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Don’t worry, the Flames are already above next season’s salary cap floor
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Photo credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
Ryan Pike
Mar 11, 2026, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Mar 11, 2026, 05:03 EDT
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The Calgary Flames made two significant moves ahead of the trade deadline, trading MacKenzie Weegar to Utah and Nazem Kadri to Colorado.
In addition to moving two valuable, respected veteran players, they also moved a lot of salary cap off the books – $6.25 million for Weegar and $5.6 million for Kadri. Dropping just shy of $12 million off the books open up a lot of possibilities for the Flames, but also nudge them towards the lower end of the NHL’s salary cap scale for next season.
Via PuckPedia, the cap ceiling for 2026-27 is $104 million and the cap floor is $76.9 million. Let’s check in on what the Flames have committed for next season.

Goaltenders

  • Dustin Wolf – $7.5 million
  • Devin Cooley – $1.35 million
That’s two goalies on one-way deals. They’re both roster locks. This is pretty straight-forward.

Defencemen

  • Kevin Bahl – $5.35 million
  • Olli Maatta – $3.5 million
  • Zach Whitecloud – $2.75 million
  • Joel Hanley  $1.75 million
  • Brayden Pachal – $1.187 million
  • Yan Kuznetsov – $812,500
That’s six players on one-way deals; four lefties (Bahl, Maatta, Hanley and Kuznetsov) and two righties (Whitecloud and Hanley). The Flames typically carry seven or eight defenders, and Zayne Parekh ($942,500) and Hunter Brzustewicz ($950,000) are both on two-way deals and will be waiver exempt next season. We suspect Parekh is a virtual lock, and we would not be shocked if the Flames made a depth move to open up a spot. (Or if not, if they carry eight defenders.)

Forwards

  • Jonathan Huberdeau – $10.5 million
  • Matt Coronato – $6.5 million
  • Yegor Sharangovich – $5.75 million
  • Ryan Strome – $5 million
  • Joel Farabee – $5 million
  • Blake Coleman – $4.9 million
  • Morgan Frost – $4.375 million
  • Connor Zary – $3.775 million
  • Mikael Backlund – $3.25 million
  • Martin Pospisil – $2.5 million
  • Adam Klapka – $1.25 million
Disclaimer: We’re operating on the assumption that, as anticipated by the Flames when they announced his surgery, Huberdeau will be ready to start next season. We are not doctors. We don’t know how his recovery will go. We just know what we’re told. If Huberdeau remains on the injury reserve, he continues to count against the cap.
Anyway, including Huberdeau, there are 11 forwards on one-way deals for next season. This doesn’t include Sam Honzek ($886,666) and Matvei Gridin ($950,000). Teams typically carry 13 or 14 forwards, so they’re close to capacity if everyone’s healthy and Honzek and Gridin are both full-timers.
The Flames also retained $1.4 million of Nazem Kadri’s deal for the next three seasons.
Just with the players on one-way deals – two goalies, six defencemen and 11 forwards – and Kadri’s retained cap hit, they’re at $78.4 million. With three open roster spots, they’re $1.5 million above the cap floor.
If the Flames move anybody with significant salary, though – looking at you, Blake Coleman – they may need to take salary back or add somebody in free agency to balance the books.
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