A lot didn’t go well for the Calgary Flames in 2025-26.

They didn’t score very much. They were prone to defensive lapses at key points in games, occasionally leaving their goaltenders out to dry. Their power play, in particular, was a disappointment, ranking second-worst in the league with a 16.2% success rate.

If the Flames are hoping to generate more offence and potentially move up the standings in 2026-27 – or beyond that – improving the power play will be a huge focus.

And compared to what it looked like for much of the 2025-26 season, the Flames’ power play personnel could be a lot different in 2026-27.

Last season, the Flames had a primary top unit of Nazem Kadri, Jonathan Huberdeau, Morgan Frost, Matt Coronato and Rasmus Andersson. The second unit was usually MacKenzie Weegar, with some combination of Zayne Parekh, Matvei Gridin, Connor Zary, Blake Coleman and Yegor Sharangovich.

Well, Kadri, Andersson, Weegar and Coleman are all on other teams now.

The top unit actually kinda cooked late in the season – they didn’t score a ton, but the puck movement was superb – and so we probably see the Flames start with a top unit of Gridin, Huberdeau, Frost, Coronato and Parekh to see if they can continue that momentum. The second unit probably begins with Simon Nemec at the point, supported by names like Zary, Sharangovich, Joel Farabee, Sam Honzek, Ryan Strome and Maxim Tsyplakov.

A couple notes on the potential set-ups. First, the Flames shifted towards two more balanced units mid-season last year because, well, the top unit wasn’t scoring. That approach worked pretty well, but they shifted back to a more loaded main unit before everyone was moved at the trade deadline. We suspect the coaching staff will rotate a lot of players through the two units, but it’s probably reasonable to expect to see a lot of Gridin, Frost, Coronato, Parekh and Nemec as PP fixtures.

The other thing that will strongly influence PP deployments is the team’s lack of offensive-minded right shots: based on the roster we expect them to start the season with, the righties available for the PP are Coronato, Parekh, Nemec and Strome. Maybe we see Adam Klapka squeezed in as a net-front presence, but a lot of the onus on having multiple right shots is to facilitate quick one-timers. I wouldn’t be shocked to see a lot of Strome on the PP this year just because of the right shot factor.