A legendary figure in Calgary Flames lore has added to his superb hockey resume, posthumously.

On Saturday, the National Hockey League continued their unveiling of their Quarter-Century Team. Saturday’s announcement centred on skaters that made their NHL debuts after 2010. Among the six players named to the Quarter-Century Team was former Flames forward, the late Johnny Gaudreau.

The other five individuals announced as part of the Quarter-Century Team on Saturday were Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Leon Draisaitl. Gaudreau joins Jarome Iginla on the Quarter-Century Team.

A product of Carney’s Point, New Jersey – a suburb of Philadelphia located on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River – Gaudreau grew up small but he fell in love with hockey. As he got older, he was perpetually better than the other kids but also smaller than them, which led to some doubts that he could keep translating that pure hockey skill to higher levels of the game.

Strangely, it never seemed to slow him down. He starred in high school hockey and moved onto the United States Hockey League. He starred in the USHL, was drafted by the Flames in the fourth round of the 2011 NHL Draft, and he moved onto college hockey. He starred in college hockey, signed his entry-level with the Flames, and moved onto the NHL.

After a brief period of adjustment early in the 2014-25 season, Gaudreau found his mojo in the NHL and established himself as one of the league’s most exciting and dynamic players. He found great chemistry with Sean Monahan and Jiri Hudler, and subsequently with Elias Lindholm and Matthew Tkachuk, and he was the focal part of two of the most productive forward lines in franchise history. For a lot of the newest wave of Flames fans, he was the reason they fell in love with the game and the team.

Gaudreau’s best season with the Flames ended up being his last, 2021-22. He popped off offensively for 40 goals and 115 points over 82 games – when era-adjusted, right up there with Kent Nilsson’s 1980-81 season for offensive magic. Then he scored one of the biggest goals in franchise history, eliminating Dallas in overtime in Game 7 to move the Flames onto the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Gaudreau ended up testing out free agency after the 2022 playoffs, ultimately leaving the Flames to sign a deal in Columbus – much closer to his beloved family on the east coast of the United States than Calgary would have been. When he left the Flames, Gaudreau was among the franchise leaders in most offensive categories – top 10 in goals (210), top 5 in assists (399) and top 5 in points (609).

Gaudreau spent two seasons with the Blue Jackets before he and his brother Matthew passed away after being struck by a vehicle while cycling in late August 2024. His passing – and the positive memories he left in every city he played in – inspired massive fan vigils and tributes in Calgary, Columbus and elsewhere. His family is aiming to continue to honour his and his brother’s legacy going forward, including with an annual 5K race – the 2025 edition is at the end of May, with registration for the virtual run still open.

The NHL’s Quarter-Century Team is being unveiled now, but it was built via a fan vote in February and March, with fans able to select from players that were announced as part of the first or second quarter-century teams for each of the NHL’s 32 member clubs. It’s a pretty fun initiative celebrating the last 25 years of NHL history.