The Calgary Flames are heading into the 2026-27 season with a roster that still feels like it’s being shaped in real time. There’s youth here, there’s talent here, and there are a few players whose seasons could tell you a lot about where this team is going next.
Three names stand out right away: Jonathan Huberdeau, Connor Zary and Zayne Parekh. Each brings a different kind of pressure into camp, and each has a role that could swing the Flames’ outlook in a meaningful way.
Huberdeau is the veteran in the middle of it all. The 33-year-old is coming off a 2025-26 season that never really got rolling, with just 50 games played after he dealt with the effects of a concussion suffered in a preseason collision.
He eventually made it back into the lineup, but the year still ended with only 25 points - 10 goals and 15 assists - before the Flames shut him down for season-ending hip resurfacing surgery. He did close with a little momentum, picking up four points - two goals and two assists - over his final five games, but Calgary is still waiting for something closer to the player who once posted 115 points with the Florida Panthers in 2021-22.
Over four seasons with the Flames, Huberdeau has averaged 48.5 points and 72.75 games per year. That’s not nothing, but it’s also not the level Calgary needs if it wants more punch from its top end.
Still, his value isn’t just in the numbers. On a young team taking another step, his presence and leadership matter too.
If he comes back healthy and finds more of his offensive game, that could ripple through the whole season.
Zary sits in a very different spot. The trade chatter that surrounded him not long ago has eased for now, and there’s no immediate move looming.
That creates a real opening for him. The 24th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft finished last season with 12 goals and 25 points in 74 games, but those totals don’t tell the full story.
A lot of his year came in a checking role on the fourth line instead of the top-six minutes he can handle.
At 24, this feels like a defining season. Zary still has offensive upside, whether he stays in Calgary or eventually becomes part of a trade.
If he has a strong camp, carries more confidence and gets a bigger chance, he has a chance to show a lot more of what he can do. For a Flames team looking for growth from within, that matters.
Then there’s Parekh, who already gave the Flames a look at both sides of his game as a rookie. The 20-year-old, taken ninth overall in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, had moments that stood out, but he also had stretches where the NHL game clearly pushed back. At times he looked physically overwhelmed by the pace and strength around him, which isn’t unusual for a young defenseman, but it’s the issue that will follow him into year two.
Parekh finished with 9 points - four goals and five assists - in 37 games. The offense improved as the season went on, and he looked more comfortable carrying the puck and making plays at this level. The next step is the harder one: finding the line between the offensive instincts that made him such a high pick and the strength and defensive steadiness needed to become a reliable NHL defender.
A full summer of pro training should help with that. If Parekh makes that jump, the Flames may have another important piece of their young core ready to move forward.
In Other News...
One Saddledome Night Still Defines The Flames For A Generation
On May 29, 2004, the Saddledome felt like the center of the hockey world again, hosting a Stanley Cup Final game for the first time in 15 years as the Flames welcomed Tampa Bay. Calgary made the night matter, skating away with a 3-0 win in Game 3 behind a disciplined effort, timely scoring and strong goaltending in front of a crowd that had waited a long time for that stage to return.
The game became one of those franchise touchstones that still hangs over the building years later, a reminder of how close the Flames came to turning that run into something even bigger. The series went all seven games, and Tampa Bay ended up lifting the Cup, but for one Saddledome night the Flames had the league exactly where they wanted it and gave their fans a memory that still defines an era. [Read more 🡒]
Sharangovich Knows He Must Deliver More For A Scoring-Starved Flames Team
Yegor Sharangovich spent the offseason taking a hard look at his game, and the Calgary Flames are hoping that self-assessment leads to a much-needed bounce-back. After a low-scoring season from the club, Sharangovich knows he has to be better, especially in the areas that can help him hold onto pucks and drive play when the offense dries up.
He said his focus has been on improving his performance in puck battles and in his own zone, part of a broader effort to get back to the scoring form he has shown before. The work has not just been mental, either, with changes to his training approach designed to help him rebuild his all-around game and give a thin Flames attack another reliable option. [Read more 🡒]
Flames Have Another Center Prospect Worth Watching Closely
Jonathan Castagna is becoming an interesting name to track in the Flames system, especially after the organization brought him in as part of the MacKenzie Weegar deal and later signed him to an entry-level contract that begins in 2026-27. After a strong junior season at Cornell, the center got a look at Flames rookie camp and now looks headed for the Calgary Wranglers next season, where the club will get a better sense of how his game translates against pro competition.
For Calgary, the appeal goes beyond just another center body in the pipeline. Castagnas faceoff work and leadership have stood out, traits that can help a young player carve out a real role quickly if the rest of his game keeps coming along. The Wranglers should give him a chance to compete for top-line center duty, and for a prospect still early in his development, that is a meaningful opportunity to watch closely. [Read more 🡒]