Aydar Suniev’s first pro season ended with a clear step forward, and that’s exactly why the Calgary Flames have him sitting at No. 8 in FlamesNation’s 2026 summer prospect rankings.
Suniev, who got a brief NHL look at the end of the 2024-25 season, spent most of the year with the Wranglers and finished with 57 games played, 16 goals and eight assists for 24 points. He started slowly, but once he settled in, his offense came alive in stretches and then began showing up with more regularity.
The 21-year-old left-shot forward from Kazan, Russia, was one of four rookies to make his NHL debut against the Los Angeles Kings in Calgary’s season finale. He shared that experience with Zayne Parekh, Hunter Brzustewicz and Sam Morton, and also spent time alongside all three during the season. At 6’2” and 210 pounds, Suniev was drafted by Calgary in the third round, 80th overall, in the 2023 NHL Draft.
His path to the Flames has already included plenty of North American hockey. Suniev played two seasons in Penticton with the Vees of the NCHL before heading to UMass for two seasons in the NCAA. After finishing there, he signed his ELC and came to Calgary.
The 2025-26 season opened with some growing pains. Suniev needed seven games to record his first point, doing so with a goal against the Abbotsford Canucks on Oct.
- Not long after that, he put together his first point streak of the season with three points in three games, then added three goals and an assist over a five-game span.
His scoring then went quiet again before he put together another three-game point streak in December.
For much of the first half, Suniev’s production came in bursts. That changed around the second week of February, when he started to find real consistency. From there to the end of the season, he never went more than four games without landing on the scoresheet.
Suniev usually skated on the top two lines with Sam Morton, Rory Kerins, Dryden Hunt and William Stromgren. His shot remained his calling card, especially once he found more room to use it in the second half of the Wranglers’ schedule.
On April 3, he got his first and only NHL call-up of the season and played six games for the Flames before their year ended. His first NHL point came on April 12 against the Utah Mammoth, when he picked up an assist on Brayden Pachal’s goal.
FlamesNation managing editor Ryan Pike summed up the season this way:
Aydar Suniev had some initial struggles in his first pro season, primarily in terms of finding the time and space in the quicker AHLer environment to utilize his really effective shot. He got better as the year wore on and was one of the Wranglers’ better offensive players in the second half. His play away from the puck still needs some refinement, but figuring out how to score in his first pro season gives him something to build on.
Looking ahead to 2026-27, the bar is clear: Suniev should be aiming for a split between the AHL and NHL. He didn’t look out of place in those final games with the Flames, and the more comfortable he gets in faster leagues, the better he should be.
A strong push in preseason and training camp could put him in the mix for a roster spot. If he starts the year back with the Wranglers, he needs to be one of their best players.
Even if he spends more time in the AHL, Suniev looks like a player moving in the right direction, and he should be among the first forwards Calgary calls on if it needs help.
In Other News...
Flames Just Created A Power-Play Dilemma Ryan Huska Cant Ignore
The Flames latest reshuffle on the blue line brought a clear message with it: Calgary is not just adding talent, it is changing the conversation around how its power play is going to look. Simon Nemec arrived from New Jersey in a deal that involved multiple draft picks and a player, and the young right-shot defenseman signed on for five years as part of the move. With his skill set and offensive upside, he immediately slots into the same conversation as Zayne Parekh, the other young right-shot defender who has been holding down the top power-play role.
For Ryan Huska, this is the kind of internal competition that can sharpen a roster but also force a difficult decision sooner than later. Parekh has already claimed that spot, and Nemec did not come to Calgary to stand around and wait for a turn, so the Flames suddenly have two players with a strong case for the same job. Calgary can live with that kind of depth, but it also means the coaching staff will have to decide whether to keep the current setup intact or rework the first unit around a new look. [Read more 🡒]
One Saddledome Playoff Classic Still Hits Flames Fans Right In The Heart
The memory of Calgarys 2022 playoff run still has a way of stopping Flames fans in their tracks, especially the kind that end with a roaring Saddledome and a series win that felt bigger than the moment itself. After pushing the Dallas Stars all the way to seven games, the Flames found one last answer at home in overtime, a finish that turned a tense spring into one of those rare nights supporters still talk about whenever postseason hockey comes up.
What makes it linger even more is how much changed soon after. Calgary went on to fall to Edmonton in the next round, then watched key pieces like Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau depart after that season, before the organization moved in a new direction in 2023 with Ryan Huska behind the bench and Craig Conroy running hockey operations. In that sense, the Dallas series stands as more than just a win in the record book - it feels like one of the last vivid snapshots of the previous era. [Read more 🡒]