A week from now, at 3 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 7, the Calgary Flames have to file their season-opening roster with the National Hockey League&#8217;s central registry. But they have a bunch of decisions to make in the next seven days.
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The Flames enter the week with 38 players on their training camp roster and three exhibition games left on the docket. By the time the week is done, they&#8217;ll have their roster set.
Here&#8217;s how things are shaping up headed into the final week of camp.
<h1>Goaltenders</h1>
NHL lock (1): Dan Vladar
Vladar is on a one-way NHL deal with a $2.2 million cap hit. He has three times as much NHL experience as the other two contenders combined. Moreover, Vladar&#8217;s been quite sharp in net during pre-season games. He&#8217;s a lock.
In the mix (2): Dustin Wolf and Devin Cooley
So here&#8217;s the deal: Wolf and Cooley have been good in camp. Wolf&#8217;s done everything you could ask a young goaltender to do since being drafted, and you could be forgiven if you saw Markstrom&#8217;s departure as the door opening for Wolf. But Cooley requires waivers to be sent down to the AHL while Wolf doesn&#8217;t, which will undoubtedly factor into the calculations for things.
For the record, keeping three goaltenders is usually a bad idea. But for a team that&#8217;s (a) in a rebuild and (b) doesn&#8217;t have a clear-cut number-one goaltender, we can kind of get why it might be a consideration. If you have three guys that can give you good minutes and none of them have had to carry the mail as a starter in the NHL, would rotating all three for awhile be the worst thing?
Unless someone grabs hold of the crease this week, it might be in the cards.
AHL bound (1): Waltteri Ignatjew
Ignatjew has played zero pro games in North America and will need AHL reps to get accustomed to things. He&#8217;s waiver exempt. He&#8217;s destined for the Wranglers.
<h1>Defencemen</h1>
NHL locks (5): MacKenzie Weegar, Rasmus Andersson, Kevin Bahl, Daniil Miromanov and Jake Bean
Weegar and Andersson are NHL incumbents who can play tons of minutes, anchor their own pairings with less established players, and play in every game situation. Bahl, Miromanov and Bean are less established, but have shown enough last season and during camp to merit spots.
In the mix (5): Brayden Pachal, Ilya Solovyov, Joel Hanley, Jarred Tinordi and Tyson Barrie 

There are two spots for these five guys. We would argue Pachal has the inside track for one of the spots because he&#8217;s one of the few defenders that can play a heavy physical game, can kill penalties, and can play a meat-and-potatoes defensive zone game. Solovyov, Hanley and Tinordi are all defensive-minded left shot defenders. Barrie is a offensive specialist (and since he&#8217;s on a pro try-out agreement, he would need an NHL deal).
Based on camp so far, we would be leaning towards Pachal and one of Tinordi or Barrie for the two spots.
AHL bound (3): Artem Grushnikov, Yan Kuznetsov and Hunter Brzustewicz
Have Grushnikov and Brzustewicz been really impressive in camp? Heck yes. Are they among the seven best defenders in training camp? Not yet, and they&#8217;ll have time to develop in the AHL with the Wranglers. Kuznetsov&#8217;s been rock-solid, too, but just hasn&#8217;t shown enough to grab a spot.
<h1>Forwards</h1>
NHL locks (10): Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri, Andrei Kuzmenko, Yegor Sharangovich, Mikael Backlund, Blake Coleman, Martin Pospisil, Connor Zary, Anthony Mantha and Ryan Lomberg
As with the blueliner, these are the 10 guys that have established themselves as NHL players. They all require waivers to go to the AHL. They&#8217;re all locked in.
In the mix (5): Kevin Rooney, Matt Coronato, Adam Klapka, Sam Honzek and Jakob Pelletier
Ah, decisions, decisions. If the Flames carry two goalies, they have four spots here for five guys. If they carry three goalies – and I wouldn&#8217;t rule it out – they have three spots. Coronato, Klapka and Honzek are all waiver exempt, and considering Honzek has played zero pro seasons, we figure he&#8217;ll go do the AHL for at least a little while. Coronato has been superb in training camp and has kept improving since going pro, while Klapka could be a really strong fourth-liner. Meanwhile, Rooney is a consistent, established depth centre that can kill penalties and play a fourth line role. Pelletier&#8217;s the wild card here, as he hasn&#8217;t been quite the same since his shoulder surgery (or since Jacob Trouba&#8217;s big hit on him after his return).
If we&#8217;re operating under the assumption that three goalies could be a possibility, we&#8217;re pencilling in Rooney, Coronato and Klapka. If they keep two, then add Pelletier to the mix.
AHL. bound (6): Sam Morton, Walker Duehr, Dryden Hunt, Cole Schwindt, Martin Frk and Justin Kirkland
Nothing against these six forwards, but they just haven&#8217;t forced their way onto the NHL roster so far in camp. (Frk and Kirkland were placed on waivers on Sunday, so we&#8217;re pretty confident they&#8217;re headed to the Wranglers.) Keep an eye on Morton, though: while he&#8217;s been quieter during main camp, he was really effective during Penticton.
<h1>Projected opening night roster</h1>
Here&#8217;s how things could shake out on Oct. 7:
<ul>
<li>Goaltenders Dan Vladar, Dustin Wolf and Devin Cooley</li>
<li>Defencemen MacKenzie Weegar, Rasmus Andersson, Kevin Bahl, Daniil Miromanov, Jake Bean, Brayden Pachal and Jarred Tinordi</li>
<li>Forwards Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri, Andrei Kuzmenko, Yegor Sharangovich, Mikael Backlund, Blake Coleman, Martin Pospisil, Connor Zary, Anthony Mantha, Ryan Lomberg, Kevin Rooney, Matt Coronato and Adam Klapka</li>
</ul>
This would give the Flames a 23-man roster and $67,963,334 in cap commitments, including the retained salary on Jacob Markstrom&#8217;s contract, which is just slightly over the $65 million cap floor for the season.
How do you see the 2024-25 opening roster shaping up next week? Let us know in the comments!

A week from now, at 3 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 7, the Calgary Flames have to file their season-opening roster with the National Hockey League's central registry. But they have a bunch of decisions to make in the next seven days.
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The Flames enter the week with 38 players on their training camp roster and three exhibition games left on the docket. By the time the week is done, they'll have their roster set.

Here's how things are shaping up headed into the final week of camp.
<h1>Goaltenders</h1>
NHL lock (1): Dan Vladar

Vladar is on a one-way NHL deal with a $2.2 million cap hit. He has three times as much NHL experience as the other two contenders combined. Moreover, Vladar's been quite sharp in net during pre-season games. He's a lock.

In the mix (2): Dustin Wolf and Devin Cooley

So here's the deal: Wolf and Cooley have been good in camp. Wolf's done everything you could ask a young goaltender to do since being drafted, and you could be forgiven if you saw Markstrom's departure as the door opening for Wolf. But Cooley requires waivers to be sent down to the AHL while Wolf doesn't, which will undoubtedly factor into the calculations for things.

For the record, keeping three goaltenders is usually a bad idea. But for a team that's (a) in a rebuild and (b) doesn't have a clear-cut number-one goaltender, we can kind of get why it might be a consideration. If you have three guys that can give you good minutes and none of them have had to carry the mail as a starter in the NHL, would rotating all three for awhile be the worst thing?

Unless someone grabs hold of the crease this week, it might be in the cards.

AHL bound (1): Waltteri Ignatjew

Ignatjew has played zero pro games in North America and will need AHL reps to get accustomed to things. He's waiver exempt. He's destined for the Wranglers.
<h1>Defencemen</h1>
NHL locks (5): MacKenzie Weegar, Rasmus Andersson, Kevin Bahl, Daniil Miromanov and Jake Bean

Weegar and Andersson are NHL incumbents who can play tons of minutes, anchor their own pairings with less established players, and play in every game situation. Bahl, Miromanov and Bean are less established, but have shown enough last season and during camp to merit spots.

In the mix (5): Brayden Pachal, Ilya Solovyov, Joel Hanley, Jarred Tinordi and Tyson Barrie


There are two spots for these five guys. We would argue Pachal has the inside track for one of the spots because he's one of the few defenders that can play a heavy physical game, can kill penalties, and can play a meat-and-potatoes defensive zone game. Solovyov, Hanley and Tinordi are all defensive-minded left shot defenders. Barrie is a offensive specialist (and since he's on a pro try-out agreement, he would need an NHL deal).

Based on camp so far, we would be leaning towards Pachal and one of Tinordi or Barrie for the two spots.

AHL bound (3): Artem Grushnikov, Yan Kuznetsov and Hunter Brzustewicz

Have Grushnikov and Brzustewicz been really impressive in camp? Heck yes. Are they among the seven best defenders in training camp? Not yet, and they'll have time to develop in the AHL with the Wranglers. Kuznetsov's been rock-solid, too, but just hasn't shown enough to grab a spot.
<h1>Forwards</h1>
NHL locks (10): Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri, Andrei Kuzmenko, Yegor Sharangovich, Mikael Backlund, Blake Coleman, Martin Pospisil, Connor Zary, Anthony Mantha and Ryan Lomberg

As with the blueliner, these are the 10 guys that have established themselves as NHL players. They all require waivers to go to the AHL. They're all locked in.

In the mix (5): Kevin Rooney, Matt Coronato, Adam Klapka, Sam Honzek and Jakob Pelletier

Ah, decisions, decisions. If the Flames carry two goalies, they have four spots here for five guys. If they carry three goalies – and I wouldn't rule it out – they have three spots. Coronato, Klapka and Honzek are all waiver exempt, and considering Honzek has played zero pro seasons, we figure he'll go do the AHL for at least a little while. Coronato has been superb in training camp and has kept improving since going pro, while Klapka could be a really strong fourth-liner. Meanwhile, Rooney is a consistent, established depth centre that can kill penalties and play a fourth line role. Pelletier's the wild card here, as he hasn't been quite the same since his shoulder surgery (or since Jacob Trouba's big hit on him after his return).

If we're operating under the assumption that three goalies could be a possibility, we're pencilling in Rooney, Coronato and Klapka. If they keep two, then add Pelletier to the mix.

AHL. bound (6): Sam Morton, Walker Duehr, Dryden Hunt, Cole Schwindt, Martin Frk and Justin Kirkland

Nothing against these six forwards, but they just haven't forced their way onto the NHL roster so far in camp. (Frk and Kirkland were placed on waivers on Sunday, so we're pretty confident they're headed to the Wranglers.) Keep an eye on Morton, though: while he's been quieter during main camp, he was really effective during Penticton.
<h1>Projected opening night roster</h1>
Here's how things could shake out on Oct. 7:
<ul>
 	<li>Goaltenders Dan Vladar, Dustin Wolf and Devin Cooley</li>
 	<li>Defencemen MacKenzie Weegar, Rasmus Andersson, Kevin Bahl, Daniil Miromanov, Jake Bean, Brayden Pachal and Jarred Tinordi</li>
 	<li>Forwards Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri, Andrei Kuzmenko, Yegor Sharangovich, Mikael Backlund, Blake Coleman, Martin Pospisil, Connor Zary, Anthony Mantha, Ryan Lomberg, Kevin Rooney, Matt Coronato and Adam Klapka</li>
</ul>
This would give the Flames a 23-man roster and $67,963,334 in cap commitments, including the retained salary on Jacob Markstrom's contract, which is just slightly over the $65 million cap floor for the season.

How do you see the 2024-25 opening roster shaping up next week? Let us know in the comments!

How are the 2024-25 Calgary Flames shaping up with a week left until the roster deadline?

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