The Calgary Flames head into the 2026-27 season in a different kind of spot: no major UFA sitting there as an obvious deadline chip, but still a roster with more than a few names that could be wearing something else by the time 2027 rolls around.
That’s the real question for this group. Not whether the Flames will be busy, but which players are most likely to be on the move before the 2027 trade deadline.
Morgan Frost sits near the top of that list. Calgary wants help down the middle, but his next contract could push him right out of the team’s long-term plans.
He’ll be 28 when that deal starts, and the expectation is he’ll be looking for five or six years at more than $5 million per season. For a rebuilding club, that’s a tough fit.
By the time the Flames are ready to push again, Frost would already be in his 30s, which is why a move this season would not be a surprise, especially closer to the deadline.
Joel Hanley is in a much different place, but the end result looks similar. He nearly left a year ago before Calgary brought him back, yet the roster has shifted around him since then.
Zayne Parekh, Yan Kuznetsov and Hunter Brzustewicz have earned NHL jobs, while Simon Nemec and Jacob Middleton were added. That has squeezed Hanley out of the picture.
He still has enough value that a contender could part with a middle-round pick, and as a pending UFA who won’t be retained, the logic points straight toward a trade.
Maxim Tsyplakov is another name who looks like a pure flip candidate. He came to the Flames as a throw-in to the Simon Nemec deal, and Calgary has plenty of middle-six wingers already.
At 28 soon, and without a strong production track record, his future in the organization looks thin. If there’s a market for him, he’s probably gone.
Brayden Pachal belongs in that same neighborhood. He filled a useful stopgap role while Craig Conroy rebuilt the blue line, but the path is narrower now.
He’s younger than Hanley, which leaves a little room for the Flames to keep him, but the need for him just isn’t there anymore. If Calgary can find a mid-round pick from a contender, that’s the type of move that makes sense closer to the deadline.
Connor Zary is a tougher call. The temptation is to put him in the “very likely” group, but age and upside make Calgary more careful here.
He’s a former first-round pick who has flashed top-six ability, and he’s still signed for two more years. The player wants a change of scenery, but the Flames are not going to move him simply to move him.
There also hasn’t been much league-wide interest, which helps explain why he stayed put over the summer. If the right offer comes, he could be dealt.
Until then, he stays in the middle.
Ryan Strome is one to watch for a different reason. There’s a real chance Calgary keeps him.
Mikael Backlund is turning 38 this year, Frost is likely to be traded, and after those two there isn’t another veteran center on the roster besides Strome. That gives him value beyond the trade market.
He’s already taken on a leadership role in Calgary, and there’s a path to a very short, very cheap extension. The Flames would still move him for a strong offer, but there’s a believable version of this story where the offers never get strong enough and he sticks around.
Martin Pospisil’s future has also become murky. Injuries and inconsistent production have pushed him into a difficult spot, and last season was rough: just three points in 22 games after he signed a three-year extension last summer.
With younger players pressing for jobs, he could end up on the outside looking in. At this stage, a fresh start may be best for both sides, and if another team is willing to take on the contract, Calgary should listen.
Then there are the players who are less likely to move, but not impossible to deal if the right situation comes up.
Zach Whitecloud was initially the kind of veteran the Flames could flip for futures after the Rasmus Andersson trade. Instead, he has reportedly impressed management and the coaching staff with the way he has handled a leadership role.
With MacKenzie Weegar no longer around, Whitecloud has become one of the team’s more important defensemen. Interest around the league is said to be high, but Calgary clearly values what he brings to a young blue line.
He’s not untouchable, yet it would take a massive offer to get him out of town this season. A move in 2027-28 looks much more realistic.
Devin Cooley is in a similar category. He was one of last season’s biggest surprises, stepping in and playing like one of the best goaltenders in the league when called upon.
That performance, paired with a very cheap contract, makes him the kind of goalie contenders might ask about. But Calgary sees him as an important safety net behind Dustin Wolf, and there are no options after him.
The Flames would be reluctant to move him unless the return was substantial.
At the bottom of the board are the players with no real trade path. Jonathan Huberdeau is there because of the contract and the injury history. A 33-year-old coming off a 25-point season and major hip surgery carries what the source calls the worst contract in the NHL, which makes him the most untradeable player in the league right now.
Mikael Backlund is also off the market entirely. He once looked like a trade candidate for a team chasing a Stanley Cup, but he has fully committed to staying in Calgary through the rebuild. With two years left on his deal and a full NMC, there’s no path to a deal.
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