The Calgary Flames’ opening night roster for the 2026-27 season tells a pretty clear story about how the team has been built: trades have done a lot of the heavy lifting, the draft still matters, and free agency has barely been a factor.
By the numbers, Calgary’s roster breaks down into 11 players acquired in trades, nine players drafted by the Flames, two free-agent signings, and two waiver claims. That mix says a lot about where the organization is right now and how Craig Conroy has chosen to shape the team.
The trade group is the biggest chunk, and it includes Jonathan Huberdeau, Yegor Sharangovich, Kevin Bahl, Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, Zach Whitecloud, Ryan Strome, Brennan Othmann, Simon Nemec, Maxim Tsyplakov, and Jake Middleton. That might seem surprising at first glance, especially since the Flames have spent recent years dealing players out more than bringing them in.
But Conroy often picked up roster players along with draft capital when moving veterans, and that approach shows up here. Kevin Bahl came back in the Jacob Markstrom deal, Zach Whitecloud arrived for Rasmus Andersson, and Jake Middleton was added in the Blake Coleman move.
Most of the names in that trade group came in under Conroy’s watch. Jonathan Huberdeau is the only player left from the previous management regime. And while Conroy has made no secret of wanting to stockpile picks and prospects, he has also taken swings on younger NHL players like Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, and Simon Nemec.
The drafted core is still a major part of the roster too. Mikael Backlund, Martin Pospisil, Dustin Wolf, Connor Zary, Yan Kuznetsov, Matt Coronato, Sam Honzek, Zayne Parekh, and Matvei Gridin were all selected by Calgary.
Backlund, the captain, is the oldest link in that chain, going back to the 2007 draft. The group also spans a wide stretch of recent drafts, with at least one Flames draft pick from every class between 2018 and 2024 except 2022.
Not every homegrown player on the list was a first-rounder. Martin Pospisil, Dustin Wolf, and Yan Kuznetsov all came from outside the first round.
Even so, the bulk of the group is made up of former first-round picks, led by Connor Zary and Matt Coronato. And there’s plenty of attention on the younger names in the bunch, with Sam Honzek, Zayne Parekh, and Matvei Gridin all trying to take noticeable steps at the NHL level this season.
Free agency has been barely visible on this roster. The Flames only have two players who signed in Calgary as free agents: Adam Klapka and Devin Cooley.
That fits the recent pattern, since the team has largely stayed out of the free-agent market over the last couple of years. Klapka originally arrived in Calgary in 2022 as an undrafted European free agent, while Cooley joined the organization in 2024 after a short stint with the San Jose Sharks.
That’s a big shift from two years ago, when Calgary had nine free agents on the roster, including high-profile additions like Blake Coleman and Nazem Kadri. Lately, the Flames have not been using free agency to fill depth roles.
Instead, they’ve leaned on players brought in through trades, including Brennan Othmann and Maxim Tsyplakov. Earlier depth signings like Ryan Lomberg and Jake Bean spent their entire Calgary tenures on the NHL roster, while more recent additions such as Alexander Nylander and Michael Benning started out with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers.
The final category is waivers, where Brayden Pachal and Joel Hanley stand alone. Both came to the Flames late in the 2023-24 season and have settled in as dependable defenders for Ryan Huska. Still, some fans view them as blockers, since they believe those roster spots could be going to younger players instead.
Taken together, the roster looks like a pretty standard setup for a team in a retooling phase. Calgary has more traded players than drafted ones right now, which isn’t unusual, even if many NHL teams skew more heavily toward draft picks.
The bigger picture is what matters: the Flames appear set up to lean more and more on their drafted talent in the years ahead, while using traded players to cover the roster in the meantime. With only two free-agent signings on the board, the message is pretty straightforward - Calgary is being careful, deliberate, and patient with how it builds the next version of the team.
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