What are the chances the Flames upper management get delusional and decide to go for it and trade no-one other than Anderson? If and when they miss the playoffs without a trade for picks would this set the team back on a rebuild?
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FlamesNation Mailbag: One last mailbag for 2025
Photo credit: Mike Gould
Friends, we’re at the tail-end of 2025 and it’s been a weird year for the Calgary Flames. But after a really ugly start to the season, going 2-9-2 over their first 13 games, they’re looking pretty good and finding ways to win.
As we ponder the future, and the start of 2026, let’s delve into the mailbag!
I mean this with nothing but love for the fanbase: uh, what has Craig Conroy done over the past two years that makes you think he’s going to suddenly decide to load up the team and try to make a playoff run? Since taking the job, aside from re-upping with Mikael Backlund twice, he’s pretty consistently moved on from their veteran players when the opportunity presented itself. And he’s gotten fairly decent value, we’d argue.
I’d put the chances they double-down on the existing group at 10%. I still fully expect some veterans to move out, though I don’t think they’ll do any sort of gigantic tear-down. “Strategic sell” is the watch word. The Flames want to get value for their players, but they’re not gonna push anyone overboard just because they can.
In your ideal world, if Cgy actually committed to a rebuild and you were the GM, what would you want the roster to look like?
I agree with the premise that rebuilding teams need to have some veterans to (a) insulate their younger players and (b) mentor their younger players. I think in an ideal world, you have some “tough minutes,” defensive-minded veterans to allow your younger players to have opportunities to have puck touches and generate offence (and confidence with the puck). That’s why Mikael Backlund (and Blake Coleman) are so valuable to the Flames. Having a team full of rookies who lose 5-1 every night isn’t great for development, so you need to find ways to keep your team in games.
Ryan, seeing Parekh at the worlds excites me for what is to come for him as a Flame. How do you think this season would have played out for him if he was a full time Wrangler? Keep up the great work! Loving the walk and talks this season!
I would point to how the Wranglers brought along Hunter Brzustewicz last season: he played a ton, almost always with two-way ace Yan Kuznetsov, and he quickly figured out his 200-foot game because he was playing with someone who could help him with the things he wasn’t great at and help him figure things out as the season went along.
For Zayne Parekh, having someone like Joel Hanley to play with when he’s back with the big club after the World Juniors could be helpful for him. But I’m also very curious how the Flames will juggle all their defenders when the World Juniors are over.
How surprised are you to see the Flames being only a few points away from a wild card position at this point of the season?
I would say “not really,” and primarily because (a) the Flames aren’t as bad as they looked in October and (b) the Western Conference is, aside from a few great teams, pretty mediocre this season. As a result, basically everybody is within a stone’s throw of a playoff spot this season.
Any updates on Pospisil and when he may return?
Postmedia’s Wes Gilbertson spotted Martin Pospisil skating prior to Sunday’s practice at Winsport. The Flames are hoping that Pospisil can keep progressing and join full practices in the New Year. We’ll see if that translates to Pospisil returning to game action in the first part of 2026.
How does it feel to get mentioned by the great Scott Oake on Hockey Night in Canada. What an honor. All your hard work is paying off.
Scott Oake is good people. It’s always surreal to be mentioned on television and pretty cool as someone that grew up watching Hockey Night in Canada. I will also point out that the real star here is Dustin Wolf, who’s played more NHL games than nearly one-third of the first-rounders from his draft class.
Got a question for a future mailbag? Contact Ryan on Twitter/BlueSky at @RyanNPike or e-mail him at Ryan.Pike [at] BetterCollective.com! (Make sure you put Mailbag in the subject line!)
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