wranglers last season and as time went on, the growth in his game was starting to show. He was effective in creative ways when he wasn’t scoring and worked alongside a lot of veteran players over the course of the season. He was also one of the prospects that took some tips from Alex Gallant and embraced a more physical style of play in the back half of the season.

Bell was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the 2022 NHL Draft, going 155th overall in the fifth round. He is one of the tallest Wranglers (especially with Adam Klapka graduating to the Flames) at 6’5”.

Bell played his Junior Career with the Tri-City Americans and went back-to-back seasons with 64 points before making his professional debut with the Wranglers in the 2023-24 season. He got a two game preview at the end of the year and did not put up any points. He did not make the lineup for any of the post-season games that season.

2024-25 expectations​

Parker Bell’s professional experience was quite limited going into the 2024-25 season. The expectation for him was to ease into it, learn the ropes and figure out where he landed talent-wise compared to his teammates. Bell wasn’t a name being thrown around for an NHL debut this season but he was still a well enough known name to follow along with at the AHL level. He had the skillset that made him seem like an lineup option nearly every night, so this season appeared to be a good whole year of learning.

2024-25 results​

Bell did transition into this league well and as time went on, he did figure out what kind of game he’d like to lean into. It seemed at first, he was going for a sniper mentality to try and make a run for more playing time but did also put a lot of pressure on himself. At this level in the Flames organization, it seems the AHL guys need to light it up from the get-to to even get a second look and Bell likely felt some of this need to produce and produce consistently.

Bell finished the season with 61 games played and a total of 12 points consisting of seven goals and five assists. His first professional goal came on Oct. 22 against the Bakersfield Condors and his season high was two goals against the Manitoba Moose on Nov. 29. His consistency wasn’t quite there for this first season but his opportunities were quite limited in big game scenarios, power play and overtime chances.

They needed that one! Parker Bell gives the Wranglers the lead late in the second period. pic.twitter.com/4wPLmQtVyB

— Paige Siewert (@thathockeygirly) March 1, 2025

His last game of the season was on Apr. 12, where he was punched square in the face and taken down in a fight that appeared to have caused a minor head injury. He was benched the rest of the season and into playoffs as a precaution.

When Parker Bell spoke to the media at Wranglers exit meetings about his rookie season, he talked about continuing to develop that physical style of play, saying:

“I think coming from junior, I had to adjust a little bit. You become more of a 200-foot player, and more defensive and hard to play against. I think adding that to my game will help me next year.”

Bell continued:

“From September to now is a big difference for me. I think I’ve improved and I think you come back just a little more confident.”

Next season’s expectations​

Parker Bell has some work to do on positioning and speed this summer but if he comes into the Fall able to play more into his size, he could elevate his spot in the Wranglers lineup to take the next step in his game. The most important part is that he’s had enough time away from the game to fully recover, then set his sights on year two of his contract.

He’s in a group of sink or swim prospects in the AHL that have their young age and early career time on their side but a three year ELC flies by. The end of it doesn’t mean the end of your development, but if that club is not seeing what they’d like to, you’re not going to stick around much longer beyond that. This upcoming season will be a big test and opportunity for Bell.

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Source: https://flamesnation.ca/news/parker...-game-in-his-rookie-season-with-the-wranglers

 

[Calgary Flames]

The Flames’ best fights of 2024-25: Ryan Lomberg took on the much bigger Mathieu Olivier

On an afternoon game in late November, a hockey game broke out at a fight night.

The Calgary Flames visited the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 29, 2024. If that game on that date sounds familiar, we’ve already covered one of the fights from that day. In fact, there were three of them.

A quick recap for those who didn’t read it: Martin Pospíšil dropped the gloves with Jake Christiansen after he laid out Andrei Kuzmenko with a clean, open ice hit. That fight wasn’t a top-five ranked fight according to Hockeyfights, but Pospíšil’s second fight against Mathieu Olivier was. In the end, the Blue Jacket got the better of Pospíšil, as he stepped in for Joel Hanley this time.

Would you believe it if I told you that one of the toughest guys in the league got into his second fight of the period? Well, at the end of the fight-filled second, Olivier dropped the mitts with Ryan Lomberg, the Flame with the most fights in 2024-25.

Off the offensive zone face-off, the two were jawing at one another, and they dropped the gloves as the puck dropped. Olivier has a clear size advantage, and he used it in this fight, as Lomberg got maybe three punches in, while Olivier got about 20 punches in (it was 22, I counted). Lomberg’s biggest punch was his first one, getting it in after about five seconds.

Of the 87 voters on Hockeyfights, only one voted for Lomberg, as 99% of voters picked Olivier as the fight winner. Honestly, it’s hard to argue against that. This fight had a rating of 7.79, the highest-voted Flames’ fight in 2024-25.

It’s not Lomberg’s size that makes him valuable. Standing at 5’9”, 184 pounds, the left winger plays like he’s 6’3”, fighting any challenger and sticking up for teammates. While he may not have won this fight, nor did the Flames win this game, Lomberg was easily the best teammate on the Flames in 2024-25.

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Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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Source: https://flamesnation.ca/news/the-fl...mberg-took-on-the-much-bigger-mathieu-olivier

 

[Calgary Flames]

3 Flames prospects to represent Canada at the World Junior Summer Showcase

We’re into the meat of the off-season, friends, which means it’s time for preparations to begin for the 2026 edition of the World Junior Championship tournament. The World Junior Summer Showcase, hosted by USA Hockey in Minnesota, begins on Sunday. In advance of the event, Hockey Canada has finally announced the roster for their entry at this event.

Three Calgary Flames prospects will be suiting up for Canada at the 2025 Summer Showcase: Zayne Parekh, Cole Reschny and Henry Mews. (This was previously reported on social media by The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler in early July.) This trio joins Cullen Potter, representing the United States, as Flames representatives at this event.

The 19-year-old Parekh was a first-round pick of the Flames, ninth overall, in the 2024 NHL Draft. He’s a right shot blueliner who’s spent the past few seasons with the Saginaw Spirit dominating the OHL offensively. He previously represented Canada at the 2022 Under-17 Hockey Challenge and the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. He also played for Canada during pre-tournament games at the 2025 World Championship. We’ve written about and discussed Parekh extensively over the past couple of years: he’s very good at hockey and could be playing for the Flames this fall.

The 18-year-old Reschny was a first-round pick of the Flames, 18th overall, in the 2025 NHL Draft. He’s a left shot centre who spent the last few seasons with the WHL’s Victoria Royals, but he’s headed to college to play at the University of North Dakota this coming season. He’s previously represented Canada at the 2023 Under-17 Hockey Challenge, the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and the 2025 Under-18 Worlds.

The 19-year-old Mews was a third-round pick of the Flames, 74th overall, in the 2024 NHL Draft. He’s a right shot blueliner who’s headed to college this fall with the University of Michigan, coming on the heels of a pretty strong run in the OHL with the Ottawa 67’s and Sudbury Wolves. He previously represented Canada at the 2022 Under-17 Hockey Challenge, the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and the 2024 Under-18 Worlds.

The 2025 World Junior Summer Showcase runs July 27-Aug. 2 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, featuring teams from Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland. The 2026 World Junior Championship runs Dec. 26, 2025 to Jan. 5, 2026 in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.

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Source: https://flamesnation.ca/news/3-flam...nt-canada-at-the-world-junior-summer-showcase

 

[Calgary Flames]

The 10 best rookie seasons in Flames history: counting down #10 to #6

Friends, the Calgary Flames are in the midst of a youth movement that’s seen several draft choices transition into the NHL full-time, and several of them have made big impacts.

Flames netminder Dustin Wolf was a huge part of the club’s success in 2024-25 and was runner-up for the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie, and it seems pretty likely that Zayne Parekh will be given an opportunity to play with the Flames this coming season.

So in light of the continuing impact that youngsters have made with the Flames in recent years, we’re counting down the 10 best rookie seasons in Flames history. First up: the 10th through 6th-best seasons by Flames rookies ever.

#10: Hakan Loob (1983-84)​

One of the first excellent Swedes in franchise history, Loob was drafted in the ninth round, 181st overall, in the 1980 NHL Draft. He played three more seasons in Sweden before deciding to try out the NHL in 1983 as a 23-year-old.

He ended up becoming a strong contributor immediately. He scored 30 goals and added 25 assists for 55 points. He was fourth on the Flames in points, behind Kent Nilsson, Eddy Beers and Lanny McDonald. League-wide, he was fifth in points among rookies, behind Steve Yzerman, Dave Poulin, Sylvain Turgeon and Kelly Kisio. He ended up being voted to the league’s All-Rookie Team, joining Yzerman and Turgeon. (Flames teammate Jamie Macoun joined Loob on the All-Rookie Team as one of the blueliners.)

Loob’s 1983-84 season stands as the 19th-best point total achieved by a Swedish rookie in NHL history, and when you look at even-strength points, he’s fourth-best in NHL history. He has one of just four 30+ goal performances by a Swedish rookie, too.

#9: Eric Vail (1974-75)​

A second-round pick, 21st overall, from the 1973 NHL Draft, Vail played 23 games with the Flames in 1973-74 but became a full-time NHLer the following season as a 21-year-old.

Vail had 39 goals and 21 assists for 60 points as a rookie. He finished third on the Flames in points, behind Tom Lysiak and Curt Bennett. He ended up leading the Flames in goals. He was third among NHL rookies in points, behind Pierre Larouche and Danny Gare. He led all NHL rookies in goals.

Vail ended up being voted the winner of the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie, becoming the first-ever Flames player to win a major trophy.

#8: Sergei Makarov (1989-90)​

Well on his way to becoming a legend in Russia before even being drafted, Makarov was a 12th-round pick, 231st overall, in the 1983 NHL Draft. He remained in Russia for awhile before joining the Flames in 1989-90, at the age of 31.

Makarov posted 24 goals and 62 assists for 86 points that season. He finished fourth in points on the Flames, behind Joe Nieuwendyk, Doug Gilmour and Al MacInnis. He was tied for seventh on the team in goals. League-wide, he led all rookies in points, but he was seventh in goals.

Makarov ended up being voted the Calder Trophy winner, but there was push-back over a 31-year-old with Makarov’s extensive hockey resume being considered a rookie, so the league amended their rules to add an age restriction capping Calder eligibility at 26 years of age.

#7: Jarome Iginla (1996-97)​

A junior star with the Kamloops Blazers selected in the first round of the 1995 NHL Draft, Iginla was acquired from Dallas by the Flames in the Joe Nieuwendyk trade in December 1995. He made his debut with the Flames in the 1996 playoffs and played his rookie season with the club in 1996-97 as a 19-year-old.

Iginla posted 21 goals and 29 assists for 50 points. He finished fourth on the Flames in points, behind Theo Fleury, Dave Gagner and German Titov. He was also fourth on the team in goals. However, he led all NHL rookies in points and was third in goals.

Iginla finished second in Calder Trophy voting and was one of three forwards named to the All-Rookie Team.

#6: Willi Plett (1976-77)​

Plett was drafted in the fifth round, 80th overall, in the 1975 NHL Draft. He played a handful of games in 1975-76 and became a full-time NHLer in 1976-77 as a 21-year-old.

Plett scored 30 goals and added 23 assists for 56 points. He was third on the Flames in points, behind Tom Lysiak and Eric Vail, and he led the team in goals. He led all NHL rookies in goals and was tied for fourth in points. (He tied with Don Murdoch, and he trailed behind Roland Eriksson, Paul Gardner and Glen Sharpey.)

Plett won the Calder Trophy, becoming the second Flame to capture that award.

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Source: https://flamesnation.ca/news/the-10-best-rookie-seasons-in-flames-history-counting-down-10-to-6

 

[Calgary Flames]

FlamesNation Mailbag: Winding down July

Gang, we’re into the very late stages of July, a month that started off with a quiet free agency period, included development camp and Stampede, and is concluding with four Calgary Flames prospects participating in USA Hockey’s World Junior Summer Showcase.

As we try to make sense of things and prepare for August, let’s delve into the mailbag!

Are expectations a little too high for Parekh?
It seems like people want the next Makar and don't realize the odds are against it.

— Muka93 (@Manuka_93) July 27, 2025

I agree with this sentiment, to a point. I don’t think anyone expected that Dustin Wolf would be one of the better netminders in the NHL last season… but he was. Should we have been surprised that he was able to play so well given how he performed at prior levels of hockey? Probably not, but the NHL is a really challenging environment to be in, and sometimes even really good players have have gigantic adjustment challenges. (Johnny Gaudreau was pretty ordinary for his first couple weeks in the NHL.)

In terms of Parekh, I don’t know what realistic expectations are for him in the NHL in 2025-26. Why? Because he’s an absolute hockey unicorn. He’s done things offensively in the OHL that nobody has done, or at least nobody has done in decades. I wonder if he’ll struggle with the physicality and pace of the NHL, at least at first, but he was with the Flames for a few weeks and got an opportunity to study games and learn from established NHLers. Maybe that experience will help him adjust to things more quickly.

I’ll be completely honest here: I am really excited to see Parekh in the NHL. I just have no idea what to expect from him.

Hi Ryan,
Realistically, if the Flames wait until the trade deadline to trade Rasmus, will the return be better or worse than it would be now?

— Special K (@kyle_neddow) July 27, 2025

Do you take the best offer out there before training camp for ras to prevent any distractions

— Cal (@radke89) July 27, 2025

So there are two mindsets, I think, regarding Rasmus Andersson and a probable trade away from the Flames.

The Flames should trade him immediately to get it over with, avoid injury, and removing a possible distraction! This mindset suggests that there are risks involved with the Flames holding onto Andersson into the regular season. And if we’re being honest, looking back on the 2023-24 season and the mess of pending UFAs that were traded… yeah, we understand the distraction concern and the injury concern. But I also think that Andersson knows he needs to have a good season to get the big contract he wants, and the Flames need Andersson to have a big season to maximize his trade value. The injury concern is totally valid, but I think motivations are aligned enough – and Andersson is enough of a pro – that he won’t be a distraction.

The Flames should hold onto Andersson until someone gets desperate and meets their price! This mindset is sort of where I sit right now. The Flames’ best asset in 2023-24 was Elias Lindholm. They set a price, communicated it to suitors, and then hung tough as the season wore on. Eventually, someone met their price and they got a haul. That’s no guarantee that it’ll happen again, but it does feel possible that some team will decide that Andersson is the answer to their problems and meet the Flames’ price.

Whether or not the Flames get the return they want, though, depends on external factors, such as a team getting desperate. Otherwise, they may just need to settle for the best offer they can get at the time. The “hold Andersson” approach is not without risks.

Have the Flames offered Dustin Wolf the 8.25Mx8year goalie deal right now? Surely Dustin would take that?

— Steve Berman (@5t3v3b3rm4n) July 27, 2025

I would point to Lukas Dostal’s recent deal in Anaheim – five seasons at $6.5 million per season – and suggest that if you’re Wolf, you probably want a little bit more than him on the same length of deal (Wolf has better numbers). On a longer deal, buying additional UFA years, it probably creeps up by at least $500,000 per year the longer you go. And maybe more than that. I simply don’t know what fair market value would be for Wolf on an eight-year max-term deal.

Ryan come opening night at the Dome who do you see as the Flames core 4? Thanks!

— Big Daddy (@bigdaddybustard) July 27, 2025

The short answer, right now, is I don’t think they have one yet. They have two guys in Dustin Wolf and MacKenzie Weegar that I think could be part of a “core four,” but I think you want your “core” to be elite-level players ideally and the Flames don’t quite have that yet.

Where can Huska improve this upcoming year, from training camp onward. I listened to Blair and Barkers talk with John Schneider the other day, and he was saying communication has improved over his tenure with the Jays. Is that or something else Huska is working on?

— Steve Berman (@5t3v3b3rm4n) July 27, 2025

I really want to see the Flames improve their special teams and their consistency with special teams.

I think Ryan Huska has been pretty good at communication for awhile, but I also like how he seems to delegate things to different parties – assistant coaches and the leadership group – so that the message isn’t only coming from him.

I know the Leafs development camp includes cooking lessons. Do the Flames also have this for the players?

— Steve Berman (@5t3v3b3rm4n) July 27, 2025

I don’t know if that was something they did this year, but it’s definitely something they’ve done in the past.

Does Kadri for Rossi make sense?

— Zach Gray (@ZtotheG86) July 27, 2025

I think it would be a risky move for both sides. By that I mean, if you’re Minnesota, you really need to think that Nazem Kadri, at his age and cap hit, can be enough of a difference-maker for your team to justify the cost of acquiring him. And if you’re the Flames, you need to think that Marco Rossi could not just be a potential upgrade over Morgan Frost, but that he can be your top-line centre for the long-term.

I don’t think I would do it, but I can kind of understand the possible motivations. (I also don’t think the Flames are in any hurry to move Kadri anytime soon.)

Got a question for a future mailbag? Contact Ryan on Twitter/BlueSky at @RyanNPike or e-mail him at Ryan.Pike [at] BetterCollective.com! (Make sure you put Mailbag in the subject line!)

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Source: https://flamesnation.ca/news/flamesnation-mailbag-winding-down-july

 

[Calgary Flames]

Flames sign forward Martin Pospisil to three year extension ($2.5 million AAV)

With his off-season 2025 to-do list whittled down to just a new contract for restricted free agent Connor Zary, Calgary Flames general manager Craig Conroy has gotten to work on his tasks for next summer. On Wednesday morning, a three year contract extension was announced for forward Martin Pospisil by his agent, Gold Star’s Dan Milstein.

Per PuckPedia, the deal will pay Pospisil $2.5 million in each season.

Congratulations to Martin Pospisil on his 3-year NHL contract extension (2026–2029) with the Calgary #Flames #WeAreGoldStar! pic.twitter.com/vpZDbmho93

— Dan Milstein (@HockeyAgent1) July 30, 2025

The #Flames signed 25 y/o F Martin Pospisil to 3 year $2.5M Cap Hit contract extension starting next season. He's entering the final year of a $1M Cap Hit deal.

Extension covers 2 UFA seasons

25P in 81 GP

Rep'd by @HockeyAgent1 @GoldStarHockey https://t.co/9VzJHr2YQp

— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) July 30, 2025

Pospisil will spend the 2025-26 season on an expiring deal with a $1 million cap hit. He was slated to become an RFA on July 1, 2026. This new deal kicks in for the 2026-27 season and runs through 2028-29, covering two years of potential unrestricted free agency for the forward.

A product of Zvolen, Slovakia, the 25-year-old Pospisil has had a pretty unique journey in hockey. He came over to North America to play in the United States Hockey League for his draft year, and his performance with the Sioux City Musketeers led to him getting drafted by the Flames in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL Draft.

He went pro in 2019-20 as a 20-year-old, and that led to an ongoing saga where scouts and onlookers marvelled at his speed, size and talent, but just wondered if he would ever be healthy enough to use them all to their full potential. We wouldn’t call Pospisil injury-prone by any stretch, but he had horrible luck in terms of being hurt at inopportune times – and a growing history of concussions probably caused some doubt that he could be the type of player he wanted to be as a pro.

But things changed for him in 2023-24. A slow start to the NHL club’s season led to a pair of recalls to Pospisil and Connor Zary, designed to give a flat Flames team a jump-start. Both players ended up grabbing hold of spots in the lineup and became NHL regulars, with Pospisil finding a niche as someone that could play on any line and bring some pace and physicality to the proceedings.

He’s probably not destined to be a high-end offensive producer, but as the Flames keep bringing in some younger, offensive-minded forwards and blueliners, having someone like Pospisil around to crash and bang and create space seems like a great fit for what the club needs.

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Source: https://flamesnation.ca/news/flames...pisil-to-three-year-extension-2-5-million-aav

 

[Calgary Flames]

New Wranglers head coach Brett Sutter may be the perfect choice to lead the Flames’ prospects

Following the conclusion of the 2024-25 season, the Calgary Flames announced that Trent Cull had joined their coaching staff. The announcement made perfect sense, as Cull had spent much of the season with the Flames on an interim basis and helped improve the penalty kill during his tenure.

About a month later, the Wranglers announced Cull’s replacement as AHL head coach: Wranglers assistant coach Brett Sutter.

On paper, it seemed like an odd move. But the more you dig into it, the more inspired the choice seems to be.

So why did the move seem odd? Well, he’s slated to be the third-youngest head coach in the AHL in 2025-26, with only Cleveland’s Trent Vogelhuber and Rochester’s Michael Leone being younger. Sutter is one of just six AHL bench bosses who have yet to celebrate their 40th birthday.

Moreover, Sutter has very little formal coaching experience. He retired in 2024 and spent 2024-25 on the Wranglers staff, primarily as an assistant coach, but also briefly serving as an interim head coach after Cull had been called up to the Flames and interim coach Joe Cirella had a scheduled eye procedure. (Sutter had the unique opportunity to be an AHL All-Star Game coach in his first year in coaching, period.) The next-least high-level coaching experience for any other AHL head coaches is four seasons, for Colorado’s Mark Letestu and San Jose’s John McCarthy. And both of those guys worked in player development in addition to their bench coaching tenures.

But when you think about it, Sutter’s also a pretty bold choice because of the playing experience he does have and how recent that experience was:

• Sutter last played in 2023-24, and the Wranglers roster in 2025-26 could include several guys who were his teammates that season. That list includes Artem Grushnikov, Yan Kuznetsov, Etienne Morin, Jeremie Poirier, Ilya Solovyov, Parker Bell, Clark Bishop, Lucas Ciona, Alex Gallant, Sam Honzek, Dryden Hunt, Rory Kerins, Adam Klapka, Sam Morton and William Strömgren. There’s a high level of familiarity there.
• Sutter closed out his playing career as captain of the Wranglers, closing out a hat-trick of sorts, as he also served as captain in prior AHL stops in Charlotte and Ontario.
• Sutter was a late-round NHL draft choice in 2005, and while he didn’t play a ton at the NHL level, he had to grind to get his NHL opportunities and has a clear grasp of what it takes to get to the NHL and stick around.
• Sutter played 1,090 games in the AHL, the fourth-most of any person in that league’s long history.

If the idea was to allow Sutter to continue his development as a coach and utilize him as a resource for the many young up-and-comers in the system, his ascension to the head coaching role for the Wranglers ticks a lot of important boxes.

Want to learn more about the new Wranglers head coach? Mike Gould and myself interviewed him this week on The Back Burner, which can be found on the FlamesNation YouTube page!

PRESENTED BY 6IX INNING STRETCH PODCAST​

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Source: https://flamesnation.ca/news/new-wr...e-perfect-choice-to-lead-the-flames-prospects

 

[Calgary Flames]

Why trading Nazem Kadri makes zero sense for the Flames

Gang, it’s summer, and perhaps it’s because of the heat or because people are antsy for something to happen, sometimes weird trade rumours emerge during the dog days of the off-season. And often, the rumours don’t make very much sense.

It is in this context that we should discuss the persistent trade rumours involving Calgary Flames centre Nazem Kadri, and how little sense they make for Kadri or for the Flames as a hockey club.

For those just joining us, here’s the gist of things:

• Kadri joined the Flames during the tumultuous 2022 off-season, signing a seven year deal with a $7 million cap hit the same day the Flames traded Sean Monahan and a first-round pick to Montreal to clear the cap space.
• Via PuckPedia: Kadri’s deal includes a full no-move clause in the first four seasons (2022-26) that converts to a modified no-trade clause in the final three years (2026-29), which takes the form of a 13 team no-trade list.
• Kadri turns 35 in October and he’s one of the club’s alternate captains and part of the group of seven veterans that head coach Ryan Huska has praised for their leadership.
• There are occasional rumblings in Toronto media – we’ve seen it mentioned by Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos in columns and on his radio show – about Kadri being someone that other teams would want to acquire. (And those rumblings have, over time, seemingly taken on a life of their own.)

So why does Kadri being traded not make a ton of sense right now?

The Flames want to make the playoffs in 2025-26​

Yeah, the Flames and their players saw how little the hockey world thought of them during the 2024 off-season. And after a chaotic 2023-24 season that saw the team dismantled on the fly out of contractual necessity, there was a sense of “Let’s see how good we can actually be” in the Flames locker room during 2024’s training camp.

A team that was expected by the odds-makers to finish with 81 points and land sixth from the bottom came within the regulation win tiebreaker of making the Stanley Cup playoffs. Heck, they tied the NHL record for most points earned by a non-playoff team.

The Flames are hellbent on finding ways to get a little bit better in 2025-26, and moving Kadri would fly in the face of that philosophy.

(Yes, friends, we’re aware that Gavin McKenna exists. We’re aware that there’s a certain logic to selling off this season in particular to maximize the chances of adding McKenna in the draft. The Flames don’t feel the same way and are hoping to continue their upward progression.)

Speaking of…

The Flames rarely part ways with their leading scorer​

The Flames have played 52 seasons in the National Hockey League. Of the 51 instances, prior to 2024-25, of a player leading the Flames in points, they’ve returned in the fall with their leading point-scorer back all but three times.

The exceptions were:

• 1985, when they traded Kent Nilsson at the draft after essentially reaching their wits end with his defensive challenges
• 2022, when Johnny Gaudreau hit free agency and went to Columbus
• 2023, when Tyler Toffoli was traded to New Jersey as he entered the final year of his contract

That’s it. There were a few other situations where the Flames traded their previous season’s points leader during the following season, but those were usually situations like Theo Fleury or Jarome Iginla being traded at the trade deadlines on expiring contracts.

Teams just don’t trade their leading scorer, especially if that scorer has term left on their contract, willy-nilly.

The Flames don’t have enough centre depth​

The Flames are entering the 2025-26 with a pair of established veteran centres in Kadri, who’s 34, and Mikael Backlund, who’s 36. Kadri takes the offensive situations, while Backlund is in a shutdown role. And while Morgan Frost is younger and trying to establish himself, he’s not there yet. And that’s the entire list of Flames players that have played full NHL seasons at centre.

In short: even if there was some desire to move Kadri at some point in the near future, the centre depth isn’t there right now. In a year, maybe Frost has found his rhythm and his role seems clearer. Perhaps someone like Connor Zary has made the move to centre full-time. Heck, maybe we’ll see some progression from some of the newly-drafted centres like Cole Reschny, Cullen Potter or Theo Stockselius that they need to make room. But the Flames need to get to the point where the kids are just about ready first.

The general trend under Craig Conroy has been moving out veterans, gradually, to make room for youngsters when there’s a fresh face ready for the veteran’s role. Andrew Mangiapane’s trade opened up space for Matt Coronato. Jacob Markstrom’s trade opened up a spot for Dustin Wolf. And the widely-expected Rasmus Andersson trade would, in theory, make some room for someone like Zayne Parekh or Hunter Brzustewicz.

The Flames have some exciting youngsters on the way, including some fun young centres. But they’ll need some time to get ready. Right now, moving out Kadri – if that’s something Kadri even wants – would be premature and counterproductive to the Flames’ stated goals. No matter what the chatter from Toronto or Montreal might say.

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Source: https://flamesnation.ca/news/why-trading-nazem-kadri-makes-zero-sense-for-the-flames

 

[Calgary Flames]

Ilya Solovyov had a career year in the AHL after falling short of Flames’ opening night roster

Ilya Solovyov has been in the Calgary Flames organization since before the Calgary Wranglers were a team. His breakout season was in the 2023-24 season, where he not only made his NHL debut but also managed to stay up at that level for 10 games. The 2024-25 season was a test for him to see if he had what it took to stay at the NHL level and he had a new contract to back that possibility.

Solovyov is a 25 year old left-handed shot defenceman who was drafted by the Flames in the seventh round, 205th overall in the 2020 NHL Draft. He came to North America for his first pro season with the Stockton Heat in 2021-22 and played in 51 games with the Flames’ AHL affiliate that year and put up eight points.

His next season was his first full season with the Wranglers when they made their move to Calgary. He played in 68 games and more than doubled his rookie production with 18 points, consisting of four goals and 14 assists. The next year, he played in 51 games with the Wranglers, putting up 15 points and earned an NHL debut with the Flames on Oct. 26, 2023. He played in nine other games in the NHL that season and put up three assists.

2024-25 expectations​

After Solovyov’s showings in the 2023-24 season for the Flames, he was expected to be at an NHL level for at least half of the season. It was even factored into his contract. Ilya Solovyov was put on a two-year deal that was a two-way in his first year and a one-way in his second. This signing came on Sept. 18 and provided that extra spark of motivation to try and crack that opening roster.

The Wranglers were not out of the picture as far as options go, but the goal was to get back to the NHL and stay there. He was projected to have a season that would transition him into a full-time NHLer for the second half of his contract.

2024-25 results​

Prior to the first game of the NHL season, Solovyov was dealt unexpected news. He did not make the team. In fact, he was cut before the end of September and placed on waivers. Once he cleared, he was assigned to the Wranglers and started the year in the AHL.

He ended up playing 59 games with the Wranglers and had a career year with six goals and 22 assists for a total of 28 points. He also played in one of the two playoff games but did not register any points. He did still get some time in the NHL last season but not as much as he expected. His first game of the season in the NHL wasn’t until February 8th against the Seattle Kraken. He ended up playing in five games between then and March 1st. He had one assist in that time against the Washington Capitals on February 25th.

In the AHL, he was mostly paired up with Jarred Tinordi (while he was healthy) and Jonathan Aspirot. He’d also pull some extra shifts when they ran with an 11 forward and seven defender system when forward depth was limited. He was consistently the Wranglers’ top line pairing and while ice time isn’t tracked on public statistic boards in the AHL, he was pulling the most weight on the defensive side of things.

Ilya Solovyov scores from the point. Both goals tonight have come from defenders. pic.twitter.com/CD9cIdRoCF

— Paige Siewert (@thathockeygirly) January 16, 2025

When Solovyov reflected on managing his expectations and adjusting to going back and forth between leagues at Wranglers exit meetings, he said:

“It’s a rotation like you go up and down. It’s a little hard but you got to manage it too, it’s business.”

Solovyov continued:

“Maybe I wasn’t ready for the time in the NHL or like they have enough D over there too and I wasn’t better D in my position. It’s good for me too. I gotta know it. I gotta work hard so it’s motivation too and nothing can stop you.”

Next season’s expectations​

Ilya Solovyov is sure to take advantage of his do-over this fall to try and get the result he sought last season: a roster spot with the Flames. If that is not the case, he could be a player the Flames lose on waivers or a piece they leverage for an upcoming trade.

He’s shown that at the AHL level, he will be the best guy on the blue line and is knocking right at the door to take a spot with the Flames. It will be an important summer for him to fine tune the parts of his game that set him apart and even at the highest level he isn’t feeling out of place.

Solovyov said:

“I start feeling like when I play up there, I feel good over there, you know? I’m capable to play there. There’s nothing crazy up there, so there’s same guys as me playing there. Like they’re just doing the work maybe a little bit better than me, but it’s okay. I’ll be better than them.”

That type of confidence has developed over the years here with Solovyov, and Flames training camp will show how ready he is to be among the best.

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Source: https://flamesnation.ca/news/ilya-s...-falling-short-of-flames-opening-night-roster

 

[Calgary Flames]

Hockey Canada invites MacKenzie Weegar to 2026 Winter Olympics orientation camp

Hockey Canada has invited Flames defenceman MacKenzie Weegar to its summer orientation camp ahead of next year’s Winter Olympics in Italy.

Weegar, 31, was the only Flame invited to the summer camp, which will take place in Calgary from August 26 to 28. The Ottawa product collected eight goals and 47 points while averaging 24:10 of ice time in 81 games with the Flames in the 2024-25 regular season.

In total, Hockey Canada invited three goaltenders, 13 defencemen, and 26 forwards to vie for a spot on its men’s Olympic team. The federation also announced the camp rosters for its women’s and para teams on Friday.

9⃣2⃣ players from 's men's, women's and para hockey programs have earned invites to National Teams Orientation Camp in Calgary.

9⃣2⃣ athlètes de hockey masculin, de hockey féminin et de parahockey du iront au camp d’orientation des équipes nationales à Calgary.

— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) August 1, 2025

Here is the full roster of NHL players invited to the camp, sorted by position:

Goaltenders (3): Jordan Binnington (STL), Adin Hill (VGK), and Sam Montembeault (MTL)

Defencemen (13): Evan Bouchard (EDM), Noah Dobson (MTL), Drew Doughty (LA), Aaron Ekblad (FLA), Thomas Harley (DAL), Cale Makar (COL), Brandon Montour (SEA), Josh Morrissey (WPG), Colton Parayko (STL), Travis Sanheim (PHI), Shea Theodore (VGK), Devon Toews (COL), and MacKenzie Weegar (CGY).

Forwards (26): Connor Bedard (CHI), Sam Bennett (FLA), Quinton Byfield (LA), Macklin Celebrini (SJ), Anthony Cirelli (TB), Sidney Crosby (PIT), Brandon Hagel (TB), Bo Horvat (NYI), Zach Hyman (EDM), Seth Jarvis (CAR), Wyatt Johnston (DAL), Travis Konecny (PHI), Nathan MacKinnon (COL), Brad Marchand (FLA), Mitch Marner (VGK), Connor McDavid (EDM), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (EDM), Brayden Point (TB), Sam Reinhart (FLA), Mark Scheifele (WPG), Mark Stone (VGK), Nick Suzuki (MTL), John Tavares (TOR), Robert Thomas (STL), Carter Verhaeghe (FLA), and Tom Wilson (WSH).

Hockey Canada invited each and every player who suited up for Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off earlier this year to its Olympic camp, meaning the remaining players — Weegar included — are all facing an uphill battle to punch their tickets to Italy this coming winter.

Despite outscoring multiple forwards included on the camp roster, neither Nazem Kadri nor Jonathan Huberdeau will be taking part in the orientation camp. It remains to be seen whether any other Flames players will get the chance to represent their respective countries at the Olympics next year.

The Flames originally acquired Weegar from the Florida Panthers in the 2022 offseason as part of the blockbuster Matthew Tkachuk trade. Weegar is under contract through the 2030-31 season at a $6.25 million cap hit.

---

This article is brought to you by Platinum Mitsubishi​

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Source: https://flamesnation.ca/news/hockey...egar-to-2026-winter-olympics-orientation-camp

 

[Calgary Flames]

How will the Flames juggle their many goaltenders in 2025-26?

Man, the Calgary Flames organization has a lot of goaltenders under contract.

Sure, backup netminder Dan Vladar departed the organization in free agency on July 1, signing in Philadelphia. But Vladar’s departure was followed by the arrival of Ivan Prosvetov, returning to the NHL after a single year sojourn in the Kontinental Hockey League.

After that swap, the Flames will have five goaltenders on active NHL contracts in 2025-26. Here’s a quick rundown of the quintet.

Dustin Wolf​

24; American; 2019 seventh-round pick

Wolf became the Flames undisputed starting netminder last season, which was also his first full NHL season. He was the runner-up for the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie, and he also received consideration for the Hart and Vezina Trophies. Simply put: he was really, really good, and was a gigantic difference-maker for the Flames. Wolf will be leaned on heavily in 2025-26, and if the Flames want any hope of finishing above the playoff cut line after 82 games, he’ll need to be as good as he was last season.

Ivan Prosvetov​

26; Russian; free agent signing

Prosvetov has had a really interesting career trajectory, getting drafted out of the USHL in 2018, playing a year in the OHL, and then bouncing between the NHL and AHL (and the KHL) ever since. Last season with CSKA Moskva was the first time he spent the entire year on one team since 2018-19. He’s been a good minor-league goalie since going pro in 2019, but he’s never really grabbed hold of an NHL gig to this point. This season may be his best chance to cement that elusive full-time NHL spot, as he’ll have a good chance to become Wolf’s understudy. Can someone who’s never played more than 11 NHL games in a season be a strong number-two? We’ll see.

Devin Cooley​

28; American; free agent signing

Okay, Cooley might be the most fascinating person-slash-player in the Flames system. He’s a really engaging person. He has an awesome pet rabbit. He’s fairly streaky in net, but when he’s good, he’s really good. He was arguably one of the top two or three players in the entire AHL through the first half of last season, but a mid-season injury really disrupted his mojo and he never quite got it back the rest of the year. But if Cooley can get his rhythm back for training camp, he and Prosvetov could have a great battle for the backup gig in the NHL.

The NHL tandem will be Wolf, backed up by either Prosvetov or Cooley. The AHL starter will be either Prosvetov or Cooley, whoever’s not in the NHL, backed up by one of the next two gentlemen. (Heck, maybe backed up by both of them.)

Arsenii Sergeev​

22; Russian; 2021 seventh-round pick

Wolf was a home-run of a late-round draft pick. Sergeev is trending well, too. Drafted out of the somewhat obscure North American Hockey League, he’s moved up from the USHL into college hockey, and finally became an undisputed number-one netminder last season at Penn State. He was pretty good for the entire season, but he found another level to his game after returning from an injury in early January, back-stopping Penn State on a hot streak that took them all the way to the Frozen Four. He’ll be learning the pro game in 2025-26, which may see him spend a bit of time in Rapid City to get some game reps in.

Owen Say​

24; Canadian; free agent signing

We’re listing Say fifth because he had a slightly less impressive college run than Sergeev, but Say is still a really interesting netminder. He’s steadily progressed his game, moving from junior-A to the Atlantic Hockey conference to the Big 10 conference, and adapting and adjusting and improving at each level. He had good underlying numbers and an uneven win-loss record at Notre Dame in 2024-25 before signing with the Flames, so he seems like he might spend more time in the ECHL than Sergeev. Keep an eye on him, though, he could surprise.

This article is brought to you by Platinum Mitsubishi​

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Source: https://flamesnation.ca/news/how-will-the-flames-juggle-their-many-goaltenders-in-2025-26

 

[Calgary Flames]

What do the Flames have to show for their 2017 NHL Draft class?

The last time we dug into a recent Calgary Flames draft class, it was a banner crop in the form of the 2015 class.

Now, we skip forward a couple years to the 2017 NHL Draft. And, if we’re being polite, it wasn’t nearly as good a class as they experienced in 2015. Like, nowhere close.

The picks​

The Flames were allocated seven picks through the usual draft process – one in each round – and ended up keeping four of their picks to select players and trading three of them for other assets.

In the first round, 16th overall, the Flames selected defenceman Juuso Valimaki. Valimaki played 82 games with the Flames before being claimed off waivers by Arizona. Valimaki was a really promising young blueliner, but his progression was really hampered by a couple injuries – a high ankle sprain and a knee ligament tear – that really stalled his development.

In the fourth round, 109th overall, the Flames selected forward Adam Ruzicka. Ruzicka played 114 games with the Flames before being claimed off waivers by Arizona. Yes, the Coyotes claimed both of the Flames picks that ended up playing NHL games, albeit they did it a couple years apart.

In the fifth round, 140th overall, the Flames selected overage forward Zach Fischer. Fischer played a year in the Flames’ minor league system on an AHL contract, but he didn’t end up signing an NHL deal.

In the sixth round, 171st overall, the Flames selected forward D’Artagnan Joly. Joly wasn’t offered a contract and the Flames lost his rights. (Great name, though.)

In the seventh round, 202th overall, the Flames selected forward Filip Sveningsson. Sveningsson wasn’t offered a contract and the Flames lost his rights.

The trades​

The Flames traded their second-round pick, 47th overall, to Ottawa, along with Jyrki Jokipakka, in exchange for Curtis Lazar and Mike Kostka. Lazar played 70 games for the Flames before leaving in free agency.

The Flames traded their third-round pick, 78th overall, to Arizona, along with a conditional 2018 fifth-round pick, in exchange for Michael Stone. (The conditional pick was triggered when Stone re-signed with the Flames.) Stone played 228 games for the Flames before retiring. Famously, he was bought out by the Flames one summer, then re-signed to a new contract later that off-season after Valimaki tore a knee ligament and required surgery.

The verdict​

All-told, the Flames four selections and traded three of their picks for players. Between the players they picked and the players they acquired, their assets amassed 494 NHL games. Combined. And nearly half of those were by Stone.

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Source: https://flamesnation.ca/news/what-do-the-flames-have-to-show-for-their-2017-nhl-draft-class

 

[Calgary Flames]

How did the Flames’ prospects perform at the World Junior Summer Showcase?

The 2025 edition of USA Hockey’s World Junior Summer Showcase concluded on Sunday in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as Canada, the United States, Finland and Sweden began their preparations for the 2026 World Junior Championship tournament, held over the winter holidays.

The Calgary Flames were represented by four prospects in this year’s Summer Showcase. So, how did they do? And how are they trending in regards to the upcoming World Juniors?

Zayne Parekh, Canada​

This one is short but sweet: Parekh tweaked a lingering minor injury from the tail-end of the 2024-25 season and the decision was made to give him recovery time rather than push through it for the sake of a summer under-20 exhibition event.

Despite not playing at all in the Summer Showcase’s games, Parekh is a strong contender for a Canadian national junior team roster spot on the strength of two really, really good seasons with the Ontario Hockey League’s Saginaw Spirit. The only thing that could keep a maple leaf off Parekh’s chest when Boxing Day rolls around is if he’s got a Flaming C on it instead.

If Parekh’s an important part of the Flames’ lineup by December, he probably won’t be released for the tournament.

Henry Mews, Canada​

On the stats line, Mews was decent enough, with three assists over five games. However, the discourse regarding his performance is a bit mixed, which itself probably reflects his overall game. He was praised by analysts (such as Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis) for how he performed in the Canadian intersquad game, but he had a few miscues in subsequent games.

Nobody’s perfect and it’s summer hockey, so grain of salt and all that, but considering how competitive roster spots look to be, Mews’ stock is probably as high as it was when he arrived.

Cole Reschny, Canada​

The World Juniors has built a reputation as a “19-year-old tournament” over the years, because teams tend to skew their rosters towards older eligible players. That said, Reschny, an 18-year-old who was recently drafted by the Flames, really impressed onlookers at the Summer Showcase.

coach Dale Hunter on Cole Reschny: "I haven't seen him play live [before] … this week he's been real good"

Brady Martin: "He's been lights out"

Cayden Lindstrom: "Phenomenal player"

Flames 1st rounder has been a bright spot this week https://t.co/3BLhpLUKMP

— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) August 2, 2025

He was tied for the team-lead on Canada in points, and he centred a really effective trio in the event playing between Chicago’s Sasha Boisvert and Montreal’s Michael Hage. He drew praise from Ellis following Sunday’s finale: “While I wouldn’t call him a lock to make this team, Hockey Canada loves how good he has been internationally the last couple years.”

Cole Reschny makes it 2-1, getting Canada on the board with this five-hole goal. pic.twitter.com/Jh7J8MGjN6

— Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) August 1, 2025

Cullen Potter, United States​

Speaking of 18-year-olds that impressed, let’s turn our attention to the other first-rounder the Flames had back in June. Potter was, by all accounts, consistently noticeable for positive reasons in the United States’ games at the Summer Showcase.

After day two of the event, Ellis had this assessment: “I really like Potter’s game, and I think he’ll make the World Junior team in December.”

Cullen Potter with a great chance in front of the net, but it was Shane Vansaghi who scored to make it 3-2 USA. #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/rQQ19GpAPy

— Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) July 27, 2025

Nice pass from Mac Swanson to get this to Cullen Potter. Now it's 3-1. #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/JDGeMSwk6L

— Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) August 2, 2025

The 2026 World Junior Championship runs Dec. 26, 2025 to Jan. 5, 2026 in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. We should see roster announcements in early December.

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Source: https://flamesnation.ca/news/how-di...s-perform-at-the-world-junior-summer-showcase

 

[Calgary Flames]

FN’s 2025 Flames summer prospect rankings: six prospects we couldn’t fit onto our ballots

Friends, it’s that time of year again. It’s time for FlamesNation’s annual Calgary Flames summer prospect rankings!

Every year, we make a list of every player on the Flames’ reserve list that’s eligible for the Calder Trophy, and then we submit our top 20 rankings from that longer list. This year, there were 39 prospects eligible for this process.

27 different players appeared on at least one top 20 ballot. In the interest of showcasing the sheer depth in the system, here are six of the 12 Flames prospects that we couldn’t fit on our ballots this year.

Parker Bell​

A fifth-round pick in 2022, Bell spent the 2023-24 season as an overager with the Western League’s Tri-City Americans and became a full-time pro in 2024-25. He spent the entire season with the Calgary Wranglers and ended up playing in 61 games as a rookie. Bell spent most of his time as a bottom-six winger, but his checking details became gradually more refined as the season wore on and he used his 6’5″, 209 pound frame pretty effectively. We’ll see how he keeps growing as an AHL sophomore.

Daniil Chechelev​

If you want an example of how unfair Russian hockey can be, here’s Chechelev. A fourth-round pick in 2020, he moved to North America from Russia in 2021 and spent two seasons split between the Flames’ AHL and ECHL affiliates on a pair of one year AHL deals. He was rock-solid in the chaotic defensive environment of the ECHL, but couldn’t get a foothold in the AHL – the Heat and Wranglers had Dustin Wolf and some veteran backups that were tough to supplant. Returning to Russia in 2023 looking for another opportunity, he hasn’t really found a home… and just when it seemed like he found a nice spot with Yunison-Moskva in the second-tier VHL pro league, his team withdrew from competition for the 2025-26 season. Even if he’s not really a prospect of note anymore, here’s hoping Chechelev gets a chance somewhere this season.

Nick Cicek​

A Western League product who spent parts of four seasons with the Portland Winterhawks, and captained them in 2020-21, Cicek joined the Flames as a free agent signing in July. He spent three seasons in San Jose’s system (and was briefly with Vancouver’s AHL club), and established himself as a really reliable two-way defender. He spent last season in Germany with Adler Mannheim and performed well, and at the very least, he’s a 6’3″, 200-pound blueliner that can provide effective depth for the Wranglers. But considering he’s only 25, we’re not sure if he’s hit his ceiling quite yet.

Lucas Ciona​

Every year, there’s a player that doesn’t crack our rankings’ top-20 and makes us look utterly foolish. One prominent candidate for that role this year could be Ciona, a sixth-round pick back in 2021. The captain of the WHL champion Seattle Thunderbirds in 2023, Ciona had an uneven first pro season in 2023-24. But he seemed to really find an identity to his game and some consistency in his role as an agitating checker, and he was quietly one of the Wranglers’ more effective role players.

Artem Grushnikov​

Acquired from Dallas in the Chris Tanev trade, Grushnikov has a lot of the tools to be a rock-solid shutdown defender. The challenge for him is that he just hasn’t found his consistency or rhythm with the Wranglers yet. He spent most of the season on the de facto third pair, playing with Jeremie Poirier. Grushnikov is still quite young and he’s obviously trying to learn and improve, but he just needs to work on consistency most of all to keep progressing.

Axel Hurtig​

A 2023 seventh-round pick, Hurtig is a big-bodied Swedish blueliner. He made a big change in 2024-25, coming over to join the Calgary Hitmen in the Western League after being selected in the 2023 CHL Import Draft and spending the 2023-24 season in Sweden. After a brief period of adjustment, he quietly became one of the better shutdown defenders in the entire WHL and even played at the World Juniors for Sweden. He was among the WHL’s defensive league leaders in plus/minus, and he was a really stabilizing presence on the Hitmen’s back end. We’ll see if he can build on that in 2025-26.

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Source: https://flamesnation.ca/news/fns-20...six-prospects-we-couldnt-fit-onto-our-ballots

 

[Calgary Flames]

FlamesNation Mailbag: Kicking off August with prospect, goaltending and jersey questions

Welcome to the month of August, everybody. It’s the final month of the calendar year without Calgary Flames hockey. But as you can see from the sheer volume and quality of reader questions we’ve received, a lot of you have hockey on the brain.

As we gear up for the final full month of summer, let’s dive into the mailbag!

Ryan based on their respective off seasons please give us your thoughts on each Pacific team: better, worse, or the same as last season. Thanks!

— Big Daddy (@bigdaddybustard) August 2, 2025

We’ll be getting into this in much more detail on the site later this month. But from my perspective, a quick and dirty rundown:

• Vegas and Anaheim got better. Vegas added Mitch Marner and between the moves Anaheim made and internal improvements, I think they’ll take a step.
• Everybody else, you can make a case that they’re basically as good as they were before. Vancouver added Evander Kane but also moved out Arturs Silovs and Dakota Joshua. Edmonton added Ike Howard but moved out Kane. Seattle did a bunch of stuff that doesn’t really inspire much confidence. San Jose added some more vets, but their progression is dependent on their kids improving. The Flames did very little, and their progression is dependent on their kids improving. The Kings added some bodies, but I’m not sure what the plan was with all the additions there.

In the Pacific, on paper, it feels like Vegas is ahead of everybody else, and then there’s a bunch of teams trying to catch them.

Who will backup wolf this year?

— Roar of the Crowd – Flames C of Red (@CFlames7117) August 2, 2025

Barring a rough pre-season performance, I think Ivan Prosvetov has the inside track right now. He has a bit more NHL experience than Devin Cooley does, and so there’s a bit more of a book on how he might handle the ups and downs of an NHL season.

What do you see as the logical next step in Conroy's "retooling" plan? Aside from signing RFA's. Does Calgary have anyone under contract to actually push to be slotted in for any Centre position?
Thanks Ryan

— Kenneth Alicea (@KennethAlicea3) August 2, 2025

I alluded to this in an earlier answer: I think the Flames have accumulated a lot of really interesting young talent, and now they need some of them to push for NHL spots. And they need the ones already in NHL spots to become key NHL players. Y’know how Matt Coronato and Dustin Wolf not only grabbed spots, but made themselves really important pieces for the red team? The Flames need a bunch more of their prospects to do that.

And if one of them could suddenly become a Johnny Gaudreau-level player, that would be helpful. The Flames have a lot of youngsters that project to be good NHL contributors, but they really need someone to emerge as an ace.

Do you see the club bringing in anyone on the ever popular PTO heading into camp & pre season?

— v5 Calgary Flames (@v5FlamesGM) August 2, 2025

The Flames have sporadically brought in players on PTOs in recent years, but with the sheer glut of kids in training camp, I don’t think they’ll do too much of it this fall. There’s not much appetite to block kids from pushing for NHL roster spots, and they don’t want to bring in veterans that have no shot at NHL gigs either.

So what’s August going to look like for Flames management? Might there be any moves or will they be content to sit back and maybe enjoy some butter tarts until training camp?

— Ed Helinski (@MrEd315) August 2, 2025

The Flames will probably keep working on a deal for Connor Zary, and probably try to make some progress on a new Dustin Wolf deal. But aside from that, preparations for the season will begin for the coaching staff while the scouting staff heads to Slovakia and Czechia to check out the Hlinka Gretzky Cup under-18 tournament to kick off the road to the 2026 NHL Draft.

Do the Flames have plans to replace the Young Stars tournament with a different event. Great to see the future Flames in action.

— Aspiring for an unhurried life (@Toooldyyc) August 2, 2025

I suspect we’ll get an announcement sometime in August about whatever replaces the Young Stars Classic tournament. There will be something.

What Blasty content do the Flames or FlamesNation have planned for the upcoming season?

— Steve Berman (@5t3v3b3rm4n) August 2, 2025

I suspect we’ll get a jersey schedule announcement from the Flames sometime in September, closer to training camp. My current understanding and expectation is that the Blasty third jersey will return for 2025-26.

Got a question for a future mailbag? Contact Ryan on Twitter/BlueSky at @RyanNPike or e-mail him at Ryan.Pike [at] BetterCollective.com! (Make sure you put Mailbag in the subject line!)

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Source: https://flamesnation.ca/news/flames...ith-prospect-goaltending-and-jersey-questions

 

[Calgary Flames]

FN’s 2025 Flames summer prospect rankings: six more prospects we couldn’t fit onto our ballots

It’s prospect rankings season at FlamesNation, friends, as we count down the top 20 Calder Trophy eligible players in the Calgary Flames system! The countdown proper will begin later this week, but given how tough it was to make our lists this year – we left some really good players off – we wanted to showcase some of the prospects that didn’t appear on any of our ballots.

We already broke down the first six, so here are the other six of the 12 Flames prospects that we couldn’t fit on our ballots this year.

Jakob Leander​

A seventh-rounder in 2025, Leander seems a lot like Axel Hurtig, except a bit more raw in terms of his development. He’s big, he’s a shutdown type, and he’s probably destined to spend a bit more time in Sweden. We’ll see if Leander can take a step forward in 2025-26 and add a bit of offensive pop to his two-way game.

Jaden Lipinski​

A fourth-round pick from 2023, Lipinski spent his Western League career as a really strong two-way player for the Vancouver Giants. The problem for Lipinski is that he just didn’t stand out in a brief AHL audition with the Wranglers early in 2024-25 and his development seemed to plateau as a 20-year-old in the Dub. He’s aged out of major junior, but he’s headed to the University of Maine, where we’ll see if he can keep building his game against more mature opposition.

Cade Littler​

Littler is the very definition of a long runway player. A seventh-round pick in 2022, he spent a couple years spinning his wheels in junior before heading to the University of North Dakota last season as a freshman. He spent the season in their bottom six, but seemed to find some traction and start carving out a role later in the season – he even scored some big goals down the stretch for the Fighting Hawks. Even with the arrival of the many CHL imports coming to NoDak, the hope is probably for Littler to take a bigger bite of the apple in his sophomore season and keep progressing.

Yan Matveiko​

Another late-rounder, Matveiko was a seventh-round pick in 2025, selected as an overage player. He’s big. He’s Russian. He’s seemingly a late bloomer and probably another long runway player. But he put up pretty decent numbers in Russia’s top junior league and took a step from his prior season. We’ll see if he can continue that progression, and perhaps even earn some KHL games with the historic Red Army club.

Owen Say​

So, y’know how 2024 fourth-rounder Trevor Hoskin was a junior-A standout who moved onto a weak college conference, was a standout, and is headed to a better conference? Owen Say, a free agent signing by the Flames out of Notre Dame, did that as a goaltender. He spent a couple seasons in the BCHL, then a couple seasons in the relatively weak Atlantic conference, then last season played at Notre Dame in the stronger Big 10 conference. He kept improving and he posted good numbers at each level, so we’ll see if he can keep that trend going when he moves to pro hockey this season.

Yegor Yegorov​

A sixth-round pick in 2023, Yegorov played well in his post-draft 2023-24 season but bounced around a bunch in 2024-25. He played for HC Tambov in the second-tier pro VHL and MHK Tambov in the second-tier junior NMHL, then joined Dynamo Moskva’s system, where he backed up for a game with the KHL team and otherwise spent the remainder of his time with one of their junior affiliates, the Soviet Wings, in the first-tier MHL. He’s slated to play with MHK Dynamo Moskva in the MHL to start the season, and we’ll see if he can grab hold of the starting job after being a bit lost in the shuffle last season.

This article is brought to you by Platinum Mitsubishi​

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Source: https://flamesnation.ca/news/fns-20...ore-prospects-we-couldnt-fit-onto-our-ballots

 

[Calgary Flames]

4 Flames who need to take a step forward in 2024-25

Highs and lows have marked the past two NHL seasons in Calgary for many who donned the Flaming C.

A select few have been uber consistent, key veteran players like Nazem Kadri, Mackenzie Weegar and Mikael Backlund. As for the rest of the bunch, they’ve seen massive peaks and valleys in terms of production and on-ice contribution.

In 2024-25, Jonathan Huberdeau seemingly rose out of a slump that had plagued him since his acquisition from Florida. Though he didn’t return to 100-point form, Huberdeau scored more goals last season (28) than the previous two seasons combined (27).

On the other hand, there was stark regression for Blake Coleman, who halved his 30-goal campaign in 2023-24 with just 15 tallies last season. Amongst those we’ll discuss below, both Connor Zary and Yegor Sharangovich failed to build upon breakout campaigns, with the latter actually regressing, albeit largely due to injuries.

It’s been somewhat of a Bizarro world in Flames land over the past two seasons. In 2023-24, they were a team that could score, but struggled to keep the puck out of the net, whereas in 2024-25, they scored 33 fewer goals while also allowing 31 fewer.

With Calgary looking to ditch its apparent Jekyll and Hyde nature, here are four players they desperately need to take a step forward in 2025-26.

Yegor Sharangovich​

In June of 2023, Sharangovich came over from the New Jersey Devils along with a 2023 third-round pick (Aydar Suniev) in return for Tyler Toffoli. The Flames’ package for Toffoli was widely considered to be weak at the time, but a 31-goal effort from Yegor the following season cooled all criticism. The sharpshooting winger was then rewarded by Calgary with a five-year contract extension worth $5.75 million AAV.

Last season was not nearly as rosy for the Misk native, totalling 17 goals and 32 points over 73 contests. Sharangovich appeared more hesitant to shoot the puck in contrast to his initial campaign as a Flame, but there’s reason to believe that it was correlated with a lower-body injury he suffered in pre-season, resulting in him missing the team’s first seven games.

Regardless of what exactly ailed him, a lot is riding on the now 27-year-old to return to form this season, especially considering how much Calgary has invested in him.

It’s worth noting that Sharangovich sustained a broken foot in game 82 against the L.A. Kings.

Connor Zary​

Zary enjoyed a stellar rookie season in 2023-24, emerging from the AHL early in the year to post solid numbers, much like Matthew Coronato did this past season. The Flames’ first-round selection in 2020 flashed skill night in and night out en route to a solid 34 points in 63 games as a 22-year-old.

However, Zary’s injury-plagued sophomore year cast some doubt on his future. Though it was likely just a setback, his 27 points in 54 games played in 2024-25 have led some to pump the brakes a little. His slight regression has seemingly made Calgary more hesitant in contract discussions with Zary, as he remains the lone roster player without a contract as of this writing.

The Saskatoon native has no shortage of skill and confidence with the puck, and an injury-free year should result in a major bounce-back.

Morgan Frost & Joel Farabee​

Since being acquired in late January for Andrei Kuzmenko, Jakob Pelletier and a 2025 second-round pick, ‘Frostby’ has been the topic of much conversation, more specifically, the desire for more output from the former Philadelphia duo. The need for improvement has only grown since the Flames inked Frost to a two-year extension that carries an AAV of $4.375 million.

Frost’s new deal means that he and Farabee will be making a combined $9.375 million over the next two seasons. Although cap space is not necessarily an issue in Calgary at the moment — they currently have over $15 million in cap space with only Zary to sign — Frost and Farabee’s combined ticket is still a big one, not to mention the assets leveraged to acquire them.

Though the entire team struggled offensively in 2024-25, the newest Flames’ production was especially underwhelming, having totalled just 18 points in 63 games between them.

In all likelihood Frost and Farabee will improve on their performance last season as they continue to settle in, the question is, how much.

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Source: https://flamesnation.ca/news/4-flames-who-need-to-take-a-step-forward-in-2024-25

 

[Calgary Flames]

FN’s 2025 Flames summer prospect rankings: honourable mentions Aidan Lane, Hunter Laing and Eric Jamieson

It’s prospect rankings season here at FlamesNation, friends, and we’re counting down the best and brightest of the Calgary Flames’ developmental system.

This season, of 39 eligible players our balloting saw 27 different players receive votes to be in the top 20. That means that in addition to the core top 20 group, there are seven others that deserve some bragging rights given how competitive (and challenging) this year’s voting was.

Here are the players that landed in 25th, 26th and 27th place, respectively, and why Flames fans should be excited about them.

Aidan Lane​

Lane is a right shot forward that was selected by the Flames in the sixth round of the 2025 NHL Draft. He appeared on one ballot and finished 27th in our voting. Primarily a winger, he had a really interesting season in 2024-25, spending time in Canadian prep school hockey, the United States Hockey League and the Ontario Hockey League.

Listed at 6’1″ and 192 pounds, Lane had really solid numbers and captained his team, but was likely available late in the draft because not a ton of prep school draftees make it to the NHL. That said, Lane had a pretty good draft year and really impressed in a 13-game stint with the OHL’s Brampton Steelheads. He’s headed to play at Harvard University in the fall, and it’ll be interesting to see if he can adjust to the NCAA game the same way he did with the OHL this season.

Hunter Laing​

Laing is a right shot forward that was selected by the Flames in the sixth round of the 2024 NHL Draft. He appeared on one ballot and finished 26th in our voting. Laing played a mix of centre and the wing in 2024-25, and split the season between the Western League’s Prince George Cougars and Saskatoon Blades.

Laing is listed at 6’6″ and 209 pounds, and his rather flat offensive production in his draft year is likely why he was available where the Flames got him. But he did a lot of good things in 2024-25: his goal output jumped from 11 to 25 and his point output from 25 to 48. He won around 49% of his face-offs between the Cougars and Blades, and seemed to be used more as a winger than can take face-offs than as a full-time centre.

Laing took a step forward in 2024-25. If he can take another one in 2025-26 and become a focal point of Saskatoon’s attack, perhaps there’s an NHL future for him.

Eric Jamieson​

Jamieson is a left shot defenceman that was selected by the Flames in the sixth round of the 2024 NHL Draft, taken in his second year of draft eligibility. He appeared on two ballots and finished 25th in our voting.

Promoted from alternate captain to captain of the WHL’s Everett Silvertips heading into the 2024-25 season, Jamieson was entrusted with being defensive partners with exceptional status 15-year-old Landon DuPont. The duo ended up having great chemistry, with Jamieson’s reliable defensive play allowing DuPont to gain confidence with the puck. DuPont ended up having a superb rookie year and Jamieson had crazy-good plus/minus, despite his own offensive numbers remaining pretty close to his prior season’s.

At worst, Jamieson seems to be a reliable two-way defender with size and smarts that projects as a complimentary defender. He’s off to the University of Denver in the fall, and we’ll see if he can grow his game and perhaps show that he could become more than that.

This article is brought to you by Platinum Mitsubishi​

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Source: https://flamesnation.ca/news/fns-20...ons-aidan-lane-hunter-laing-and-eric-jamieson

 

[Calgary Flames]

Jeremie Poirier had a successful bounce back season with the Wranglers after gruesome injury

Jeremie Poirier only got a fragmented season in 2023-24 due to a skate laceration injury that left him out of the lineup for two thirds of the year. With that injury riddled season behind him, he was ready to get back to his game in 2024-25 with the Wranglers. This season brought a healthy mix of veterans and new faces on the blue line for him to slot into. He had a successful season where he played most of the games and put up personal best numbers in his professional career.

Poirier was drafted by the Flames in the 2020 NHL Draft, going 72nd overall in the third round. He was a product of the QMJHL, coming from the Saint John Sea Dogs, where he served as Alternate Captain for his last two seasons. Two of his four seasons in the QMJHL, he exceeded 50 points as a defenceman.

He made his professional debut in the 2022-23 season, where he scored the first goal in Wranglers team history. That season he went on to play in 69 games, picking up nine goals and 32 assists. The following year was shortened with his injury but in the 23 games he was able to play in, he earned 13 points, consisting of three points and 10 assists.

2024-25 expectations​

While the anticipation of Poirier returning to the Wranglers lineup full-time was high, the expectations were reasonable. He wasn’t expected to come back to gameplay after a devastating injury like a skate laceration and pick up exactly where he left off. Poirier was expected to ease back into his place and pace of the game and hopefully start catching up to his old pre-injury self.

While it would be cool to see this prospect get his chance with the Flames, others seemed above him in pre-season predictions due to his injury history.

2024-25 results​

Poirier understandably didn’t look exactly himself to start the year but you could see his game returning as time went on. He even acknowledged this in Wranglers exit meetings and said:

“I feel like I could have done a little bit better job this year in my game, especially at the start of my season. I didn’t start my season the way I wanted, especially with the way I was coming super confident in camp. But it’s life. It’s not going to always go your way or the way you imagine it. You have to react, adapt and challenge yourself.”

Poirier was typically paired up with Artem Grushnikov. While Poirier and Hunter Brzustewicz were considered pretty offensive defencemen, the system the Wranglers were playing didn’t seem to encourage them to take the shot. They were more focused on protecting the puck and setting up their forwards. That is a system the Flames carry all the way up, so it made sense to implement with their AHL blueliners.

Poirier’s historical success was found with his shot, but this season, it was attributed to his passing and playmaking. He finished the season with the highest amount of assists on the team with 37. His overall stat line looked like 42 points in 71 games with five goals and 37 assists. In the playoffs, he managed to play in both games but did not put up any points.

Jeremie Poirier's first goal of the season comes on the power play pic.twitter.com/oJuyCtAB36

— Paige Siewert (@thathockeygirly) November 21, 2024

Next season’s expectations​

Poirier’s entry-level contract expired at the end of the season and in mid-July, the Flames extended him for a one-year two-way deal with an AAV of $775,000. With Poirier having another healthy summer to prep him for training camp, he’s likely going to bring some extra confidence into the Fall to try and put himself on a short list of defenders the Flames can call in.

There are others whose skillset puts them ahead in the pecking order so it’s unlikely Poirier will be taking anyone’s NHL spot at the start of the season but his goal like most other professional hockey players, is to get there.

He said:

“That’s the end goal. ‘I’ve played hockey since I was three, four years old. The goal has always been to play in the National Hockey League. Do I think I’m ready? It’s hard to say. I like to believe it myself, so I’m ready. Whenever the time is, somebody will call one day, I’ll be ready and I’ll make the jump. Until then, it’s just wherever I play, AHL or whatever, it’s just to stay ready, get better every day and try to take in as much as I can. So when the call does come, if it comes, to go out there, be ready and play my best and hopefully it comes soon.”

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Source: https://flamesnation.ca/news/jeremi...ason-with-the-wranglers-after-gruesome-injury