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!