Nick Cicek brought experience between the AHL and NHL and wisdom beyond his years to the Calgary Wranglers this year. He was named to the leadership group right off the bat and proved night in and night out how he earned that role. He was a highly respected member of the team and once Yan Kuznetsov made his Flames jump, Cicek was left as the most professionally seasoned defenceman on the back end. This gave him the opportunity to work on developing the young guys while pushing himself to stay on the radar for NHL opportunities.

Expectations

Being new to the organization and coming off a season in the German league, Cicek’s expectations weren’t sky high, but he was still expected to be a complementary addition to the roster. At 25, he is still young but approaches the more veteran status on a team of guys just starting out in their professional careers. Cicek came to the Wranglers with 16 games and four points in the NHL and four seasons in the AHL. His last appearance in North America was with the Abbotsford Canucks in 2023-24 after spending the start of his career in the San Jose organization.

Performance

Cicek ended up being able to play in nearly every Wranglers game this season, skating in 70. He only took a couple of maintenance days and managed to match his career best numbers from his 2021-22 season. Cicek scored the most goals in a single season of his professional career putting up seven with Calgary. His total points finished at 25. His PIM’s were also the highest of his career last season with 119. As an alternate captain of the Wranglers, Cicek was honest in his evaluation of the season and not happy with how it went for this squad. He said:

“I think it was a bit frustrating at times. I think everyone will probably say that. But, there’s a great group of guys in that room. Staff, management, everyone showed that they cared. Even through the ups and the downs of the season. I think that shows a lot of character. That shows the culture we’re trying to build in this room. Calgary is an amazing city. It was great living here. I really loved my time here. I don’t have any regrets about anything.”

Paige Siewert

@thathockeygirly

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What a sequence. Nick Cicek finishes off a clean passing play with a goal

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2:26 AM · Apr 19, 2026

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Nick Cicek biggest role as a blue liner veteran was to help develop prospects and he knew that coming in. Cicek is a left shot but is able to play both sides. Head coach Brett Sutter said earlier in the season that he actually finds Cicek more effective on his off side. Cicek started the season working with Hunter Brzustewicz and immediately found chemistry that allowed Brzustewicz to light it up the first month of the season.

When Brzustewicz got called up, rookie Etienne Morin was Cicek’s next project. Morin had a brief stint in the ECHL with the Rapid City Rush and benefited from some mentorship from Cicek at the AHL level. Even off the ice in preparation routines for games. In the New Year, when Zayne Parekh made a brief appearance with the Wranglers on a conditioning assignment, Cicek was the partner of choice for him too. Parekh talked about the ease of playing with Cicek and his more defensive game allowed Parekh’s offensive game to shine.

In talking about his leadership role, Cicek said:

“I think sort of part of me, part of my identity is being a leader of sort of always been like that. So I don’t think much changed. I was myself and I think the guys appreciated that. I think the management appreciated that. It didn’t change once a letter ended up on my jersey. So I was honoured to be a captain. I’m honoured to always be someone that people look up to. So I try to lead by example, lead on and off the ice. Be a good person, not only a good hockey player.”

Cicek arguably should have gotten a look with the Flames this year. If not on a performance basis, for sure as a sign of respect and thanks for the role he played in development this season. He would’ve been first on the list had another defenceman gone down or if one of the ones playing through injuries opted out of the last few games. Cicek was understandably disappointed, as any pro’s goal would be to play more NHL games. He said in Wranglers exit meetings:

“I mean selfishly, these are all our careers so of course, I want to be on the NHL blue line as well. But my job, part of my job, was to help younger guys develop and I think I did that pretty well. I played with almost everyone on the blue line and I evolved to everyone’s games. So I was really happy and proud of myself for how I handled that. And for sure, I think it was potentially close to getting a call up and a lot of this game and this business is opportunity based and situation based. Sometimes it doesn’t fall your way.

Cicek continued:

“Just pushing for that and continuing to grind and chase that dream, that’s what keeps me going.”

Outlook

Nick Cicek was the biggest energy source for the Wranglers last season. He was always talking and always try to find any way he could to get his team back in it. Whether that was a big hit, a fight, a great play, or some talk on the bench. He certainly led by example. Cicek is now a pending unrestricted free agent and one of the most experienced defencemen the Wranglers had by the end of the season.

Paige Siewert

@thathockeygirly

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Nick Cicek and Maros Jedlicka drop the gloves and both get slashing minors and fighting majors for this.