Over the next couple of weeks, the Calgary Flames’ players will begin reporting for 2024-25 training camp – first the rookies for the Penticton tournament, then everybody else for main camp.

By our tracking, the Flames will be inviting somewhere around 20 or 21 defencemen to training camp, most of them being established pros and minor-leaguers with NHL contracts already in hand. And by our reckoning, while we do think it’ll be a pretty competitive camp in terms of players jostling for spots and trying to establish themselves in the Flames’ pecking order, were not entirely sure how many spots on the NHL blueline are up for grabs.

Here’s our quick rundown of how things look a couple weeks before main camp.

There are five blueliners that we would classify as locks based on their levels of experience. Those five are MacKenzie Weegar, Daniil Miromanov, Kevin Bahl, Rasmus Andersson and Jake Bean. All but Miromanov were everyday NHLers for all of last season, while Miromanov was effectively an everyday player after his arrival in the Noah Hanifin trade. Heck, the Flames actively added Miromanov (multi-year deal after trade), Bahl (trade) and Bean (multi-year deal in free agency) over the past several months.

It’s reasonable to expect all five of these gentlemen on the roster on opening night. Heck, we would expect them all to be in the opening line-up, too.

There’s one player that’s almost a lock in our eyes: Brayden Pachal. He played every single game last season after arriving via waivers. But he’s a “virtual” lock because he landed on waivers last season and, since he’s on a league minimum ($775,000) deal, it’s not impossible to imagine him landing with the Wranglers if he has a rough camp. He’s probably not much more than a third-pairing guy, but he’s shown some promise in that role. Considering his level of NHL experience, we would be surprised if he wasn’t on the opening night line-up.

If you’re doing the math, there are six defenders that are locks or virtual locks. The Flames usually carry seven defencemen, so that leaves one spot left for… somebody.

In our eyes, there are three “somebodies” that could fill that seventh spot: Joel Hanley, Tyson Barrie and Ilya Solovyov.

Hanley is 33 and he’s a known quantity. He’s a pure defensive defender with limited offensive upside. Given his age and developmental profile – he is what he’s going to be – he would be a good fit as a seventh defender who plays occasionally on the third pairing or penalty kill. He’s on an inexpensive deal, though, and he’s a savvy veteran who could help farmhands develop on the blueline, so there could be some value to sending him to the AHL, too.

Barrie is 33 and he’s also a known quantity. He’s a pure offensive blueliner with limited defensive upside. Given his age and developmental profile – like Hanley, he is what he is – he would be a good fit as a seventh defender, though with a completely different usage profile than Hanley. If you need someone to play in more offensive situations or to help give the power play a bit of oomph, he would work. However, considering the offensive-minded AHLers the Flames are likely to have – Hunter Brzustewicz and Jeremie Poirier among them – and so Barrie could be a useful mentor for them, too. (If he was game to go to the AHL.)

Solovyov is 24 and he’s possibly still developing. He’s played 10 NHL games, so it’s tough to say he’s topped out. At the NHL level, he’s shown some promise as a shutdown defender and penalty killer. At the AHL level, he’s emerged as a really important tough-minutes option for the Wranglers; you put Solovyov over the boards so you can give Poirier (or potentially Brzustewicz) some offensive high ground. Do you want Solovyov sitting instead of playing? (Would watching NHL games up-close help him refine his details more than playing AHL games?) He’s arguably the most developed of the Flames’ defensive farmhands after a year in the KHL and three seasons in the AHL, but which is the best path to helping him fully mature his game?