The 2024-25 Calgary Flames season begins on Wednesday night when the Flames visit Vancouver.
As the Flames prepare to announce their season-opening roster, we sent our weekly call out for questions. And we got a lot of ’em from our great readers. (We had so many that we’ll probably get to even more of this week’s questions next week!)
Let’s dive in!
Honestly, I can see some parallels between this year’s team and the 2014-15 team to some extent. Right now, there are no external expectations for the Flames to do much of anything this season. And they’re a weird mix of established players that have been good in the recent past and a bunch of young players across different parts of the roster that could pop. (The 2014-15 Flames were the “Find A Way Flames” that rode timely goals and incredibly favourable shooting percentages to an improbable playoff berth.)
Right now, this edition of the Flames isn’t built to contend. But if this season can be productive for the club’s up and coming players – especially players like Dustin Wolf and Connor Zary – then this season could be a big step towards the club eventually contending.
So here’s the thing about the Flames: I don’t think they’re a playoff team, but I don’t think they’ll be as bad as everybody thinks either. There will be nights where they don’t generate a lot of scoring chances at five-on-five, so they’re going to have to play a tight defensive style, out-work their opponents, and try to have their special teams units be a difference-maker for them in close games.
I think the club’s goaltending could be pretty good, especially if Dustin Wolf turns into something resembling what he was in the American Hockey League, but I think their offensive challenges will probably keep them a ways away from the playoff cut line. They’ll probably lose a lot of close games, but I think they’ll be a team that opponents will hate to see coming up on their schedules.
I don’t think they’re a Cup contender – or anywhere close to that – but I do like the blend of talent and physicality that the Flames have on their roster with the likes of Ryan Lomberg, Adam Klapka, Martin Pospisil and Brayden Pachal. Surround those guys with some high-end offensive skill and we’ll talk.
I’m torn on Jakob Pelletier. On Sunday, I think Robert Munnich did a great job summarizing a lot of the sides of the situation.
Here’s how I’m torn:
  • Pelletier was not one of the 14 best forwards in training camp. As the Flames see more and more young players enter their pro system over the next few years, management and the coaching staff will have credibility with the youngsters if they keep the players who played the best in camp.
  • Pelletier needs to get his mojo back. Right now, I don’t think he would have a role on the NHL roster that would have given him the regular playing time he would need to get his mojo back. He can do that with the Wranglers.
  • From an off-ice and intangibles perspective, Pelletier is a glue guy. Remember the 2021 Canadian World Junior team that lost in their gold medal game? Pelletier was a crucial part of that team because of his abilities on the ice and how he related to his teammates off the ice. His on-ice contributions aren’t quite where anyone wants them to be, but I don’t think the rest of Pelletier’s contributions disappeared. And those contributions could be what’s missed the most in the event he gets claimed. I’m not sure if he gets claimed or not.
I’m also torn on Joel Hanley. Right now the Wranglers have eight NHL-contracted defencemen in camp and most of them are young up-and-comers that need ice time to develop as pros. Keeping Hanley in the NHL does keep ice time available for the players that really need it. That makes sense to me.
But keeping a 33-year-old blueliner over a 23-year-old past first-round pick is perplexing, especially when he’s being kept as their eighth defenceman.
Right now the Flames are engaged in a balancing act. On one hand, the Flames have to give their young players opportunities to grow at the NHL level – and if you look at the season-opening roster later today, you’ll see a bunch of them. But they also want to make sure that their young players are insulated. What’s the point of giving their top prospects some NHL reps if they lose every game in a rout? (During their vaunted “Decade of Darkness,” that was more or less what happened with the Edmonton Oilers and their top prospects.)
You need Blake Colemans and Nazem Kadris and Mikael Backlunds and Rasmus Anderssons for your prospects to learn from and grow alongside at the NHL level. It’s a balancing act.
Dan Vladar was quite effective during pre-season and if he’s their Game 1 starter, it’s totally deserved.
As a pending unrestricted free agent, it makes as much sense for Andrei Kuzmenko to exchange contract ideas with Flames management as it does for them to do so. You never know if there’s a fit unless you discuss it. If it were me, I would prioritize creating more openings for young forwards in the lineup. But if Kuzmenko is willing to sign a deal for less dollars or term than you would expect – maybe he loves Calgary and the team – then you have to ponder it.
Jonathan Huberdeau has a long contract, a big cap hit, and a full no-move clause. Right now he’s bringing enthusiasm, he’s working hard on his game, and he’s working as a mentor to the club’s youngsters. If his on-ice contributions aren’t quite where everyone hopes they would be, at least his off-ice contributions are a net positive. I don’t think you seriously consider doing anything crazy to move him unless his off-ice contributions become a net negative or his on-ice contributions completely crater.
Y’know who had sneaky good underlying impacts last season in New Jersey? Kevin Bahl. He might surprise some people this season.
If you look around at most teams that have a relatively inexperienced general manager – at least in terms of experience as a GM – they tend to have an experienced executive as their advisor. When Brad Treliving became a first-time GM, he had longtime GM Brian Burke as his president of hockey operations, for example. With Craig Conroy in just his second year as GM, it makes sense to have an experienced executive around, and Don Maloney has over a decade of experience as a GM (and another nearly 20 years in other executive roles) and has worked with Conroy in the Flames’ front office since 2016. It seems like a decent enough fit.
Got a question for a future mailbag? Contact Ryan on Twitter/X at @RyanNPike or e-mail him at Ryan [at] TheNationNetwork.com! (Make sure you put Mailbag in the subject line!)

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