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What could the Flames defence pairs look like next season?

Robert Munnich — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 18:00:04 GMT

Heading into the 2026-27 Calgary Flames season, the one part of the team that is going to have the most intrigue is the defence core.

As of July 20, the Flames have nine NHL defencemen on their NHL roster.

Left handed defencemen: Kevin Bahl, Jake Middleton, Yan Kuznetsov, Joel Hanley.

Right handed defencemen: Simon Nemec, Zayne Parekh, Zach Whitecloud, Hunter Brzustewicz, Brayden Pachal.

How Ryan Huska and Trent Cull go about forming defence pairings is going to be fascinating. Arguably the most interesting aspect of the Flames heading into the season.

We’ll start with Kevin Bahl and Simon Nemec who are likely to be the Flames first pair. Bahl has established himself as the go to defensive defenceman on the Flames. The guy Huska will go to shut down opposing top lines. Nemec plays the yin to Bahl’s yang. He likes to get involved in the rush, play in the offensive zone, and take chances. Bahl will stay back and be relied on to play a safe style of play.

Nemec needs to play big minutes to be the player the Flames think he can be. He showed at the Olympics that he can be a legit top pairing defenceman.

Simon Nemec led the entire Olympic tournament in scoring chance contributions among d-men. Playing 23 mins a game for Slovakia

The Flames got a stud. He will instantly be their PP QB and #1 defenceman #Flames

— Drew Livingstone (@ProducerDrew_) June 23, 2026

There is also some built in chemistry as Bahl and Nemec played 198:01 together in New Jersey in the 2023-24 season.

Putting together the next two pairings is where things get interesting because it will come down to what side Zayne Parekh is going to play on. Parekh played on the right side for the majority of last season and put up some decent numbers for a 19 year old rookie.

For the final three games of last season Parekh played on the left side with Zach Whitecloud on the right. The pair outscored their opposition 2-1, and were on the ice for more high danger scoring chances (10-7) in 37:25 of ice time. However they were out-chanced by the opposition in shot attempts.

Parekh also scored the goal of the year for the Flames while on the left.

🔥FLAMES GOAL🔥

ZAYNE PAREKH SCORES AN INCREDIBLE GOAL 🤩

🎥: Sportsnet | #Flames pic.twitter.com/WuAEoCKg36

— Robert Munnich (@Robert_Munnich) April 17, 2026

Welcome to the Zayne Parekh era 🔥

🎥: Sportsnet | #Flames pic.twitter.com/nuYksFlX3N

— Robert Munnich (@Robert_Munnich) April 17, 2026

Let’s take a look at what the Flames defence could look like with Parekh playing on the right side, his strong side.

Parekh on the right

As previously discussed, Bahl and Nemec are the number one pair.

Yan Kuznetsov and Zach Whitecloud could be a strictly defensive pairing who Huska can use in situations against the opposing teams top players at 5-on-5 and on the first penalty killing unit.

Jake Middleton is the perfect fit for Parekh. Middleton is a stay at home, defensive defenceman who can stay back while Parekh rovers his way around the ice. Middleton can also be used as someone to protect Parekh from taking massive hits. Opposing players might not go after Parekh as hard as they normally would or they won’t go after him at all knowing they’ll have to deal with the 6’3″, 218 pound defenceman.

Parekh on the left

Parekh and Whitecloud showed some good chemistry together in the final three games of the season. Similar to Middleton, Whitecloud is a great option to be Parekh’s partner next season. He is a steady, reliable and predictable defenceman, which should be perfect for an offensively minded player like Parekh.

My only worry is that it’s asking a lot from a 20 year old to play their off side in the NHL. If Parekh plays on the left, he is going to have to make a lot of plays using his backhand. He’s talented enough to pull off a lot of those plays, but he also has to get the puck off his stick quickly while making a smart play. That’s not easy to do in an NHL that continues to get faster as each year goes on.

Middleton and Kuznetsov would likely rotate in and out of the lineup for the most part in this scenario.

This also gets Hunter Brzustewicz back in the Flames lineup. But keep in mind that it’s not a bad thing if Brzustewicz were to be sent to the Calgary Wranglers in his 21/22 year old season. There is no such thing as too much time in the best development league in the world for someone that young.

My two cents

Putting Parekh on his right side to start the season is the way to go if you ask me.

This defence core looks pretty solid. It’s balanced. It features a lot of skill. It has some size and toughness. And this group has good options for both sides of special teams.

The key in this group is that it keeps Kuznetsov, who proved he is a full time NHLer last season, in the lineup on a regular basis.

It also allows Parekh to play on the right side, which will make the game a lot easier on himself as he continues to learn and grow.

When it comes to Brzustewicz, he can start the season in the AHL and continue to work on his strength and skating. The Flames can re-evaluate where they are at with Brzustewicz around the trade deadline. They can use him as a trade chip or they can move out a guy like Whitecloud to make room for Brzustewicz.

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FlamesNation Mailbag: Talking offer sheets, prospects and the upcoming schedule

Ryan Pike — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 16:00:35 GMT

We’re into the meat of the off-season, folks, with most of the major hockey news having already unfolded.

We’re all now biding our time until the ice returns to the Scotiabank Saddledome and preparations begin for the 2026-27 campaign. As we count down the many days left in the off-season, let’s check in with the mailbag!

Hi Ryan! With the world cup wrapping up can't help noticing how long the tournament took. Not into soccer but how are players able to take so much time away from their clubs vs in hockey where being away for 10 days for the Olympics seemed more difficult?

— Kev (@KevinDang97) July 19, 2026

This is a fun question, and allows us to throw a spotlight on something cool. You see, the European football leagues – like the Premier League in England, La Liga in Spain, and so on – have built-in breaks into their schedule to facilitate participation in international games to qualify for things like the European Championships and the World Cup. The breaks are so standard that they’re referred to simply as, well, “the international breaks.” European hockey leagues have similar structures, too, which allows their players to take part in various tournaments during the year with their national teams.

But because of the way the NHL’s schedule is set up, with very few structured breaks in the schedule, playing in the Olympics or the World Cup is more disruptive. In terms of how the soccer/football international game model works, the short answer is “it’s always sort of been this year,” and so the breaks are part of the norms of the season’s calendar.

I don't think they will, but if the sharks try to squeeze Macklin Celebrini next summer, is it a crazy thought for the Flames to offer sheet him. To me, the Flames are loaded at every position prospectwise. Just no #1 centre. Even if the sharks match, well you blow up their cap.

— Marc (Never Again For ANYONE) Carvalho (@iggyfan2001) July 19, 2026

I don’t see this happening, even if the part of me that loves chaos kind of craves this sort of move.

From the Sharks perspective, I don’t see them trying to squeeze their best player. From Celebrini’s perspective, this only happens if he thinks it’s the only path to getting the sort of money he wants from San Jose – all things being equal, I always expect teams to match offer sheets and then figure out the cap math later. And from the Flames’ perspective, if they’re assuming they’re being used as leverage to get the Sharks to give Celebrini his money, would they be willing to potentially disrupt their careful build plans on the off chance the Sharks might not match? (Remember: if you sign a player to an offer sheet, even if it’s matched, expect your RFAs to use that as an example of what they want until the end of time.)

Do you think the Flames could sign Eric Jamieson after this season? I feel like he might be our most underrated prospect.

— SirLunatik (@MrLunatik79) July 19, 2026

First and foremost: Eric Jamieson high-key rules. He was named to his conference’s all-rookie team as a freshman, won a national championship with Denver and maintained a GPA higher than 3.75. It’s hard to imagine a better first college season.

In terms of him getting signed: he’s trending in the right direction. He impressed in the Western League, but you could use the obvious “Oh, but he did it against kids!” card against him. Well, he did the same against an older cohort, so it’s tougher to poke holes in his resume.

The only question regarding Jamieson: where would he fit into the Flames system? They’re not going to sign prospects just to sign them; their aim is to do so where there’s an obvious role and pathway to success for them. The likely hope is that after his sophomore season at Denver, there’s a clearer projection of what he can become as a pro and how the Flames can get him there.

Ryan, with tge schedule now released I have a lot of out of town family that want to come say farewell to the done. Are there any thurs&sat tilts or fri&sun that also have something going on in the city that weekend that would show out of towners a great Calgary time? Thanks!

— Big Daddy (@bigdaddybustard) July 19, 2026

The good news is there are a bunch of weekends with multiple home dates during the 2026-27 regular season.

Here are those weekends:

Thu. Oct. 8 (Colorado) & Sat., Oct. 10 (Anaheim)
Thu., Oct. 22 (Minnesota) & Sat., Oct. 24 (Detroit)
Fri., Nov. 6 (Anaheim) & Sun., Nov. 8 (Philadelphia)
Thu., Nov. 19 (Minnesota) & Sat., Nov. 21 (Chicago)
Thu., Dec. 3 (Buffalo) & Sat., Dec. 5 (Washington)
Thu., Jan. 7 (NY Islanders) & Sat., Jan. 9 (Tampa Bay)
Thu., Jan. 14 (San Jose) & Sat., Jan. 16 (Los Angeles)
Thu., Jan. 28 (Montreal) & Sat., Jan. 29 (New Jersey)
Fri., Feb. 19 (Pittsburgh) & Sun., Feb. 21 (Ottawa)
Thu., Mar. 25 (Los Angeles) & Sat., Mar. 27 (Vegas)
Thu., Apr. 8 (Colorado) & Sat., Apr. 10 (Vancouver)

That last pair is the final two Saddledome regular season games ever.

Hey Ryan, I saw you post something before about there not being any 5 MT games due to no more clock turning. How is that possible? Are all Eastern games now going to be 8pm local start times? So confusing

— v5 Calgary Flames (@v5FlamesGM) July 19, 2026

It’s mostly just a consequence of time zone gaps. Most east coast games remain 7 p.m. local starts in the Eastern time zone. But with Alberta not falling back in October anymore, functionally Alberta will be one hour staggered from that time zone instead of two hours, so those games will start at 6 p.m. Calgary time instead of the prior 5 p.m. starts.

What, if any, theme nights are being created by the Flames to usher out the Scotiabank Saddledome? What might be some good ones?

— Ed Helinski 🇺🇸🇵🇱 🌴 (@MrEd315) July 19, 2026

I expect many theme nights from the Calgary Flames game operations crew during the coming season. I don’t know what they are yet, but I expect we’ll see an announcement – or series of announcements – before the season begins.

Hey Ryan herd roomours of Flames new Radio Broadcast Partner any news updates on this Thanks

— Larry Letterman (@MacCash55) July 19, 2026

I have no idea about what’s in the works for an audio broadcast of Calgary Flames games for next season, but I sincerely hope (a) there is one and (b) many of our favourite people from the previous incarnation produced by the former Fan 960 find themselves involved. Here’s hoping we hear some news on this front as we get closer to the season.

Got a question for a future mailbag? Contact Ryan on Twitter/BlueSky at @RyanNPike or e-mail him at Ryan.Pike [at] BetterCollective.com! (Make sure you put Mailbag in the subject line!)

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NHL Notebook: Connor Bedard signs five-year extension

Ryley Delaney — Mon, 20 Jul 2026 14:00:44 GMT

The 2026 off-season has officially become a crawl.

As is the case after the free agent frenzy on July 1, the off-season has come to a halt as player and executives enjoy their summer. Still, there have been a handful of recent signs and extensions over the last few days, including Connor Bedard.

On Saturday, the Chicago Blackhawks announced that they’ve agreed to terms to a five-year deal worth $15 million annually with their first overall pick in 2023.

𝐄 𝐗 𝐓 𝐄 𝐍 𝐃 𝐄 𝐃 🏠

from draft night to his first goal on UC ice and every moment in between, here’s to 𝟓 more years of 𝟗𝟖 in Chicago ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Cvad2ECxbC

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) July 18, 2026

Bedard is coming off a career-best season, scoring 30 goals and 75 points in just 69 games, up from his 23 goals and 67 points in 82 games last season and 22 goals and 61 points in 68 games during the 2023-24 season.

Last season, he missed some time due to a shoulder injury, but was in the top 10 for league scoring. Early into this off-season, Bedard suffered a left shoulder injury during practice, and is set to miss the beginning of the 2026-27 season.

Flyers sign Jamie Drysdale

Another restricted free agent that came to terms is Philadelphia Flyers’ defenceman Jamie Drysdale, who signed a four-year deal worth $6.5 million annually.

Jamie Drysdale and Philadelphia have settled to avoid arbitration

4 x $6.5M

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 17, 2026

Drysdale was drafted by the Anaheim Ducks with the sixth overall pick in 2020. After parts of four seasons with the west coast team, he was sent to the Flyers in exchange for Cutter Gauthier.

You can point to this exact trade for the ensuing drama surrounding the teams with the Leo Carlsson situation earlier this off-season, but Drysdale is coming off a career-best season. In 78 games with the Flyers in 2025-26, he scored eight goals and 32 points, setting a career best in the former and matching a career-high in the latter.

Drysdale also helped the Flyers make the post-season, appearing in 10 games where he scored twice and picked up two assists as the Flyers eventually lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round.

Connor McMichael signs six-year extension

On Thursday, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Freidman reported that the St. Louis Blues extended Connor McMichael to a six-year deal worth $6.75 million annually.

Connor McMichael and STL avoid arbitration with a 6 x $6.75M extension

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 16, 2026

McMichael was drafted 25th overall by the Washington Capitals in 2019. He became a regular in 2021-22, scoring nine goals and 18 points in 68 games, but played just five NHL games in 2022-23, instead winning the Calder Cup with the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears.

By 2023-24, McMichael established himself as an NHL’er, scoring 18 goals and 33 points in 80 games. He followed that up with a career-best 26 goals and 57 points in 82 games in 2024-25, but he saw his numbers drop this past season, scoring just 14 goals and 46 points in 78 games in 2025-26.

Around the 2026 NHL Draft, McMichael was traded alongside a 2026 first round pick to the Blues in exchange for Jordan Kyrou, one of several big moves that the Capitals made in preparation for Alex Ovechkin’s potential last season in the NHL.

Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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The Flames have plenty of time to let toolsy Czech goalie Tobias Trejbal develop

Ryan Pike — Sun, 19 Jul 2026 16:00:06 GMT

There were a lot of interesting questions for the Calgary Flames coming out of the 2026 NHL Draft. Among them: man, why did the Flames select goaltender Tobias Trejbal in the second round when they already have Dustin Wolf?

It’s a pretty loaded question, and it’s worth unpacking a bit.

Okay, first things first: Dustin Wolf.

Wolf was the fourth-from-last player drafted in the 2019 NHL Draft, somehow dropping to 214th overall despite leading the Western Hockey League in most goaltending categories. The Flames goaltending department, thinking drafting a goalie with strong numbers would be a smart idea, opted to take him.

Seven years later, Wolf is the club’s undisputed starting goaltender and begins a hefty seven year, $52.5 million contract this season. He’s front and centre in the club’s marketing. Even with a bit of a down sophomore season – probably a product of teams having more video of him from the NHL to make adjustments, and a tendency of the defensive group to make big mistakes early in the season – Wolf is still their guy.

Between his pretty sparkling resume – remember, he got Vezina votes as a rookie in 2024-25 – and his contract, Wolf is a Flame for the foreseeable future.

So why did the Flames draft a goalie?

You ever see the 2001 film Ocean’s 11? It’s great. There’s one scene where George Clooney and Brad Pitt’s characters are putting together their crew and Clooney poses the following question-slash-statement to Pitt: “You think we need one more? You think we need one more. All right, we’ll get one more.”

The Flames are like Clooney and Pitt: they’re putting together their crew.

If you watched the Stanley Cup playoffs count how many teams used multiple goaltenders, either during the regular season or the playoffs themselves. It was quite a few of them. So if you’re a team with an aim at being a Stanley Cup contender eventually – dress for the job you want – you’re probably thinking you’ll need some contingency planning in net. (Heck, you want contingency planning everywhere, but especially in net.)

And if you’re thinking about contingency planning, why not draft the reigning USHL goaltender of the year – someone many scouts called the best goalie in the draft? Trejbal’s only been in North America for one season, but he’s already building a resume. He’s headed to college at the University of Massachusetts this fall, and has identified fellow Czech netminder Michael Hrabal as someone he’d like to emulate. (Hrabal did three years at UMass before going pro.)

Wolf turned 25 in April. He needed a couple years of seasoning in the AHL before he was ready to push for NHL minutes when he was 22. If Trejbal’s on a similar trajectory, when he’s 22, Wolf will be 29. And under contract for three more years.

Simply put: Trejbal’s young and promising. He probably needs time to cook, though. And because the Flames have Wolf, and a few other promising netminders too, they have the ability to give Trejbal the time and developmental reps he needs.

After all, especially these days, you can never have too many good goalies.

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Nobody’s quite gotten a handle on the brave new world of NHL scouting yet

Ryan Pike — Sun, 19 Jul 2026 14:00:58 GMT

When it comes to finding sustainable, long-term success, the NHL’s entry draft is crucial.

Over the years, NHL clubs have devoted tons of resources to finding an edge. Most recently, teams have been utilizing a combination of video, statistical models, and good old-fashioned on-the-ground scouting to prepare for the draft. Year over year, NHL teams like the Calgary Flames have done their best to improve their processes and find success.

Each draft class is always a little different, but the circumstances leading up to the 2026 NHL Draft were quite unique, with the NCAA’s decision to allow Canadian major junior players to begin play in 2025-26 throwing a gigantic curveball at NHL teams.

Has your team built an in-house statistical model? Well, adding the top players from the WHL, OHL and QMJHL to the NCAA has drastically changed the competitive balance in all of those circuits. Feel like you have a good handle on the eye test? Well, tell us know an 18-year-old that dominated the Western League last year should look as an 17-year-old college freshman.

The 2026 draft class itself was pretty weird, too. The top 10 picks included four Canadian junior players, a U.S. National Development Program product, two college freshmen imported from the WHL, and three teenagers playing in European men’s leagues. That’s a tough group to weigh against each other, even independent of all the changes.

Flames director of amateur scouting Tod Button was asked about the weirdness of the 2026 draft process and how the team is adjusting to the changing scouting environment a few weeks back after the draft concluded.

We haven’t figured it out yet. It was a hard year with that perspective, and again, I was talking to Pat [Steinberg, on Flames Talk] yesterday, and the word we used right from the start of the year was ‘perspective.’

We had to have perspective, meaning the NCAA is bigger, stronger, older, mature. So guys going to play down there, it’s going to take them, they play less games. So you’re going to have to wait longer to have your evaluation, right? Like when Keaton Verhoeff goes to North Dakota… Like, he played 16 games where last year he played 28, I think, or whatever the number was. So you can’t make that decision or your evaluation. Sometimes the top players, you have your evaluation done in November. This is what they are. Then you sort them out versus the rest of them. When they’re going to college, and Keaton played the whole year as a 17-year-old, [Ilia] Morozov played the whole year as a 17-year-old. Oscar Hemming played the whole year as a 17-year-old. Tynan Lawrence went halfway through the year, right? So you have to give them time to get their head above water, get used to the pace, get used to the strength, right?

And conversely, the CHL is a younger league now. So there wasn’t as many overagers. So when we talked to the analytics department, like, is there a way to weigh it differently because it’s a younger league now? It’s not as good. there’s not as many older players, and so we’re not quite there yet in how we’re going to analyze it at the end of the year, but at the end of the day, the top players still have a quick hand. You see it in tight, right? And are the numbers skewed? It’s one of our biggest challenges with analytics and amateur scouting. We don’t have player tracking in amateur scouting. We’re watching a kid play in the Swedish Hockey League in Frolunda, and you got a kid playing 20 games in Edina high school. Like, it doesn’t equal in the analytics department. You can’t say our rankings are the same. That’s the hardest part is taking the leagues, the ages, and trying to put that into one pie in analytics.

So we’re working on it. We’re trying. I didn’t talk about it all the time, but it was a challenge this year, and I think it will level off after a couple of years, but that was a big challenge for us. Both looking at the CHL and being younger and knowing how hard it was going to be to play college hockey. The other thing about those kids, like college hockey players, you know those guys are going to be a target. You know, like Keaton Verhoeff, they’re going to challenge him. You’re going to, ‘oh, I’m going to take an extra run and I’m going to see what he’s made of.’ Cole Reschny is down there. He’ll tell you, it was hard at the start, but we knew, ‘just get your head above water, by the end of the year, you’ll be used to the pace and everything, how fast you have to do things,’ and he was. So it’s a good question, but it’s still ongoing.

With the 2026 draft in the rear-view mirror, preparations have begun for the 2027 NHL Draft, with the Hlinka Gretzky Cup tournament taking place in Edmonton and Red Deer in August.

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Flames prospect Jack Hextall may be exactly what the organization needs

Ryan Pike — Sat, 18 Jul 2026 16:00:09 GMT

Gang, the run-up to any NHL entry draft is a bit of a frenzy. No matter how well-prepared you are, unless your name is Steven Ellis, Scott Wheeler or Corey Pronman, there will be players selected that you’re not as well-acquainted with than you would like to be.

Heck, truth be told, when Lanny McDonald went up to the podium to name the 30th overall selection for the Calgary Flames, when he started saying “from Youngstown in the USHL…” I legitimately thought of Tobias Trejbal first.

That’s on me, because the more I’ve researched Jack Hextall’s game, the more I’m thinking he’s the exact type of player the Flames need more of in their system.

A product of the Chicago suburb of Rolling Meadows, Hextall’s from a hockey family. His dad played in the SJHL and played college hockey. His uncle played in the Western Hockey League and played a couple years of minor pro. The other Hextalls who played NHL hockey are all distant cousins. So far in his young career, but Hextall has developed a reputation for tenacity, versatility and smarts.

When he spoke with the media via Zoom after being drafted, the right-shot centre noted how he was able to build his game playing two seasons with Youngstown in the USHL.

“I learned a lot my first year,” said Hextall. “I grew up playing centre and then played winger my first year and kind of had to adjust. And I felt like that really helped me just being able to play both and being able to play on the wall and stuff like that. And I feel like when you play winger and then you go back to centre, you can kind of, you know, be better at centre coming from winger because you know what the wingers are thinking and stuff like that.”

Hextall is headed to a pretty stacked college team at Michigan State this fall. He’ll be one of 10 NHL-drafted forwards there, and as a centre, he’ll potentially be battling the likes of Cullen Potter, Eric Nilson and Cayden Lindstrom for ice time. But when director of amateur scouting Tod Button described what the Flames valued in Hextall after day two of the draft, he referenced the player’s awareness of what he can do well and the path ahead of him.

“He’s a hockey player,” said Button. “Some guys, they have more skill. They’re more fancy. And their individual parts might look better, but they can’t put it all together. The sum of all the parts is what Jack Hextall is. He can play centre, he plays every situation, he’s good on face-offs and when we first started interviewing him and talking to him, he had such a great command of what he was going to be… It was really cool to have a kid who was really mature and had his own path already set out before he even talked to us. So two way player, multiple situation player. So really, really happy to have him.”

Hextall may not be a perfect hockey player but, between his combination of a right shot, the ability to play in a lot of different places and situations, and his seeming awareness of the path in front of him, he seems like the right player for what the Flames need in their system right now.

We will watch his career with great interest.

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The last trade the Flames made with every other NHL team

Ryan Pike — Sat, 18 Jul 2026 14:00:53 GMT

Folks, we’re headed into the quieter part of the hockey summer. The NHL Draft is behind us, free agency is behind us, and we’ve seen several big trades.

As many of the NHL’s general managers head to the lake for a little bit of a recharge, we thought we would update our tracker of the last trade that the Calgary Flames have made with every active NHL team.

Let’s dive in.

The rundown

Team	Date	Acquired	Sent
Anaheim	Mar. 6/26	F Ryan Strome	2027 7th rounder
Boston	July 28/21	G Dan Vladar	2022 3rd rounder (traded to Seattle)
Buffalo	Jan. 2/20	2020 4th rounder (96th, Daniil Chechelev)	F Michael Frolik
Carolina	Jun. 27/26	2026 2nd rounder (42nd, Tobias Trejbal)	2026 2nd rounder (51st; William Hakansson) 2026 3rd rounder (68th; Zachary Lansard)
Chicago	Mar. 21/22	F Ryan Carpenter	2024 5th rounder (traded to Vancouver)
Colorado	Mar. 6/26	F Victor Olofsson F Max Curran 2028 1st rounder (cond.) (traded to New Jersey) 2027 2nd rounder (cond.)	F Nazem Kadri (20% retained)
Columbus	Apr. 3/13	2013 5th rounder (135th, Eric Roy)	F Blake Comeau
Dallas	Feb. 2/26	D Gavin White	D Jeremie Poirier
Detroit	Jun. 28/25	2025 7th rounder (211th, Yan Matveiko)	2026 7th rounder (196th; Myles Brosnan)
Edmonton	Jul. 19/19	F Milan Lucic 2021 3rd rounder (traded to Los Angeles)	F James Neal
Florida	Apr. 12/21	F Jonathan Huberdeau D MacKenzie Weegar F Cole Schwindt 2025 1st rounder (32nd, Cullen Potter)	F Matthew Tkachuk 2025 4th rounder (112th, Mads Kongsbak Klyvo)
Los Angeles	July 24/21	2021 3rd rounder (89th, Cameron Whynot) 2021 6th rounder (168th, Jack Beck)	2021 3rd rounder (84th, Kirill Kirsanov)
Minnesota	July 2/26	D Jake Middleton 2027 3rd rounder 2028 4th rounder 2029 2nd rounder	F Blake Coleman (50% retained) D Olli Maatta
Montreal	Aug. 22/22	Future considerations	F Sean Monahan 2025 1st rounder (traded to NY Islanders)
Nashville	Jul. 1/15	2016 4th rounder (cond.) (not converted)	F Max Reinhart
New Jersey	Jun. 23/26	D Simon Nemec F Maxim Tsyplakov	D Etienne Morin 2026 2nd rounder 2027 1st rounder (cond.) 2028 1st rounder (cond.)
NY Islanders	Jun. 24/17	D Travis Hamonic 2019 4th rounder (116th, Lucas Feuk)	2018 1st rounder (12th, Noah Dobson) 2018 2nd rounder (43rd, Ruslan Iskhakov) 2019 2nd rounder (57th, Samuel Bolduc)
NY Rangers	Mar. 6/26	F Brennan Othmann	F Jacob Battaglia
Ottawa	Mar. 10/23	D Kristians Rubins	Future considerations
Philadelphia	Jan. 30/25	F Morgan Frost F Joel Farabee	F Jakob Pelletier F Andrei Kuzmenko 2025 2nd rounder (48th, Shane Vansaghi) 2028 7th rounder
Pittsburgh	Mar. 5/14	2014 3rd rounder (traded to Chicago)	F Lee Stempniak
San Jose	Mar. 8/24	D Nikita Ohkotiuk	2024 5th rounder (131st; Colton Roberts)
Seattle	Mar. 16/22	F Calle Jarnkrok	2022 2nd rounder (61st; David Goyette) 2023 3rd rounder (traded to Columbus) 2024 7th rounder (202nd; Jakub Fibigr)
St. Louis	Jun. 24/16	G Brian Elliott	2016 2nd rounder (35th, Jordan Kyrou) 2018 3rd rounder (cond.) (not converted)
Tampa Bay	Nov. 12/15	G Kevin Poulin	Future considerations
Toronto	Mar. 3/23	F Dryden Hunt	F Radim Zohorna
Utah	Mar. 4/26	D Olli Maatta F Jonathan Castagna 2026 2nd rounder (traded to Carolina) 2026 2nd rounder (traded to New Jersey) 2026 2nd rounder (55th; Alan Shaikhlislamov)	D MacKenzie Weegar
Vancouver	Jan. 31/24	F Andrei Kuzmenko D Joni Jurmo D Hunter Brzustewicz 2024 1st rounder (28th, Matvei Gridin) 2024 4th rounder (cond.) (traded to Philadelphia)	F Elias Lindholm
Vegas	Jan. 17/26	D Zach Whitecloud D Abram Wiebe 2027 1st rounder (traded to New Jersey) 2027 2nd rounder (cond.)	D Rasmus Andersson (50% retained)
Washington	Jun. 27/24	2025 2nd rounder (54th; Theo Stockselius)	F Andrew Mangiapane
Winnipeg	Jan. 30/12	F Akim Aliu	D John Negrin

Since becoming general manager in May 2023, Craig Conroy has made 23 trades with 14 teams. He’s made multiple trades with New Jersey (4), Dallas (3), Philadelphia (3), Vancouver (2) and Vegas (2), and single trades with Anaheim, Carolina, Colorado, Detroit, Minnesota, NY Rangers, San Jose, Utah and Washington. (New Jersey has had multiple GMs make trades with Conroy since he became GM in Calgary.)

That means there are 17 teams that Conroy hasn’t made a trade with yet. Heck, the Flames haven’t made a trade with Columbus, Nashville, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Tampa Bay or Winnipeg over the past 10 years. Time will tell if Conroy continues to do repeat business with some familiar colleagues, or if he branches out a bit.

What do you think of the most recent trades the Flames with everybody? Are you surprised that some teams haven’t made a trade with the Flames in very long? Let us know in the comments!

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11 Flames prospects earned collegiate academic honours in 2025-26

Ryan Pike — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:00:07 GMT

Pals, it’s the summer, which means the hockey season is over… and so is the school year for many of hockey’s collegiate players.

With the easing up of the NCAA’s restrictions on who was eligible to play college hockey, there’s been a surge of players from Canadian major junior into the NCAA. Between the academic commitments and the level of competition – and living on your own – college can be pretty tough.

Well, 11 Flames prospects have received some sort of collegiate academic honours for the 2025-26 season.

Here’s a rundown of the young gentlemen who are good at hockey and school, too. (Note: the Academic All Big Ten list comes out in March and you need to have been enrolled for 12 months to be eligible, so Penn State’s Luke Misa wasn’t eligible yet.)

ECAC All-Academic Team

The ECAC Hockey conference’s All-Academic Team is pretty straightforward: you need to be on a hockey team, maintain cumulative 3.00 GPA or have a GPA of 3.00 or more over the last three semesters.

Three Flames prospects made the All-Academic Team: Cornell’s Jonathan Castagna, who was named for the third time in three years in college, along with freshman Aidan Lane (of Harvard) and Ethan Wyttenbach (of Quinnipiac). For what it’s worth, Castagna and Wyttenbach were both named to ECAC’s First All-Star Team, and Wyttenbach was named the national rookie of the year.

Hockey East All-Academic Team

Hockey East’s All-Academic Team is very similar to ECAC’s: a player makes the list if they’re on a hockey team and maintain a 3.00 GPA “during the period they were actively competing in Hockey East.”

Maine freshman Jaden Lipinski and Merrimack sophomore Trevor Hoskin made the list, among Flames prospects. Hoskin made Atlantic Hockey America’s All-Academic Team in his freshman year, which he spent at Niagara before transferring.

NCHC Honor Roll

The National Collegiate Hockey Conference calls their All-Academic Team the NCHC Honor Roll. Name aside, they need to maintain a cumulative 3.00 GPA and have competed at least one full academic year. Anyone with a cumulative 3.50 GPA is also called a Distinguished Scholar-Athlete. They have two announcements per year: one in February for players who had already completed their freshman year, and one in July for freshmen and first-year transfers.

A lot of Flames affiliated players made the NCHC Honor Roll: Arizona State’s Cullen Potter, Denver’s Eric Jamieson, North Dakota’s Cade Littler, Cole Reschny and Abram Wiebe, and St. Cloud State’s Tyson Gross. Potter, Jamieson, Reschny, Wiebe and Gross were all also named Distinguished Scholar-Athletes.

AHCA All-American Scholars

The American Hockey Commissioners Association recognizes players as All-American Scholars if they attained a 3.75 GPA for each semester and appeared in 40% of their team’s games, with exceptions made for injured players and backup goaltenders.

Named as All-American Scholars were Potter, Jamieson and Hoskin.

Yes, Jamieson won an NCAA championship and maintained a 3.75 GPA as a freshman.

CSC Academic All-District

Finally, the College Sports Communicators recognize athletes for “their combined performances in competition and in the classroom,” nominating players for the Academic All-District Team. A few of the players named Academic All-District are considered for Academic All-American honours.

Wiebe was named Academic All-District and was nominated for Academic All-American, but wasn’t named to the final list.

Which Flames prospect’s combined academic and on-ice performance was the most impressive? Let us know in the comments!

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Breaking down the 2026-27 Flames schedule

Ryan Pike — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 14:00:11 GMT

The Calgary Flames’ 2026-27 season begins with a traditional 7 p.m. weeknight game at the Saddledome. Their season ends with a traditional 8 p.m. Saturday night game at the Saddledome, currently the final hockey game of any sort slated for that historic establishment of sport.

In-between, though, the Flames’ schedule has a few oddities and quirks worth exploring.

Let’s dive in.

Some of the start times may seem weird

Alright, so Alberta is no longer doing time changes, having opted for permanent Mountain Daylight Time. That means that there’s some time shifting involved this season to coordinate Calgary (and Edmonton) home games with everyone else.

Here’s a quick rundown of start times for games this season, split between home and away. All times MT.

	Home	Away
12:00	0	2
1:30	0	1
2:00	0	1
2:30	4	0
6:00	5	19
6:30	3	2
7:00	19	3
7:30	3	2
7:45	0	1
8:00	6	5
9:00	2	6

Farewell, 5 p.m. MT starts on the east coast. Welcome, 6 p.m. MT starts on the east coast.

Do you like 7 p.m. MT weeknight home games? Good news, they’re mostly back. Of the 28 weeknight games at the Saddledome, 19 are at 7 p.m. The rest of them are either slightly earlier or slightly later, likely depending on television time slots.

Do you like 8 p.m. MT Saturday home games? Well, of the 10 Saturday games, four are at 8 p.m.., two are at 9 p.m., and four are at 2:30 p.m. So start times vary a bit. We’re not totally against the early Saturday starts, though, as it means fans can go to the game and then enjoy their evenings.

In terms of overall travel, it’s not bad for the Flames. Per Bill Speros of Bookies.com, the Flames schedule involves 43,176 miles (or 69,485 kilometers) travelled. That’s 18th in the NHL, and lower than any other Pacific Division team.

NHL 2026-27 MILES TRAVELED@NHL 1,344-Game Schedule ReleasedToday:

The 32 NHL Teams Cover:
✈️ 1.37 Million Miles
🕑 1,159 Time Zones
4⃣ Nations: 🇺🇸🇨🇦🇫🇮🇩🇪
1⃣ @SeattleKraken 51,335 Miles
3⃣2⃣ @NHLBruins 30,924 Miles

Full @Bookies Coverage & Analysis In Comments pic.twitter.com/3XxSJKBRBs

— Bill Speros (@billsperos) July 16, 2026

Via Oilersnation’s Jason Gregor: The Flames’ eight back-to-back sets are tied with Vegas for the fewest for any team in the NHL. They also play 15 games against a team playing on the second half of a back-to-back, and they’re one of the teams with the most situations like that.

All-in-all, some of the start times are a bit odd, but the amount of travel and back-to-backs the Flames have are a pretty nice trade-off.

The Flames begin their 2026-27 regular season at home on Thu., Oct. 1 when they host the Seattle Kraken.

This Article is a presentation of LeaseBusters

Flames announce 2026-27 regular season schedule

Ryan Pike — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 18:00:43 GMT

The National Hockey League announced the full schedule for the 2026-27 regular season on Thursday morning, unveiling the largest schedule in the league’s history.

It’s a historic season on a few fronts. For the first time since 1993-94, the NHL schedule will be 84 games. For the last time, the Calgary Flames will be playing their home games in the Scotiabank Saddledome, their home since 1983-84. They’ll move to Scotia Place for the 2027-28 season.

With the two additional games from the prior 82 game structure, the extra games have been used to add a couple divisional games. As a result, the schedule matrix is somewhat simplified this season.

Within the Pacific Division:

4 games (2 home, 2 away) against everybody

Within the Central Division:

3 games (2 home, 1 away) against Chicago, Nashville, Minnesota and Colorado
3 games (1 home, 2 away) against Winnipeg, St. Louis, Utah and Dallas

Within the Eastern Conference

2 games (1 home, 1 away) against everybody

Here are some home dates to circle on your calendar:

The home-opener is Oct. 1 against Seattle.
Blake Coleman returns to the Saddledome for the first time with Minnesota on Oct. 22.
The Toronto Maple Leafs visit the Saddledome on Oct. 26.
The Vancouver Canucks visit on Boxing Day.
The traditional New Year’s Eve game is against Winnipeg.
The Montreal Canadiens visit on Jan. 28.
Rasmus Andersson returns to the Saddledome for the first time with Vegas on Feb. 1.
The Edmonton Oilers visit the Saddledome for the last two times on Mar. 3 and Mar. 23.
The final regular season game at the Saddledome will be Apr. 10 against Vancouver.

The Flames’ final game before the All-Star Break is on Feb. 3 (at home against Utah) and their first game back is on Feb. 12 (on the road against Utah).

The longest homestand is six games, running Jan. 5-16 (hosting Florida, the Islanders, Tampa Bay, Columbus, San Jose and Los Angeles). The longest road trip is also six games, running Dec. 10-22 (visiting the Islanders, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Tampa Bay, Florida and Dallas).

The Flames have eight sets of back-to-back games scheduled:

Oct. 3 (at Vancouver) and Oct. 4 (at Seattle).
Oct. 30 (vs. Seattle) and Oct. 31 (at Colorado).
Nov. 14 (at Los Angeles) and Nov. 15 (at Anaheim).
Nov. 27 (at New Jersey) and Nov. 28 (at NY Rangers).
Dec. 10 (at NY Islanders) and Dec. 11 (at NY Islanders).
Jan. 2 (at Winnipeg) and Jan. 3 (at St. Louis).
Feb. 12 (at Utah) and Feb. 13 (at Vegas).
Mar. 12 (at Carolina) and Mar. 13 (at Boston).

If you’re thinking of watching the Flames on the road in an interesting venue, we have a few suggestions:

The Flames are in Vegas on Oct. 15 and Feb. 13. (The February game is the second half of a back-to-back.)
The Flames are in Edmonton on Oct. 28 and Apr. 5.
The Flames visiting the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 28. (That’s the second half of a back-to-back.)
The Flames visit Montreal on Jan. 23 and Toronto on Jan. 26.
The Flames are in Nashville on Apr. 3.

All-in-all, the schedule doesn’t seem all that bad! The travel schedule is a bit odd – the three New York metro area teams are split across two road trips, for example – but it seems a bit less onerous than in previous years.

What do you think of the upcoming schedule? Let us know in the comments!

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