logo
FlamesNation has no direct affiliation to the Calgary Flames, Calgary Sports and Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA
Clark Bishop’s first year as Wranglers captain came with career numbers and NHL time
alt
Photo credit: Angela Burger/Calgary Wranglers
Paige Siewert
Jun 18, 2025, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Jun 18, 2025, 00:39 EDT
Comments
Clark Bishop had some big skates to fill going into this season. The Wranglers’ inaugural captain, Brett Sutter, made the decision to retire in the off-season and take on a coaching position with the team. This left his regular linemate, Clark Bishop, as best placed to replace him. While this wasn’t announced right away, Bishop still had a few games to show off his skill and get to know the newcomers. Beyond being named the second captain in team history, he also had some key moments in the season that helped drive his team to success.
Bishop was a fifth round draft pick of the Carolina Hurricanes, going 127th overall in the 2014 NHL Draft. He started the first few years of his professional career between the ECHL and AHL, winning a Calder Cup with the Charlotte Checkers in 2019. He followed that up with his NHL debut with the Ottawa Senators in the 2020-21 season. He played between them and the Belleville Senators for the seasons following before he came to the Wranglers in the 2022-23 season. He had 23 points in his first season in Calgary and 22 points in his second, leading into this year. 

2024-25 expectations

What was expected of Clark Bishop was pretty much the same of what we saw out of him in 2023-24. Be a leader on the team who can relate to NHL and Calder Cup experience to pass on tribal knowledge to the prospects. Also, contribute to helping the young guys coming in learn the style of play at this level and aid in their development. Bishop was typically a third or fourth liner on a veteran line and a similar role was anticipated for his third year in the organization. 

2024-25 results

Clark Bishop is one of the Wranglers who definitely exceeded the expectations for the season. Naming him captain to follow Brett Sutter felt right, but the level of play that followed was unprecedented. He had a career year with the team, putting up the most points he has in his whole professional career. 
When he talked about leading this team he said:
“It was an honour to be captain. I’ve always seen myself as a leader, and, you know, we had a bit of a young crowd here this year, so it was it was good to kind of set an example for those young guys, you know, I had some great older guys next to me to help me out.”
He went on to talk about how he was prepared to take on the role when Sutter’s intentions for his hockey career were known. Bishop said:
“I think it was always in the back of my head that I could step up and take over that role, but, you know, there was other guys that were just as good as me, and you know, the guys, I think joked around over the summertime, like calling me captain and stuff like that when we were at Alex Gallant’s wedding. So, you know, I wasn’t thinking about too much or trying to take over, just like I said, going about my day as I do normally. And, you know, when my name was called to receive that captaincy from Sutts, it was something pretty special.”
Bishop put the play behind his veteran leadership and was a clutch player in the first half of the season. His efforts got him noticed by the NHL squad, earning him his first NHL games in three years. He stuck around for six games and managed to find the back of the net in just his second game back.
Time with the Flames this year on top of being at his best professionally with the Wranglers for a career year, made quite an individual accomplishment when he reflected on his season. He said:
“It’s something that I haven’t done in the past. I think I came out of the gates pretty hot and I kind of struggled when the team struggled a little bit, but, you know, I think that’s one of the positives that I can take out of my year.”
Bishop’s game declined with the teams during their rough patch of games through February, but once they were through the worst of it, he was looking more like himself. He finished the year with 66 games played, only missing time for the birth of his daughter. His stat line finished with 19 goals and 19 assists for number 19 for a total of 38 points on the season. He also picked up the most game winning goals on the team with seven.

Next season’s expectations

Clark Bishop is an unrestricted free agent this summer as his last two year contract with the Flames has expired. Bishop raved about his time in Calgary so far and would very much take up the Flames organization on returning. He said:
“I love it here. My wife loves it here. It’s a great city, great organization. We love coming back to Calgary and joining the city and I love coming to the rink here with the guys.”
As a team that went through almost every situation an AHL squad could imagine, Clark Bishop coming back for consistency in their leadership group would be a welcome decision.
Sponsored by bet365:

Editorials

Breaking News