The Calgary Flames managed a strange double act in The Athletic’s updated contract rankings on July 23: they landed on the NHL’s worst list, and they also showed up on the best one.
That split says a lot about where this team is right now. Calgary is in a rebuild and sitting on strong NHL Draft Lottery odds, which should mean younger, cheaper, cleaner books. Instead, the Flames are still carrying Jonathan Huberdeau’s $10.5 million salary, a deal that keeps showing up as one of the league’s biggest headaches.
At the same time, they’ve got Dustin Wolf locked in on a bargain compared with the kind of impact he could deliver. His extension runs through 2033 and pays him $7.5 million over the next seven seasons. If he ever wins the Vezina Trophy before that deal is done, it’s easy to see why people would call it a steal.
Huberdeau’s contract has now been ranked as the NHL’s worst for the third straight year. The deal is worth $84 million and pays him $10.5 million annually, a massive commitment that looked even bigger after he arrived in Calgary following a 115-point season in 2021-22 and immediately signed the blockbuster extension.
The production hasn’t come close to matching the price tag. In his first year with the Flames, Huberdeau scored 15 goals and finished with 55 points, a drop of 60 points from the season before.
He followed that with 12 goals and 52 points in 2023-24, plus a team-worst minus-29 rating. He did rebound in 2024-25 with 28 goals and 62 points, but he played only 50 games and still finished with 10 goals and 25 points.
That kind of salary makes the whole situation tougher. When a player is paid that much, the expectation is obvious, and Huberdeau’s numbers have made him extremely difficult to move if the Flames wanted to find a trade and give him a reset elsewhere.
Wolf, meanwhile, is the reason Calgary hasn’t fallen all the way to the bottom. The All-Rookie goalie is set to begin his extension, and the Flames are counting on him as their clear No.
- Last season, he posted a 23-29-3 record, the first losing season of his professional career, as Calgary ended up with the fourth-best draft lottery odds.
Even so, his 2024-25 season was a bright spot in a tough year. Wolf went 29-16-8 and kept the Flames in the hunt for a wild-card spot until the final weeks. For a rebuilding team that has struggled to score, he’s been the one player making sure they aren’t getting pushed out of every building they visit.
Calgary has had its share of strong goaltenders over the years, but Wolf has brought a kind of energy the fanbase hasn’t felt from a young goalie since Miikka Kiprusoff in the early 2000s. As the Flames move toward Scotia Place next season, those two contracts sit at opposite ends of the same story: one is a costly reminder of where the team has been, and the other looks like a foundation piece for where it hopes to go.
In Other News...
Flames Prospect Theo Stockselius Just Gave Fans A Real Debate
Theo Stockselius has already become one of the more interesting names in the Flames prospect pool, and not just because Calgary spent the 54th pick on him in the 2025 NHL Draft. The 6-foot-3 centre signed his three-year entry-level deal in May, then spent the 2025-26 season moving between Djurgardens IFs senior SHL club and its U20 team, giving the organization a look at both the upside and the rough edges in his game.
What stands out is how much there still is to sort through. Stockselius brings real playmaking and finishing touch, but the same reports that praise his offensive instincts also point to areas that will decide how quickly he climbs, including his physical assertiveness, face-off work and puck security. He was also named Playoff MVP in the J20 Nationell, which only adds to the sense that there is more here than a simple long-term project, even if the next step in his development is still the part everyone wants to see. [Read more 🡒]
Flames Suddenly Face A Bigger Leadership Question Behind Backlund
The Flames are heading toward a very different look by the time the 2026-27 season arrives, with eight players from the previous opening-night roster no longer around. Mikael Backlund still projects as the steady hand at the center of it all, but the leadership conversation is already widening as Calgary tries to map out who will help guide a roster that should look younger and less familiar.
Jonathan Huberdeau, Joel Farabee, Kevin Bahl and Zach Whitecloud are all in the mix to wear letters alongside Backlund, giving the Flames a blend of veteran presence and positional balance. There is also a chance the group expands further if the roster keeps shifting, with Ryan Strome and Jacob Middleton among the names that could emerge as additional voices as Calgary sorts out who fits best in a room that may need more than the usual amount of direction. [Read more 🡒]
Flames Fans Just Got An Early Read On Maceo Phillips
Maceo Phillips has given Flames fans a clearer look at his next step, signing a WHL Scholarship & Development Agreement with the Medicine Hat Tigers for next season. It is the kind of move that helps map out a prospects path a little earlier than usual, especially for a player still in the junior pipeline and working toward his college future at the University of Minnesota.
Around the same time, other familiar prospect names were making their own decisions abroad. Dmitri Ivchenko, a Vancouver Canucks pick, locked in a three-year extension with Avangard Omsk, while former Maple Leafs prospect Dmitry Ovchinnikov landed a tryout deal with HK Sochi in the KHL, underscoring how many young players are still sorting out where their development will continue. For Calgary, Phillips arrival in Medicine Hat offers a more immediate local read, even if the bigger picture on his long-term timeline is still unfolding. [Read more 🡒]