Every Flames fan knows that it’s time, but I have something to admit: I didn’t grow up a Flames fan, in fact, I’ve rooted for the Edmonton Oilers since I was about nine years old (2008). But growing up in Ottawa, I also didn’t have the same hatred that most fans of either Albertan teams have, and I’ve always attempted to stay professional when writing about both teams.

Since starting at FlamesNation two years ago, this team has really started to grow on me, as sacrilegious as that is. Watching this team last season was honestly the most fun I’ve had watching hockey in a really long time, and that includes the Oilers heading to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals.

There’s something about an underdog team that makes sports fun. Look no further than what the Toronto Blue Jays did in 2025. So when the Flames missed out on the playoffs due to a tiebreaker, I was gutted, both as a FlamesNation writer and Oilers fan.

While I had never “cheered” for the Flames before starting this job, I’ve always wanted them to do well. If there’s one thing an Oiler fan and a Flames fan can agree on, is that when the Battle of Alberta is hot and both teams are good at the same time, it’s one of the best rivalries in sports. But watching this team in 2025-26, they aren’t good, which is a shame.

Following Saturday afternoon’s win against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Flames have an 19-22-4 record with 42 points, around the bottom of the league. They had a strong December, but have lost their last four of their last five games, with their losses to the Montréal Canadiens and Boston Bruins not even being close.. Things will only get worse when they inevitably trade Rasmus Andersson ahead of Mar. 6’s trade deadline.

See, the Flames have been stuck in the “mushy middle” since the 2021-22 season. They missed the 2023 post-season by two points, had a mess of a season in 2023-24, but then missed out on the 2025 post-season due to the aforementioned tiebreaker. Sure, making the playoffs is fun and all, but how far would they realistically get? For the long-term future of the team, it’s best that they bottom out for a couple of years.

The good news is that this upcoming draft class is pretty stacked, probably the best draft since the 2015 draft. There are at least three draft prospects who may be able to quickly turn around a team’s fortune, as Gavin McKenna, Keaton Verhoeff, and Ivar Stenberg look to be the next superstars of the league.

They don’t even need to bottom out for long. Take a look at the New York Islanders, who had just a 3.5% chance of winning the 2025 draft lottery. They were able to take Matthew Schaefer first overall, and the left-shot defenceman has 12 goals and 29 points in 44 games on the Islanders’ back end. It has propelled them to second in the Metropolitan Division, and this was after trading Brock Nelson before last season’s trade deadline and Noah Dobson before the 2025 draft.

Being able to add a player like Gavin McKenna, and maybe even potentially a top prospect in the 2027 draft, would make this Flames’ team competitive as Scotia Place is set to open at the start of the 2027-28 season. Another aspect of getting a star player in the draft is that free agents will want to come, which is one way the Flames can replace Blake Coleman, Nazem Kadri, and other veterans if they’re traded.

The Flames also have the right man for the job. Craig Conroy has done a great job at the helm of the team since taking over after the 2022-23 season, especially in the draft department. One of my favourite series to write for any of the three sites is the weekly prospect roundup, where we look at how each junior/college/overseas player performs.

I can tell you that this is a farm system. Zayne Parekh is going to be a game-changer, but they’ve also found late-round finds like Ethan Wyttenbach, who reached the 30-point plateau in the NCAA on Friday. Cole Reschny and Cullen Potter, the Flames’ two first round picks in 2025, started slow but have gotten hot as of late. Eric Jamieson and Hunter Laing are two sixth-round picks in the 2024 draft who have exceeded expectations as well. Don’t even get me started on their Russian netminders.

The Flames are in a strong position already, with a cornerstone defenceman, a Vezina-calibre netminder, and legitimate top six forward prospects. They have young talent on the roster like Matt Coronato and Connor Zary, while also having a top-four defenceman in Kevin Bahl. Trading players like Kadri, Coleman, and Andersson will net the Flames a haul that’ll only help their future as it’s currently a sellers market. The Flames should probably keep MacKenzie Weegar though, he’s so clearly their next captain.

Bottoming out for this season and next year is well worth it for the Flames, because there’s a strong possibility they can quickly rebuild and be a contender a few seasons after the new arena opens.

Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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