The Calgary Wranglers are taking a familiar route as the new season arrives, adding former Calgary Flames defenseman Derek Forbort on a professional tryout ahead of opening night.
Forbort, now 34, is back in the organization after a brief previous stop with the Flames, when he played seven games in 2019/20. He later spent a long stretch with the division rival Los Angeles Kings and has appeared in 56 games for the Vancouver Canucks over the past two years. He still hasn’t landed a team for the 2026/27 season, and the Wranglers have brought him in on a PTO with the AHL campaign just over 24 hours away.
The move comes as the Calgary Flames’ offseason has stayed relatively quiet at the NHL level aside from trades to acquire Simon Nemec and deal Blake Coleman. In the AHL, though, the organization has been more active, adding depth players and bringing in key prospects as the Wranglers try to reset after a 2025/26 season that needs improving.
Forbort won’t be an obvious path back to the NHL in Calgary. With Joel Hanley and Brayden Pachal ahead of him at the top level, and Hunter Brzustewicz likely first in line for a call-up, the opportunity here is more about providing the Wranglers with experienced depth.
That experience is real. In his last full NHL season in 2024/25, Forbort posted 2 goals and 11 points with the Canucks. Even so, he’s finding it harder to secure a regular NHL role, despite the veteran value he brings.
For the Wranglers, the fit is easy to understand. Axel Hurtig, Brzustewicz and Abram Wiebe are among the younger names in the mix, and while the roster has veterans around them, adding a player with 552 NHL games on his résumé gives the group another steady presence.
Whether this turns into a full contract remains to be seen, but with his familiarity with the organization and the kind of depth he can offer, it’s a sensible addition for a Wranglers team that may be thinking about a Calder Cup Playoffs push this season.
In Other News...
Flames Prospects Are Already Hitting Early Milestones Fans Will Notice
The NHL season is underway, and so is the early watch on several Calgary Flames prospects scattered across the CHL and Europe. There has already been a little bit of everything in their opening stretch, from goals and assists in the Western Hockey League and Ontario Hockey League to leadership duties that hint at how the organization sees some of these young players developing.
Maceo Phillips and Chase Harrington have both given Flames fans reasons to pay attention, even before the calendar has really settled in. Phillips recently found the net in Medicine Hats win over Edmonton, while Harrington stepped into a bigger role with Spokane and made his presence felt quickly in his season debut, the kind of start that can shape an early season conversation around a prospect group. [Read more 🡒]
Oilers Already Face A Forward Shakeup Calgary Fans Will Notice
The Oilers are already sorting through an early forward shuffle, and it started with a preseason problem that showed up against Calgary. Zach Hyman is expected to miss about two weeks after an undisclosed injury, leaving Edmonton to juggle its top-six look before the regular season even settles in. The club is also without Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Matt Savoie, and with Savoie projected to be out for seven weeks, there is some immediate depth pressure up front.
Edmonton has already reacted by pushing Leon Draisaitl onto a line with Connor McDavid and Vasily Podkolzin, a grouping that changes the look of a lineup Flames fans have been tracking closely. There is also a longer-term wrinkle in net, with Frederik Andersen moved to long-term injured reserve as the Oilers wait for him to return sometime in December, another reminder that the early-season roster picture is still very much in motion. [Read more 🡒]
Flames Opening Night Lineup Sparks An Immediate Saddledome Debate
The Flames have set their opening-night lineup for the season opener against the Seattle Kraken at the Scotiabank Saddledome, and the first reaction from the fan base came almost immediately. Calgary is already dealing with the absence of Jonathan Huberdeau because of injury, while Hunter Brzustewicz and Aydar Suniev have been reassigned to the American Hockey League, leaving the opening group a little thinner than expected as the season begins.
What has stirred the most debate, though, is the fourth line and the decision to keep Brennan Othmann out of the lineup. Othmann had done enough in camp to win a roster spot and turned heads in the preseason, so his omission has left some fans wondering how the Flames are choosing to balance early-season chemistry, lineup roles and the players who earned their way onto the roster in September. [Read more 🡒]