The Calgary Flames may have more than one moving part down the middle this season, and Morgan Frost is suddenly part of the conversation.
Travis Yost of TSN points out that Calgary is a little thin at center, with Ryan Strome in the final year of his contract at a $5 million cap hit and likely to be moved by the trade deadline. Mikael Backlund is also in the picture on a two-year deal with a no-movement clause, though teams could still come calling for him at the deadline.
That leaves Frost as an interesting name to watch. He’ll be a UFA after the season and should draw trade interest, but Yost wonders whether an extension might make sense for both sides.
Frost is coming off a career year with 22 goals and 43 points. He may not be a huge offensive driver in Calgary, but he could project as a middle-six center for a lot of teams.
If he gets off to a strong start, Yost suggests GM Craig Conroy could be pushed toward extension talks.
In Florida, the Panthers may have an opening up front while Brad Marchand recovers from surgery, and Patrik Laine has surfaced as a possible fit. George Richards of Florida Hockey Now notes that Laine scored 40 goals under Paul Maurice with the Winnipeg Jets and also knows Aleksander Barkov from their days in Tampere, Finland.
Laine, now 28, could need a PTO just to get into a training camp next month. He was limited to five games last season with Montreal.
If the Panthers place Marchand on LTIR, that would create some cap flexibility. Florida could also choose to give Sandis Vilmanis a look on the third line with Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen while Marchand is out.
And then there’s Arizona, where some around the game believe a return of the NHL is getting closer. Daily Faceoff’s Steve Peters said there is a lot happening behind the scenes, while Colby Cohen was even more direct: “That is a place you want to be, whether you’re an athlete or not.
We gotta figure hockey out in Arizona. We’re gonna do it in the USHL, and we’re gonna do it very successfully.
The NHL will come back.”
Peters added: “There is so much smoke going on right now here in Arizona. We saw Bill Daley talking about Arizona.
We saw that the the head of the the committee to bring hockey back to Arizona just met with Gary Bettman. Dude, there is so much going on in Arizona right now behind the scenes.
Just wait, just wait, Arizona fans. It’s closer than you think.”
In Other News...
Flames Could Put Several Familiar Names On The Block Again
The Flames look headed toward another familiar deadline posture, with the organization expected to act as a seller in 2026-27 if the season goes the way many around the team anticipate. That opens the door to a list of recognizable names becoming available, from Ryan Strome and Joel Hanley to Zach Whitecloud and Maxim Tsyplakov, with each case shaped by contract status, recent performance and whatever value they can fetch in a reshaped roster.
Morgan Frost and Connor Zary are the two names that will draw the most attention, even before the market fully develops. Frost remains one of the more talented centremen in the organization, which gives Calgary a tough decision if the right offer arrives, while Zary has already surfaced in trade chatter and could find himself back in that conversation quickly if his start to the season does not match the teams hopes. [Read more 🡒]
Calgary Native Gets A Real Chance To Climb In The Flames System
A Calgary native who has spent recent seasons working his way through the pro ranks is getting a new opportunity close to home. The Wranglers have added Alex Young on a two-way AHL/ECHL contract, giving the former AJHL standout and college player a chance to keep climbing in the Flames organization after proving himself in the ECHL.
Young heads into the season with a real path to minutes at either level, depending on where the Wranglers need help and how the roster shakes out. For a player who has bounced around the minor-league ladder, the chance to compete for ice time in Calgarys system gives him both a fresh platform and a familiar hockey market to make an impression. [Read more 🡒]
Connor Zary Faces A Defining Flames Season For His Future
Connor Zary has reached the point in his Flames career where upside is no longer the only conversation. After flashes of skill and stretches of useful play, the next season is shaping up as the one that will tell Calgary whether he can stick in a more prominent role or remain a player still searching for the right fit and the right lineup runway.
The projection work on Zary points to a meaningful window ahead, with his age and past production weighed against the role uncertainty that has followed him. For the Flames, the question is less about whether there is talent here and more about whether the coming season finally gives him enough consistency to make a real claim on a top-six spot and power-play duty. [Read more 🡒]