The Calgary Flames’ power play is headed for a makeover in 2026-27, and it needs one.
Last season, that unit was a real drag on the team’s overall offensive picture. Calgary finished with a 16.2% success rate on the power play, second-worst in the league, and that was part of a broader stretch in which the Flames simply didn’t score enough. They also had too many defensive breakdowns at important moments, leaving their goaltenders exposed far too often.
If the Flames are going to climb the standings in 2026-27, or even later than that, getting the man advantage back on track has to be near the top of the to-do list.
The personnel could look very different, too. Much of last season’s primary top unit featured Nazem Kadri, Jonathan Huberdeau, Morgan Frost, Matt Coronato and Rasmus Andersson. The second group usually included MacKenzie Weegar, along with some mix of Zayne Parekh, Matvei Gridin, Connor Zary, Blake Coleman and Yegor Sharangovich.
But Kadri, Andersson, Weegar and Coleman are all elsewhere now.
That opens the door for a new look, and the most logical starting point seems to be a top unit built around Gridin, Huberdeau, Frost, Coronato and Parekh. The idea is to keep the puck movement that started to click late last season, even if the goal totals never fully followed. That late-season group didn’t pile up a ton of finishes, but the passing and flow were strong enough to suggest there was something worth keeping.
On the second unit, Simon Nemec looks like the likely point man, with support coming from players such as Zary, Sharangovich, Joel Farabee, Sam Honzek, Ryan Strome and Maxim Tsyplakov.
There’s also a good chance Calgary keeps mixing and matching. Midway through last season, the Flames moved to two more balanced units because the top group wasn’t producing.
That setup worked reasonably well, and later they went back to a more loaded first unit before the trade deadline changes hit. Expect the coaching staff to keep rotating bodies through both groups, even if Gridin, Frost, Coronato, Parekh and Nemec end up as the most regular PP fixtures.
One more factor could shape everything: the lack of offensive-minded right shots. Based on the roster the Flames are expected to open with, the right-handed options for the power play are Coronato, Parekh, Nemec and Strome.
Adam Klapka could also be worked in as a net-front option, but the right-shot presence matters most because it helps create the quick one-timer looks teams want on the man advantage. That’s why Strome could wind up seeing a lot of power-play time this season simply because of that right-shot need.
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