The Calgary Flames have made their direction unmistakable. After the trades of Rasmus Andersson, MacKenzie Weegar and Nazem Kadri, the message to the rest of the NHL is clear: this is a rebuild now, with youth and development at the center of everything.
So if winning a playoff chase is off the table, what counts as a good year? For this group, success is going to be measured in a few very specific ways.
First and foremost, the young players have to move forward.
That puts a lot of pressure on Ryan Huska, because he controls the things that matter most to development: ice time, deployment, linemates and role definition. The Flames need him to put Simon Nemec, Zayne Parekh, Matvei Gridin, Matt Coronato and Sam Honzek in positions where they can actually grow.
Nemec needs top-pairing minutes and room to create in the offensive zone. Parekh should be running the top power play unit and logging 18-20 minutes a night all season. Gridin, who is the most skilled forward on the NHL roster, belongs on the first line at 5-on-5, on the top power play unit, and out first in 3-on-3 overtime.
Coronato can’t be bounced around or parked as a healthy scratch. He needs a clear top-six role and a spot on special teams, the way he had in the second half of the 2025-26 season. Honzek has the look of a very good two-way forward, and putting him in a defensive role beside Mikael Backlund could be a smart way to help his growth.
If those five players take a step, that alone would make the 2026-27 season a success.
The other big piece is giving the Wranglers a real chance to show what they can do in the NHL.
There wasn’t enough of that last season, and this year should be about development, experimentation and learning exactly what the Flames have in their system. Rory Kerins appeared in four NHL games last season and might have gotten more if he hadn’t been injured late in the year. A run of at least 15-20 games would be a meaningful look.
William Stromgren played only three games and averaged 7:17 of ice time. Brennan Othmann had two points in two games before going back to the AHL, and an extended look on the fourth line would be worth seeing. Aydar Suniev played six times and looked like he was trending the right way; a 15-20 game stretch in the top nine would help his development.
Tyson Gross, Sam Morton and Jonathan Castagna are also names that should get opportunities at some point.
That said, the Flames can only do so much if the NHL roster stays crowded. Craig Conroy is going to have to move out a few bodies over the next few months if he wants to create real runway for those younger players.
There’s also the asset-management side of the rebuild, and Conroy has handled that well so far. The Flames have done a strong job of not letting value walk out the door for nothing, and that has to keep going over the next two years.
The 2027 pending UFAs - Morgan Frost if he isn’t re-signed, Ryan Strome, Maxim Tsyplakov, Joel Hanley and Brayden Pachal - are the obvious candidates to be moved for whatever the Flames can get.
The 2028 group is where things get more interesting. Joel Farabee, Mikael Backlund, Connor Zary, Zach Whitecloud and Devin Cooley are all on expiring contracts then, and there’s a chance some of them could bring back more in a trade if another team knows it’s getting them for at least two playoff runs.
However it plays out, the Flames need to keep cashing in on players who won’t be part of the long-term picture.
And then there’s the draft.
The Flames are still looking for an elite number one centre, something this city hasn’t had since Joe Nieuwendyk was traded in 1995. The clearest path to finding one is at the very top of the NHL draft. Finishing near the bottom would lock in a top-three pick in 2027, and that’s where the top center prospects are expected to be.
Nazar Privalov, Milan Sundstrom, Alexis Joseph, Carter Meyer, Sammy Nelson and Brock England are all projected to go in the top 10. The biggest prize, though, is Maddox Schultz, who is eligible for the 2028 draft and is described as a superstar in the making with the Regina Pats.
For the Flames, the formula is pretty straightforward. Get the young core moving in the right direction, give the Wranglers prospects a real NHL look, keep stacking draft capital and stay near the bottom of the standings. If those boxes get checked, the 2026-27 season will be a win for Calgary fans, even without a playoff race.
In Other News...
Flames Still Face A Blue Line Question After Latest Rumors
The Flames blue line remains a work in progress, even as the trade chatter around them keeps shifting. Calgary has shown some interest in Arber Xhekaj, a defensively minded defenseman whose style would fit the kind of physical edge teams still value on the back end, but the clubs recent acquisitions appear to have changed the equation. With the roster picture still taking shape, any possibility of adding another defenseman has to be weighed against what the Flames have already brought in and how much room is left for more change.
For Calgary, the bigger question is not whether Xhekaj could help, but whether the need is still as pressing as it looked earlier. The latest rumblings around the league, from Torontos search for help on Auston Matthews wing to Vancouvers long-term planning off the ice, only underline how quickly priorities can move in the NHL. The Flames may like the idea of another steady defender, but after their recent moves, the front office has to decide if this is still the right moment to keep chasing that fit. [Read more 🡒]
Flames Blue Line Suddenly Has A Roster Crunch Fans Will Debate
The Flames have built something that should make any coach happy and any roster manager sweat: a blue line crowded with NHL-calibre defencemen and only about seven spots to sort out for the 2026-27 season. Kevin Bahl, Simon Nemec, Zayne Parekh, Yan Kuznetsov and Jake Middleton all look like near-locks to be there, which already leaves very little breathing room for everyone else trying to carve out a place.
What makes the situation even more interesting is the layer of uncertainty around the rest of the group. Zach Whitecloud and Hunter Brzustewicz are among the names with more to prove, whether that ends up meaning a clearer role in Calgary or perhaps a different kind of value altogether. It gives the Flames a useful problem, but also one that will need answers through camp, performance and maybe even the trade market before the picture settles. [Read more 🡒]