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FN AHL Report Cards: Sam Morton slightly dipped in production but brought more leadership
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Photo credit: Jenn Pierce/Calgary Wranglers
Paige Siewert
May 18, 2026, 12:00 EDTUpdated: May 18, 2026, 01:36 EDT
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Sam Morton was one of the rookies who got their NHL debut in the final game of the 2024-25 season. This experience was shared with Zayne Parekh, Hunter Brzustewicz and Aydar Suniev. Morton was the only rookie to score in his NHL debut and went into the off-season with a lot of hope to recreate that experience. In his second full season with the Calgary Wranglers, he brought more leadership to his role but would’ve liked more consistency. 

Expectations

Morton made a lasting impression in his NHL debut and was one of the players to watch in pre-season for a Flames roster spot. He was expected to build off this first game and hopefully get a run of 10-20 games in the 2025-26 season, depending on if and when the opportunities came up.
If Morton did not make the Flames, he was expected to be a high performer with the Wranglers and a reliable player. As he approaches his mid to late 20s, he is one of the older players on the team and would likely be leaned on to help the new young pros on and off the ice. Morton was very consistent in his first full season with the Wranglers and that set the baseline for what his expected level of play is. 

Performance

Morton has been a standout centre for the Wranglers and while the face-off percentage stats are publicized, he ras highly on the team. He was typically found centring the second line with Rory Kerins centring the top line. There were scenarios where Morton would jump up to the top line including about a month long injury to Kerins and just overall performance on who was being more effective.
However, it is no secret that it was a down year for the Wranglers. With the lack of success and consistency the team was finding, Morton was also in a down year in his professional career. He still ranked highly in team scoring with 17 goals, 21 assists for a total of 38 points in 68 games. This was seven points less than what he had in 70 games in the year prior. Morton evaluated his own season at the end of the season and said:
“I had some good swings, and I think the hardest part of the game is being consistent. So, I try to do a good job of coming to the rink and working and being consistent. In that regard, but, there’s definitely nights that I wanted more on myself and there’s also some stretches that I felt I played well.”
Morton was named as part of the leadership group for the Wranglers earlier in the year and excelled in this role. He was one of the alternate captains and while he didn’t get a ton of games wearing the A, there were definitely times he had an extra letter stitched on his jersey. Morton was one of the more vocal guys on the team and you could often see him strategizing and conversing on the ice at games and practices. 
He ended up being rewarded with a call up quite early in the season and got a three game look with the Flames against the Chicago Blackhawks, Buffalo Sabres, and Dallas Stars in mid-November. He didn’t have any points in these games and had an even +/- in two out of the three games. His faceoff percentage in those three NHL games was 66.7% and finished at the top of the Flames stats in this category. Take that with a grain of salt for just a limited stretch of games but still worth noting. Morton spoke about this run of games and said:
“That was rewarding, and I enjoyed that. 
You always want the call up, right? But it’s a lot out of your control. So I think you just try to make the players you play with around you better. You try to put your best effort forward and, control what you can control and if the call up happens, that’s great. That’s the end goal for everyone. But if it doesn’t, you just keep working.”

Outlook

Morton’s current contract ended at the closure of the season and he is a restricted free agent this summer. Being one of the team’s top performers, a leader and a key piece of the power play makes an easy case to throw another contract his way. A one or two year, two-way contract feels like a low risk use of a cap space on Morton and he still has potential to come into the Fall with another level to his game.
Being a college signing for the Flames gave Morton more experience prior to playing in the AHL and he can still be leveraged as a centre with the Flames whether it be a fourth line centre or a call up option. Morton’s dip in his game was minimal this year and his hockey IQ would stand out in games where points weren’t necessarily finding their way to the scoresheet. He’s earned more time in this market.

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