The Calgary Flames are heading into a 2026/27 season that could wind up among the roughest in franchise history, but that doesn’t mean training camp is short on intrigue. In fact, with camp and the pre-season looming, this is the stretch where a few important roster battles could start to come into focus.
The biggest question is whether anyone unexpected can force their way onto the NHL roster.
At the moment, the Flames’ opening lineup and forward combinations appear mostly settled, but the organization’s direction makes youth impossible to ignore. Last season, Matvei Gridin seized a spot out of camp and later earned his way back to the NHL for good after a dominant, All-Star run in the AHL. That kind of leap is exactly what the Flames will be watching for again.
There are five names worth tracking, and two of them already got NHL experience last season: LHD Abram Wiebe and C Tyson Gross. Neither has a locked-in job, but both flashed enough to keep themselves in the conversation.
Then there are three more young players who could make some noise if they put together a strong shortened camp: Jonathan Castagna, who came over in the Mackenzie Weegar trade; Andrew Basha, Calgary’s 2024 second-round pick; and Axel Hurtig, the former Calgary Hitmen captain. All three are probably headed for the AHL, and they could spend the full 2026/27 season there. Still, they’re names the Flames will be watching closely, especially once the organization’s youth movement really begins in 2027/28.
For Calgary, this season may not bring immediate results. But camp should help reveal which young players are ready to start shaping the franchise’s future.
In Other News...
Matvei Gridin Is Giving Flames Fans Another Huge Reason For Hope
Matvei Gridin gave the Flames one more young name to watch in a season that already leaned heavily into youth. Calgary opened the 2025-26 campaign with two teenagers on the roster, and Gridin ended up spending the year bouncing between the NHL and the AHL while showing enough skill at both levels to keep the organization intrigued. In 37 games with the Wranglers, he scored 10 goals and finished with 30 points, then carried that momentum into the big club when his opportunity came.
The path was hardly linear, but Gridins production suggests Calgary may have found a player worth patient investment. His work in the minors showed he could drive offense, and his NHL time offered a glimpse of how that might translate when the game speeds up. With another offseason ahead and the 2026-27 picture beginning to form, the real question for the Flames is how soon his growth turns from encouraging sample size into a permanent role. [Read more 🡒]