Andrew Basha’s 2025-26 season ended up being a tale of two leagues, and the split looks like it served him well.
The Calgary Flames’ 2024 second-round pick started the year where many expected him to be: with the Calgary Wranglers, taking his first real step into pro hockey after a strong junior run with the Medicine Hat Tigers. Basha, a Calgary native and left winger, had spent the previous four seasons with Medicine Hat and wore an alternate captain’s letter in 2024-25. That season was interrupted by an ankle injury, but he returned in time for the playoffs and kept producing alongside NHL prospects Gavin McKenna, Markus Ruck and Liam Ruck.
Before the injury, Basha had 29 points in 23 games and was tracking toward another huge year after posting 85 points in 63 games in 2023-24. He then added five points in five playoff games, which only reinforced the idea that he was ready for the next challenge.
The expectation was that challenge would come in the AHL. Basha wasn’t being asked to light up the scoreboard right away, but he was supposed to start adjusting to the pace and demands of pro hockey with the Wranglers.
His first few weeks offered some encouraging signs. Basha scored his first pro goal in just his third game, against the Tucson Roadrunners on Oct. 19, and followed that up with an assist the next night. He also got some looks higher in the lineup with Sam Morton, Martin Frk, Aydar Suniev and Clark Bishop.
Still, most of his minutes came in a more limited role. He spent a lot of time on the fourth line with Alex Gallant, David Silye and Carter King, and by November and December he was sometimes the odd man out as a healthy scratch.
In all, Basha played 27 games for the Wranglers and finished with a goal, four assists and 33 PIM’s. By early January of 2026, management decided to send him back to Medicine Hat for the rest of the WHL season. The 20-year-old still had one year of eligibility left, and the move got him out of Calgary before the lowest stretch of the Wranglers’ season.
Once he was back with the Tigers, the offense came back fast. Basha scored in his first game back, piled up eight points in his first four games, and was held off the scoresheet in only five of his final 32 regular-season WHL games.
He wrapped up the regular season with 18 goals and 32 assists for 50 points in 32 games. Medicine Hat then made a deep playoff run, and Basha stayed right in the middle of it.
The Tigers’ three-round postseason ended against the Prince Albert Raiders in the Eastern Conference Finals, a 7-6 loss in early May. Basha had four assists in that game, and he finished the playoffs with 21 points in 15 games, including three goals and 18 assists.
His WHL career is now over, since he no longer has eligibility there. Basha signed his entry-level contract in late September of 2024, but last season did not count against it and instead slid for another year. That means this coming season will be the first year of the deal, and he is set to spend it with the Calgary Wranglers from start to finish.
That full-season AHL shot should come with a little more comfort this time. Basha already knows some of the players and their tendencies from his half-season stint, and that familiarity should help smooth the transition.
Looking back, the decision to send him back to Medicine Hat made sense: he got real games, a long playoff run and a chance to rebuild confidence while the Wranglers were struggling. Now he heads into 2026-27 with that confidence back and a clearer sense of what it takes to play pro hockey, with the tools and upside to be a top performer in the AHL.
In Other News...
Flames Prospect Egor Barabanov Just Showed He Is More Than Skill
Egor Barabanovs first Flames Development Camp was supposed to be about showing off the skill that made him a prospect worth watching after a strong season with the OHLs Saginaw Spirit. Instead, it also offered a reminder that his game is only part of the package. The winger has already had to adapt more than most young players, leaving Russia for North America as a teenager and learning how to settle into new teams and new surroundings along the way.
That background showed up again in Calgary, where Barabanov was not just trying to make a good impression on the ice. He is also getting ready for the next step in his path at the University of Massachusetts, where another transition awaits and where the Flames will be watching closely to see how his game and his comfort level keep developing together. [Read more 🡒]
Flames Fans Are Split On What This Offseason Really Means
The Flames offseason has already become a referendum on Brad Pascalls first real swing at reshaping the roster, with the front office leaning hard into a youth movement while trying to keep the rebuild on track. Between the trade for Simon Nemec, the selection of Carson Carels at No. 6 and the addition of Jack Hextall, there is enough here for fans to see either a clear long-term plan or a series of moves that still need time to prove themselves.
A reader poll on the work so far shows just how divided the fan base is, with grades spread from A to C/D and plenty of room for debate over whether Calgary got enough value back in its biggest decisions. The larger question is the one hanging over all of it: whether these moves are the start of a cleaner, smarter reset, or simply the latest chapter in a rebuild that still has a long way to go. [Read more 🡒]