The 2019-20 NHL season was long, tumultuous, and now it’s complete. It featured a five month pause and an intense 24-team tournament. Once the pause began, teams began making moves with the future in mind – and that ramped up once the playoffs ended.
How does the Calgary Flames’ organizational depth look? And how has that depth changed? Let’s take a look at the current state of the team’s reserve list – the players under contract and the unsigned draft picks whose rights they retain.
Goaltenders
Player | Age | Country | NHL GP | Status |
Jacob Markstrom | 30 | SWE | 272 | Signed through 2025-26; NMC |
David Rittich | 28 | CZE | 115 | Signed through 2020-21 |
Louis Domingue | 28 | CAN | 139 | Signed through 2020-21 |
Artyom Zagidulin | 25 | RUS | 0 | Signed through 2020-21 |
Tyler Parsons | 23 | USA | 0 | Restricted free agent |
Dustin Wolf | 19 | USA | 0 | Signed through 2023-24 |
Daniil Chechelev | 19 | RUS | 0 | Unsigned; rights held indefinitely |
Changes since March: Markstrom, Domingue & Chechelev IN; Gillies & Schneider OUT
It’s hard not to see the Flames’ goaltending as upgraded. A 1-2-3 punch of Markstrom-Rittich-Domingue is vastly improved from Talbot-Rittich-Gillies. The minor depth is what it is, but Wolf and Chechelev are an intriguing pair of longer-term prospects.
Defensemen
Player | Age | Country | NHL GP | Status |
Mark Giordano | 37 | CAN | 893 | Signed through 2021-22; modified NTC |
Rasmus Andersson | 23 | SWE | 160 | Signed through 2025-26 |
Noah Hanifin | 23 | USA | 389 | Signed through 2023-24 |
Chris Tanev | 30 | CAN | 514 | Signed through 2023-24; modified NTC |
Juuso Valimaki | 22 | FIN | 24 | Signed through 2020-21 On loan to Ilves (SM-Liiga) |
Oliver Kylington | 23 | SWE | 87 | Restricted free agent |
Connor Mackey | 24 | USA | 0 | Signed through 2020-21 |
Alex Petrovic | 28 | CAN | 263 | Signed through 2020-21 |
Alexander Yelesin | 24 | RUS | 4 | Signed through 2020-21 |
Carl-Johan Lerby | 24 | SWE | 0 | Signed through 2020-21 |
Johannes Kinnvall | 23 | SWE | 0 | Signed through 2021-22 On loan to HV71 (SHL) |
Colton Poolman | 24 | USA | 0 | Signed through 2020-21 |
Yan Kuznetsov | 19 | RUS | 0 | Unsigned; rights held through Aug. 15, 2023 |
Jeremie Poirier | 18 | CAN | 0 | Unsigned; rights held through June 1, 2022 |
Jake Boltmann | 18 | USA | 0 | Unsigned; rights held through Aug. 15, 2025 |
Ilya Solovyov | 20 | BEL | 0 | Unsigned; rights held indefinitely |
Rushan Rafikov | 25 | RUS | 0 | Unsigned; rights held indefinitely |
Changes since March: Tanev, Mackey, Petrovic, Kinnvall, Poolman, Kuznetsov, Poirier, Boltman & Solovyov IN; Brodie, Forbort, Stone, Gustafsson, Hamonic, Nielsen & Valiev OUT
So, there’s been a lot of turnover on the blueline. The NHL-level depth, it can be argued, has been diminished with the loss of five NHL regulars (and Valiev, who’s played NHL games). But the additions of seven youngsters aged 24 and under has definitely helped their prospect depth. And Tanev’s addition, as an age group asset, makes sense when you see how dang young everyone on the blueline is (aside from Young and Fresh Giordano).
Forwards
Player | Age | Country | NHL GP | Status |
Matthew Tkachuk | 22 | USA | 293 | Signed through 2021-22 |
Johnny Gaudreau | 27 | USA | 464 | Signed through 2021-22 |
Sean Monahan | 26 | CAN | 541 | Signed through 2022-23; modified NTC |
Mikael Backlund | 31 | SWE | 690 | Signed through 2023-24; NTC |
Milan Lucic | 32 | CAN | 958 | Signed through 2022-23; NMC |
Elias Lindholm | 25 | SWE | 525 | Signed through 2023-24 |
Derek Ryan | 33 | USA | 302 | Signed through 2020-21 |
Sam Bennett | 24 | CAN | 364 | Signed through 2020-21 |
Dillon Dube | 22 | CAN | 70 | Signed through 2020-21 |
Andrew Mangiapane | 24 | CAN | 122 | Restricted free agent |
Glenn Gawdin | 23 | CAN | 0 | Restricted free agent |
Matthew Phillips | 22 | CAN | 0 | Signed through 2020-21 |
Zac Rinaldo | 30 | CAN | 370 | Signed through 2020-21 |
Buddy Robinson | 29 | USA | 12 | Signed through 2020-21 |
Byron Froese | 29 | CAN | 110 | Signed through 2021-22 |
Justin Kirkland | 24 | CAN | 0 | Signed through 2020-21 |
Jakob Pelletier | 19 | CAN | 0 | Signed through 2023-24 |
Emilio Pettersen | 20 | NOR | 0 | Signed through 2022-23 |
Adam Ruzicka | 21 | SLO | 0 | Signed through 2021-22 |
Eetu Tuulola | 22 | FIN | 0 | Signed through 2021-22 On loan to Vastervik IK (Allsvenskan) |
Martin Pospisil | 20 | SLO | 0 | Signed through 2021-22 On loan to HC Kosice (Tipsport Liga) |
Luke Philp | 24 | CAN | 0 | Signed through 2020-21 |
Dmitry Zavgorodniy | 20 | RUS | 0 | Signed through 2022-23 On loan to SKA St. Petersburg (KHL) |
Connor Zary | 19 | CAN | 0 | Unsigned; rights held through June 1, 2022 |
Ilya Nikolayev | 19 | RUS | 0 | Unsigned; rights held indefinitely |
Josh Nodler | 19 | USA | 0 | Unsigned; rights held through Aug. 15, 2023 |
Demetrios Koumontzis | 20 | USA | 0 | Unsigned; rights held through Aug. 15, 2022 |
Lucas Feuk | 19 | SWE | 0 | Unsigned; rights held through June 1, 2023 |
Ryan Francis | 18 | CAN | 0 | Unsigned; rights held through June 1, 2022 |
Rory Kerins | 18 | CAN | 0 | Unsigned; rights held through June 1, 2022 |
Filip Sveningsson | 21 | SWE | 0 | Unsigned; rights held through June 1, 2021 |
Mitchell Mattson | 22 | USA | 0 | Unsigned; rights held through Aug. 15, 2022 |
Pavel Karnaukhov | 23 | RUS | 0 | Unsigned; rights held indefinitely |
Yuri Trubachyov | 37 | RUS | 0 | Unsigned; rights held indefinitely |
Changes since March: Zary, Francis, Kerins IN; Rieder, Jankowski, Czarnik, Quine, Lomberg OUT
Admittedly, the structure of the team’s fowards is a bit weird. They have 10 no-doubt NHLers, ending with Mangiapane. After that, there’s a mixture of potential call-ups that’s part “we know these guys are fringe NHLers but we can’t afford anything else” and part “we haven’t had a chance to try these young guys out and now we might need to use them.” And beyond the quasi-NHL cluster, there’s another layer of untested (but promising) youngsters who haven’t played much, if any, pro hockey yet. Among all areas of the team, it’s hard to argue that the forward group isn’t shallower than they were in March.
There’s been a lot of change on the reserve list since March. What changes do you think are the best? (The worst?) Sound off in the comments!