In May 2023, the Calgary Flames elevated assistant general manager Craig Conroy to general manager. At his introductory press conference, Conroy discussed the necessity for the hockey club to get younger. Shortly after Conroy’s promotion, assistant coach Ryan Huska, previously the bench boss for the Flames’ top farm team, was elevated to head coach.

Since the ascension of Conroy and Huska to these prime jobs, the duo have done their best to walk the walk when it comes to making the NHL roster younger.

In 2023-24, the Flames called up forwards Connor Zary and Martin Pospisil from the AHL’s Wranglers in November after a rough start, and the duo performed well enough to cement themselves as NHL regulars.

In 2024-25, after spending big chunks of the prior season on the big club, Dustin Wolf and Matt Coronato became everyday NHLers. Adam Klapka joined the Flames mid-season from the NHL and acquitted himself quite well.

In 2025-26, after spending a chunk of the prior season on the big club, Sam Honzek made the team (again) and was a regular before a season-ending injury in November. Zayne Parekh made the big club out of camp and spent the majority of the season with the team, aside from absences due to an injury, the World Juniors and an AHL conditioning stint. Matvei Gridin made the team out of camp and spent a big chunk of the season with the club, while Hunter Brzustewicz was similarly with the team a lot after being sent down after training camp. Yan Kuznetsov was called up in November and became an NHL regular.

So depending on how broadly you want to define graduating a prospect from the minors – and bearing in mind that Honzek and Brzustewicz could both be back in the minors due to waiver reasons – Conroy and Huska have graduated between 8 and 10 players to the NHL roster over three seasons. Opportunities have been earned, and opportunities have been used well.

So… who’s next to establish themselves as an NHLer from the prospect group?

On paper, it might be tough for a prospect to force their way onto the NHL roster out of training camp. We’re projecting Honzek as an opening night player, but the blueline is crowded enough that Brzustewicz might need to start in the AHL just so that he can have regular playing time.

That said, we see an opportunity in the forward ranks, primarily up the middle. Simply put: the Flames have three fairly reliable NHL centres in Morgan Frost, Ryan Strome and Mikael Backlund. But the fourth line centre position was in a churn for much of 2025-26, and the two players that might have had the best performances – albeit in short bursts – are prospects Sam Morton and Tyson Gross.

Morton played three games with the Flames in November, around the time the Flames claimed John Beecher off of waivers. Morton was really good in his first game, but was a little bit less effective in each subsequent outing, and so he was sent to the AHL in favour of giving Beecher a shot at the fourth line centre role. Meanwhile, Gross joined the Flames during the waning days of the season and suited up six times in March and April, performing pretty well in the role.

The Flames have roughly 12 or 13 “regular” forwards likely returning, but we could see Morton or Gross force their way into the conversation with a strong training camp. One of those two players is probably the stronger contender to become an NHLer, but if not them, then it might not be until next season, when a slew of the Flames’ collegiate prospects potentially push for full-time pro work.

The future of hockey coverage is bigger than one team, one market, or one platform. By bringing our local hockey brands together under Daily Faceoff, we’re creating a more complete hockey experience — one that gives fans the best of local passion and league-wide expertise, all in one place. The community remains at the centre. The experience is simply expanding as part of the next evolution of how we cover the game.