Team

Betting

FlamesNation has no direct affiliation to the Calgary Flames, Calgary Sports and Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA

FN’s 2026 Flames summer prospect rankings – HM: Abram Wiebe

Photo credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images

By Mike Gould

Aug 6, 2026, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Aug 6, 2026, 13:54 EDT

Comments

When the Calgary Flames traded Rasmus Andersson to the Vegas Golden Knights in January, not many fans in the Stampede City knew a thing about Abram Wiebe, who had just become the Flames’ newest defence prospect.

Fast-forward more than six months later, and while Wiebe has since wrapped up his collegiate career at the University of North Dakota and signed his entry-level deal with the Flames, he’s still something of an unknown quantity as a professional. One thing’s for sure, though: Wiebe absolutely turned his game up by a few notches after the trade, racking up 15 points in 16 games to conclude his junior year with the Fighting Hawks.

Wiebe is really going to have to battle to make a name for himself within the Flames’ ultra-crowded pool of young defencemen, but he’s got a few things working for him: namely, his size and handedness, as well as experience at a top-tier NCAA program. If he’s gonna become an NHLer, it’ll have to happen pretty soon, but at least he already has four games under his belt. Depending on how the 2026-27 season unfolds, it might not be long before Wiebe finds himself back in Flames silks.

Abram Wiebe

Defenceman; shoots left
Born Aug. 28, 2003 (age 22) in Mission, B.C.
6’3″, 206 pounds
Selected in the seventh round (209th overall) by Vegas in the 2022 NHL Draft

Few teams have established as strong a connection with an NCAA program in recent years as the Flames have with North Dakota, with top 2026 draft pick Carson Carels set to follow in the footsteps of Wiebe, Cole Reschny, and Cade Littler in his upcoming freshman year at the Ralph Engelstad Arena. In fact, Carels will likely take the exact lineup spot Wiebe vacated when he signed his two-year, entry-level contract with the Flames on Apr. 10.

Wiebe only became Flames property roughly three months before he turned pro, with Vegas packaging him alongside Zach Whitecloud and two future draft picks (one of which has already been flipped to acquire Simon Nemec) in the return for Andersson. At the time, the former Chilliwack Chiefs captain appeared to be little more than a throw-in, given his limited draft pedigree and pedestrian collegiate production, but Wiebe quickly made himself known to Flames fans by playing some of his best hockey as a Fighting Hawk after the trade.

As North Dakota embarked upon a particularly difficult stretch drive in the NCHC, Wiebe collected two goals and 13 assists while averaging 19:52 of ice time in 16 games against the likes of Minnesota-Duluth, Western Michigan, Quinnipiac, and Wisconsin. Skating primarily on a two-way pairing with shutdown defender E.J. Emery, Wiebe played an instrumental role in the Fighting Hawks capturing their conference championship and earning a berth in the Frozen Four.

Just two days after Wisconsin eliminated North Dakota from the NCAA tournament, Wiebe made his NHL debut with the Flames in Seattle. He ultimately skated in Calgary’s final four games of the 2025-26 season, averaging 12:01 of ice time and generally performing exactly as you’d expect of somebody who started his week playing in college and ended it in the NHL.

Here’s what Dakota Student contributor Anthony Dillett had to say about Wiebe’s growth with the Fighting Hawks in 2025-26:

Last season: Abram Wiebe continued to grow as a player in his junior season, leading the team as an associate captain and shining as one of the star members of North Dakota’s defensive corps.
Wiebe notched similar numbers to his 2024/25 campaign, save for a reduced number of blocked shots and a higher shooting percentage, owing in part to a more consistent defensive line chart. He continued to feature on the Hawks’ power play and penalty kill throughout the season. North Dakota Assistant Coach Matt Smaby described Wiebe as “rock solid,” praising his play on the man advantage and sound defense.
Wiebe ranked fourth among NCAA defensemen in assists and earned NCAA all-tournament honors at the Sioux Falls, S.D. Regional. As part of the U.S. Collegiate Selects, he travelled to Davos, Switzerland, where he featured in all four games the team played. The 6’3” associate captain remained a steady presence in the North Dakota locker room, establishing himself as a key upperclassman for the Hawks’ incoming freshmen to look up to throughout the season.

Expectations for 2026-27

In his time at the junior and collegiate levels, Wiebe was consistently a leader off the ice — but also, a bit of a late bloomer on it. While in Chilliwack, Wiebe only put himself on the map as a potential NHL draft pick after his second year of eligibility, and even then, he went in the seventh round. Then, after serving as the Chiefs’ captain in 2022-23, Wiebe headed off to North Dakota, where he only truly emerged as a difference-maker during his sophomore year before being named an alternate captain as a junior.

Given the circuitous nature of the route he’s taken to this point, it wouldn’t come as a surprise for Wiebe to start the 2026-27 season with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers. Sure, he’s exempt from waivers, and the Flames certainly don’t have a spot for him (they barely have one for Hunter Brzustewicz), but Wiebe simply also needs more time to acclimate to the speed of the pro game. He’ll be one of the go-to options on the farm, although he won’t be thrown to the wolves; new signings Andreas Englund, Jake Livingstone, and Mike Benning will be there to insulate all of the Wranglers’ less experienced defenders.

Wiebe doesn’t need to become an everyday NHLer for the Andersson trade to be a success; still, every game he plays for the Flames is a nice little bonus. He’ll likely top out as a bigger version of Joel Hanley at the NHL level, and while that might not sound like much, it’s certainly a valuable type of player to have around. Expect to see Wiebe wearing the Flaming C a handful of times in the 2026-27 season, if (and when) the injury bug bites.

Sponsored by bet365: