As the Calgary Flames keep adding to their prospect base via draft selections, trades and signings, they’re going to be forced into making some tough decisions to stay compliant with the National Hockey League’s 50 contract limit. On Monday, the Flames made one of those tough calls, opting not to sign forward Hunter Laing prior to the 3 p.m. MT deadline. As a result, Laing’s rights have lapsed and he’ll be eligible for selection in the 2026 NHL Draft at the end of the month.

Laing was a sixth-round selection of the Flames in the 2024 NHL Draft. As a Canadian major junior player, the deadline for him to either sign with the Flames or commit to an NCAA program was June 1. With all indications that he’ll be headed back to the Western Hockey League’s Saskatoon Blades, the Flames had to either sign him or lose his rights. With a lot of prominent prospects likely needing NHL deals in the near future – among them Cole Reschny, Cullen Potter and Ethan Wyttenbach as early as this coming spring – they just couldn’t justify using a contract spot on Laing.

Laing was one of 10 players selected by the Flames in 2024. The others were Zayne Parekh (signed), Matvei Gridin (signed), Andrew Basha (signed), Jacob Battaglia (signed, then traded), Henry Mews (college), Kirill Zarubin (signed), Trevor Hoskin (college), Luke Misa (college) and Eric Jamieson (college).

A product of Kelowna, British Columbia, Laing is a really effective WHL forward who’s a victim of circumstance. In his case, he was drafted as a late-round project by the Flames and he progressed fairly nicely, becoming a top six fixture for the Blades after a mid-season trade from Prince George in 2024-25. However, since Laing was drafted by the Flames, they’ve added – via trade, free agency or the draft – Carter King, Reschny, Potter, Theo Stockselius, Wyttenbach, Aidan Lane, Yan Matveiko, Jonathan Castagna, Max Curran, Brennan Othmann and Tyson Gross.

With so many promising young players added to the fold, the Flames had to make some decisions. Laing was on the wrong side of this one. But given his size, smarts and how much he’s improved over the past couple years, we suspect he’ll have some options available to him in NHL Draft or beyond.

He just wasn’t a fit for the Flames anymore.