Last season, the Calgary Flames missed the post-season by about the smallest margin possible, a tiebreaker. It was painful for fans and players alike, but it also proved that even just one underwhelming stretch from a player can be the difference between playing playoff hockey or having your season cut short.

The current sentiment around the team is that 2024-25 was a stepping stone for an eventual playoff berth, as early as this season, but improving on a surprisingly good 96-point campaign will be difficult and will require some key players to maintain or improve their play in 2025-26.

Let’s examine the five Flames who are facing the most pressure heading into next season.

This one’s pretty simple; Huberdeau is the highest-paid player on the team at $10.5 million AAV, and it’s not particularly close.

The Quebec native has been underwhelming in his three seasons with Calgary, eclipsing the 60-point mark just once and failing to lead them back to the promised land each time.

Huberdeau’s hefty AAV will always result in him playing up the lineup and in key situations, so the pressure will follow him. Plus, last season was somewhat of a bounce-back year for him, and 2025-26 represents an opportunity to show that it wasn’t just a flash in the pan.

Backlund ends up on this list solely because of the importance of his role on the ice and as team captain.

As the longest tenured Flame, Backlund is entering his 17th season in Calgary and is coming off one of the lowest point totals of his career (32).

But offensive prowess is not at the forefront of the 36-year-old’s game; instead, Backlund’s near-irreplaceable value is his ability to take on the hardest assignment every night, locking down each team’s best forward.

Backlund’s role is integral to the Flames’ success, and there’s never been a question as to whether or not he can carry out his duties, but nothing lasts forever, and the Swede is likely nearing the end of his career.

It will be up to Backlund to fend off Father Time once again and reprise his role as the lead shut-down man up front. If he takes even a small step back, it could spell trouble for the Flames.

You’d think that after completing one of the most remarkable rookie seasons in recent memory, Wolf would be granted some leeway and maybe avoid the pressure list, but the fact of the matter is, the Flames go where he goes.

Wolf is undoubtedly the team’s most important player and was the only reason that the league’s fourth-lowest scoring team was anywhere near the playoff race last season.

Unfortunately for him, it doesn’t seem like any help is coming offensively, and in order for Calgary to be a playoff team, Wolf will have to replicate or improve on the success he had in his rookie year, which is no small task.

On a more personal note, without an extension this off-season, Wolf will be playing for his next contract, and his performance in 2025-26 will be very indicative as to what it will look like.

The recipe for success next season in Calgary is pretty simple: score more goals, and Sharangovich is someone who, when he’s on his game, can really help out in that category.

The Belarus native was coming off an impressive 31-goal campaign and a subsequent five-year, $5.75 million AAV extension, before he came crashing down in 2024-25, when he posted just 17 goals over 73 games.

Without any off-season additions, Calgary will need to rely on internal improvement for improved goal totals, and Sharangovich is a prime candidate to provide that.

2025-26 will be very telling as to what exactly Sharangovich is, is he a 30-goal calibre player? Is he more like what we saw from him last season? Or is he perhaps somewhere in the middle? With his five-year extension kicking in this season, the Flames are certainly hoping the sharpshooting winger can round back into form.

Farabee and Morgan Frost are sort of interchangeable here, but I’ve chosen the former because he’s got the bigger contract (three years remaining at $5 million per) and was just as underwhelming. Additionally, Frost probably is what he is at this point, an inconsistent yet serviceable scoring centre with some flash, whereas Farabee can still be a really nice piece, but seeing as though he turns 26 in February, he likely needs to prove it in 2025-26.

Farabee was flat-out disappointing last season after he was acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers in January, with just six points to show for his first 31 games as a Flame. His rough start has sparked a lot of conversation about whether or not the mid-season trade in which Calgary gave up Andrei Kuzmenko, Jakob Pelletier, a 2025 second-round pick and a 2028 seventh-round pick for Farabee and Frost was worth it.

Considering the dollars and assets they’ve invested into Farabee, the Flames are really banking on him working out, not to mention how a boost in his play could impact their playoff chances.

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