The Calgary Flames are heading toward the 2026-27 season with a leadership group that could look very different from the one they opened with in 2025-26.
Mikael Backlund is still the obvious constant. He wore the captain’s C in every game last season, and the real question now is which players will line up beside him as alternate captains when the new season begins.
Last year’s setup featured a rotating cast of veterans wearing the two A’s: Blake Coleman, Nazem Kadri, Rasmus Andersson, Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar. Ryan Lomberg was also counted among the leadership group, though he never wore a letter.
That group changed again after the trade deadline. With Andersson, Weegar and Kadri in different jerseys, the Flames added Joel Farabee, Kevin Bahl and Zach Whitecloud to the mix.
Coleman became a full-time alternate, while Farabee wore an A at home and Whitecloud wore one on the road. Bahl also picked up a road-trip A when Whitecloud was briefly injured.
Looking ahead to 2026-27, the simplest path would be to keep leaning on players who already have experience wearing letters. If Jonathan Huberdeau is ready to go from the start of the season after undergoing hip resurfacing surgery in March, he could join Backlund along with Farabee, Bahl and Whitecloud as holdover alternates.
That would also fit the way the Flames have typically handled the role, with one forward and one defenceman usually wearing an A. It would give the team some continuity, too, which matters for a group that is expected to be pretty young.
There’s also room for the picture to shift again as the season unfolds. If injuries or departures create openings, veteran forward Ryan Strome and defenceman Jacob Middleton could be candidates to join the group. Both have previously been described as being “good in the room” in earlier NHL stops.
With a young roster and the possibility of adding more college players at the end of the regular season, the Flames may decide a bigger leadership group makes sense. If that’s the route they take, the goal would be clear: give the younger players more voices around them as the season gets tougher.
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