The Calgary Flames are headed into 2026-27 with the kind of roster turnover that usually leaves a team scrambling. After finishing with just 77 points last season, they’re now moving forward without Rasmus Andersson, MacKenzie Weegar, and Nazem Kadri.
That’s the bad news. The other side of it is a wide-open runway for young players who are ready for more. Calgary’s rebuild is going to come with its share of rough nights, but it also gives the Flames a chance to find out which of their younger pieces can handle bigger jobs.
Here are five players who could be in line for breakout seasons if the extra opportunity turns into production.
Simon Nemec is at the top of that list. The 22-year-old defenceman arrived from the New Jersey Devils in a major deal that sent two first-round picks, a second-round pick, and blueline prospect Etienne Morin the other way, along with forward Maxim Tsyplakov.
Calgary followed that up by locking Nemec into a five-year, $36.25 million extension. The 2022 second-overall pick has not made a huge splash in the NHL yet, but the Flames are clearly betting he can become a difference-maker with them.
Morgan Frost should also get a major chance to shine. With Kadri gone, Frost is expected to handle the Flames’ top-centre role, even if that isn’t his perfect fit.
Still, the 27-year-old has a real opening to post the best season of his career. He finished 2025-26 with 82 games played, 22 goals, 21 assists, and 43 points, and his post-All-Star break stretch was especially encouraging: 10 goals and 16 points in 26 games.
More ice time is coming, and so is the pressure of a contract year.
Zayne Parekh is another name worth watching. The 20-year-old right-shot defenceman went through a true rookie education in 2025-26, when injury and healthy scratches limited him to 37 games.
He had never really had to fight through that kind of inconsistency before. But he was starting to settle in late in the year, and with Weegar and Andersson gone, there’s a clear path to more minutes and more chances to show off his offensive skill.
Matvei Gridin could be next in line for a bigger jump. The 20-year-old winger, who was selected 28th overall in the 2024 draft, spent part of last season in the AHL but still flashed as one of Calgary’s more dangerous forwards in his 37 NHL games.
He finished with 6 goals and 14 assists for 20 points. There will be growing pains, just as there are with Parekh, but Gridin looks like a player with a lot of tools and a real chance to take another step if his trajectory keeps pointing up.
Matt Coronato rounds out the group. At 23, he’s already had a decent runway in the NHL and has shown plenty of promise, even if 2025-26 brought a bit of a sophomore slump.
He played 80 games and posted 18 goals and 27 assists for 45 points, though his goal total dipped by six from the year before. Now he’s trying to prove he’s worth the seven-year, $45.5 million extension he signed last offseason.
Coronato already owns the best shot on the roster, and if he finds more consistency, a 30-goal season is very much in play.
In Other News...
What The Tkachuk Trade Really Became For The Flames
Four years on, the Matthew Tkachuk deal has become less a single trade than a rolling ledger for Calgary, one that has already fed into the clubs rebuild in more ways than the original return suggested. The Flames sent Tkachuk and a 2025 fourth-round pick to Florida for Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, a conditional 2025 first-round pick and Cole Schwindt, then watched that package start to evolve as the team reshaped its roster and stockpiled futures.
Huberdeaus arrival came with the kind of long-term commitment that was supposed to anchor the next era in Calgary, but his production has not matched the expectations that followed him north. Weegar, meanwhile, quickly established himself as a core blue-line piece before being moved again as the rebuild deepened, leaving the Flames with another reminder that the real value of the Tkachuk trade may be found not in the names attached to it, but in how those assets keep getting turned over. [Read more 🡒]
Flames May Have Their Smartest Rebuild Bet Already In Net
For a Flames team that is still trying to sort out its long-term direction, the goaltending picture may already be the cleanest part of the rebuild. Calgary locked up Dustin Wolf on a seven-year extension that begins in the 2026-27 season, a bet on a goalie who has already shown enough across his young career to make the contract look like a foundational move rather than a luxury.
Even with a down 2025-26 season, Wolfs overall body of work has kept him in the conversation as one of the better values on the market, with The Athletic ranking the deal eighth among NHL contracts. That matters for a club expected to lean on youth and inexperience in the years ahead, because if Wolf settles in as advertised, the Flames may have found the one position they can build around without much second-guessing. [Read more 🡒]