Folks, the Calgary Flames have played five games and they’ve captured nine of a possible 10 points thus far. While they suffered their first defeat on Saturday night against the Seattle Kraken, they’ve still captured points in every game so far this season.’
As we ponder the significance of the points streak, let’s dive into the mailbag!
I can’t speak to specific plans that the Flames organization has to further honour Johnny Gaudreau, simply because (a) I don’t know and (b) it’s their proverbial tea to spill. That said, there’s a great deal of admiration for Gaudreau and his family within the organization, and when the time is right, emotions aren’t as raw, and everyone involved feels comfortable being involved, I strongly suspect that the Flames will do something more permanent to honour Gaudreau. But it might take a bit of time for all the details to be worked out, so be patient.
In general, I’ve been really surprised how well the Flames’ youngsters have shown early this season. Between Dustin Wolf in net, Martin Pospisil playing as a centre for the first time in the NHL, Connor Zary getting the tough minutes slot with Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman, Sam Honzek getting first line reps, and Matt Coronato stepping into the fourth line, so many of the Flames’ freshest faces have looked very strong early on.
So here’s the deal with the Flames’ many, many trade conditions – and we’ll operate under the assumption that Florida and New Jersey don’t draft in the top 10, and so their picks will both transfer to Calgary.
  • If the Flames have a pick in the top 10, then Montreal gets Florida’s pick.
  • If the Flames have a pick outside the top 10, then Montreal gets the earlier of Calgary and Florida’s picks.
So the question is essentially “Hey, will the Flames finish bottom 10 in the league standings?” And my answer is that it’s absolutely possible, and we’ll see how likely it is based on how the Flames look in the month of November. Teams often sleepwalk through the opening few weeks of the season and snap out of it by Halloween. Conversely, tons of teams have taken advantage of sleepwalking opponents in October and then slid down the standings when everyone woke up in November.
If everyone’s healthy, the top three lines probably look roughly like this:
  • Sharangovich – Kadri – Kuzmenko
  • Huberdeau – Pospisil – Mantha
  • Zary – Backlund – Coleman
The fourth line is Ryan Lomberg and whoever else he’s playing with. When the team’s fully healthy, that’s probably one of Kevin Rooney or Justin Kirkland and one of Adam Klapka or Matt Coronato. The choice for me between Klapka and Coronato is most stylistic, as Klapka gives you a bit more crash and bang, while Coronato is a bit more of an offensive threat. I would probably send Sam Honzek down to the Wranglers to get more ice time and game reps – nothing against his performance, but rather just the numbers game working against him a bit.
In terms of the blueline, I think the Flames will keep giving their defenders some leash and rotating players until somebody gets some momentum going.
He’s still on the injury reserve list and considered “week to week.” We’ll see if we hear anything from the Flames in terms of updates as November approaches.
Dustin Wolf and Devin Cooley have one-way NHL deals for the 2025-26 season. Dan Vladar is a pending unrestricted free agent.  The Flames have high hopes for Wolf, while they were aggressive in trying to sign Cooley because of his perceived potential. I could easily see the Flames listening intently on trade offers for Vladar should it reach that point.
The NHL is an “everyday league,” and the challenge for Rory Kerins will be proving that his current hot streak isn’t a fluke, but rather a true representation of who he is now as a player. If the Flames think that Kerins can keep up with NHL pace, play with NHL details, and provide NHL consistency… he’ll get his shot eventually.
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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