The Calgary Flames’ opening to the season has been rough enough to make the point on its own. They’ve been outscored 16-3 by the Vancouver Canucks and Seattle Kraken, two teams also expected to sit near the bottom of the NHL standings.
But this isn’t the same kind of losing the Flames have lived through before.
For the past three seasons, Calgary tried to stay competitive while moving out veterans and giving younger players chances. That kind of half-step rebuild can be brutal.
You’re not bad enough to truly bottom out, and you’re not good enough to chase a playoff spot. It leaves a team stuck in the middle.
That changed around the 2026 trade deadline, when Craig Conroy moved Rasmus Andersson, MacKenzie Weegar, and Nazem Kadri.
Now the Flames are headed in a different direction, and the losing is part of the plan. A scorched-earth rebuild usually comes with a few ugly seasons before anything starts to look better.
The Montreal Canadiens had 55, 68, and 76 point seasons during their rebuild. The San Jose Sharks went through 60, 47, and 52 point seasons.
The Colorado Avalanche had three rough seasons between 2011-2017 to help them draft Gabe Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, and Cale Makar. The Anaheim Ducks had 58 and 59 point seasons where they drafted Leo Carlsson and Beckett Sennecke.
Other teams that went through painful stretches before turning things around include the Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, Florida Panthers, Edmonton Oilers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and LA KIngs.
So yes, this start has been ugly. But it’s also the kind of ugly that can come with a purpose.
That doesn’t mean the Flames will suddenly become good. It does mean they should become more watchable, and eventually more competitive, than they’ve been through the first three games. They already bounced back from a 2-9-2 start last season, and there’s at least a path here, even if the losses pile up.
The most compelling reason to watch right now is Zayne Parekh.
Parekh is the one Flames player who can consistently drive offense at 5-on-5 and on the power play. He’s already the only skater on this roster making the kind of elite, high-skill plays that get people leaning forward. Since Johnny Gaudreau left in 2022, he’s the first Flame with the ability to deliver those high-end passes that catch opponents off guard.
He has one primary assist in three games, but that number barely scratches the surface. With limited talent around him, the 20-year-old has still flashed the kind of offensive game that doesn’t come along very often. The Flames have something special here.
Sam Honzek has also made a strong early impression.
The soon-to-be 22-year-old has already looked like one of the biggest, fastest, and most physical players on the roster. His speed has been useful everywhere: hounding pucks on the forecheck, creating chances in the offensive zone, and helping shut things down on the penalty kill.
He brings size, a long reach, and enough skill to make that package matter. The one question is health, something that has followed him since he was drafted in the first round of the 2023 NHL Draft.
Aydar Suniev is another name that needs to be in the conversation sooner rather than later.
He turned heads in training camp by scoring four goals across three rookie/exhibition games, and he clearly earned a look with the big club. Starting him in the AHL made sense at the time, but the scoring problems hit faster than expected, and now the Flames need more punch. The issue is finding a spot for him in the top nine, because this is not a player you want buried on the fourth line.
The current wingers in that group are Matt Coronato, Joel Farabee, Matvei Gridin, Sam Honzek, Yegor Sharangovich, and Connor Zary. A trade would be the cleanest solution in theory, but that takes a willing partner, and it’s unclear how much value Zary and Sharangovich carry right now.
Another option is simply rotating Zary and Sharangovich, with the hotter hand getting in. The point is straightforward: if the Flames are serious about building for what comes next, they need Suniev in the lineup and developing as an everyday bottom-nine winger.
There’s also a decision to make on Maxim Tsyplakov.
The experiment, as it stands, hasn’t done much for Calgary. He’s 28, he’s a pending UFA, and he scored two goals last season between the Islanders and Devils.
He was included in the Simon Nemec trade, though it’s not clear whether that was about cap flexibility or just the price of getting the deal done. Either way, the odds of him being back next season are essentially nonexistent.
That raises the obvious question: why is he playing over Brennan Othmann?
Othmann is 23 and could be part of this team for a long time as a fourth-line pest and penalty killer. More than that, he could grow with the rest of this young core and help shape the culture and identity of the next Flames team.
Tsyplakov, by contrast, looks like a short-term stopgap at best. There’s no need for his services right now, and Othmann deserves the minutes.
In Other News...
Flames Already Have An Early Problem Fans Know Too Well
The early-season alarm bells are already sounding in Calgary after another rough night on the road, where the Flames were beaten decisively by Seattle and left searching for answers on the back end. The Kraken jumped on defensive breakdowns from the opening minutes and never let up, turning what should have been a chance for Calgary to settle in to the new year into another reminder of how quickly things can unravel when the structure slips.
Morgan Frost eventually got the Flames on the board with a power-play redirection in the third period, but by then the game had long since gotten away. What makes the start even harder to ignore is the growing pattern against Seattle, which has now outscored Calgary 12-2 in the first two regular-season meetings, the kind of lopsided edge fans know all too well when a familiar problem starts resurfacing this early. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks Suddenly Have A Goalie Decision They Did Not Expect
Leevi Merilinen has given the Canucks an early-season wrinkle they did not necessarily plan on when they claimed him off waivers from the Senators. The young goaltender has stepped into a limited role and made a strong first impression, looking steady enough in his first two outings to make Vancouvers crease picture more interesting than it seemed a few weeks ago.
Once Thatcher Demko returns from injury, the club will have some decisions to make about how it wants to structure the position going forward. Merilinens start has at least created a case for more than a brief cameo, and for a team that values stability in net, that kind of unexpected depth can quickly turn into a real roster conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Flames Face Early Test Of Discipline In Seattle Rematch
After a loss to the Vancouver Canucks, the Flames were back on the road and in Seattle early Sunday, looking to reset quickly ahead of a 6 p.m. MT rematch with the Kraken. Calgarys focus entering the game was less about style points and more about tightening up a start that left too much room for error, with the usual road-game details looming large in a matchup that can turn on special teams and discipline.
Dustin Wolf is expected to get the nod in net, which adds another layer to a game the Flames would like to keep on their own terms. Mikael Backlund has already framed the challenge plainly: Calgary needs to be smarter and avoid spending too much time in the box, because chasing a game from there is a tough way to stack up wins in a tight stretch. [Read more 🡒]