Friends, in yesteryear, college hockey wasn’t seen as a huge proving ground for National Hockey League-bound players. Yes, tons of great players honed their craft in the NCAA – among them Flames general manager Craig Conroy and the late, great Johnny Gaudreau – but it wasn’t the primary pathway for prospects.

But after the NCAA changed their eligibility rules a couple years back, that’s changed.

During the 2024-25 season, the Flames had 5 prospects playing in the NCAA. At the start of the 2025-26 season, after the rule change, the Flames had 10 prospects playing in college. (They subsequently got up to a dozen collegians after adding Abram Wiebe and Jonathan Castagna in trades.)

Well, at this rate, the Flames will start next season with 12 college kids in their system… and that’s assuming they don’t select any college-bound prospects in the 2026 NHL Draft. Here are 2026-27’s projected college kids, in alphabetical order.

A left shot centre from Czechia, Curran was a fifth-round pick by Colorado in 2024 and traded to the Flames in the Nazem Kadri deal. He came over from Czechia in 2023 and spent two seasons with Tri-City and last season with the Edmonton Oil Kings.

The WHL’s 2024-25 Scholastic Player of the Year, he’s off to UMass for his freshman season (as a 20-year-old).

A right shot winger, Hoskin was a fourth-round pick by the Flames (in his third year of eligibility) in 2024.

The OJHL’s leading scorer in his draft year, he was Atlantic Hockey’s Rookie of the Year in 2024-25 with Niagara as a freshman, then transferred to Merrimack College, where he helped the Warriors win their conference’s playoff tournament and was named a tournament all-star as a top six winger. He’s headed back for his junior year of college.

A left shot defender, Jamieson was a sixth-round pick by the Flames (in his second year of eligibility) in 2024.

He spent 2024-25 captaining the WHL’s Everett Silvertips and mentoring exceptional status defender Landon DuPont. He moved onto the University of Denver as a 20-year-old freshman in 2025-26… and made the conference All-Rookie Team and helped them win a national championship playing as a top four defender. He’s headed back for his sophomore season.

A right shot forward, Lane was a sixth-round pick by the Flames in 2025.

He spent 2024-25 primarily with St. Andrews College prep school, but he also spent chunks of time with the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers and OHL’s Brampton Steelheads. He moved onto Harvard University last season as a freshman and played most of the season as a third line winger. He’ll be back for his sophomore year.

Another right shot forward, Lipinski was a fifth-round pick by the Flames in 2023.

He spent four seasons with the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, then joined the University of Maine as a freshman after his overage season. He spent most of the season as a middle-six fixture. He’ll be returning for his sophomore year.

Yet another right shot forward, Littler was a seventh-round pick by the Flames in 2022.

After being drafted out of the BCHL’s Wenatchee Wild, he bounced between Wenatchee, the USHL’s Cedar Rapids RoughRiders and the BCHL’s Penticton Vees before joining the University of North Dakota as a 20-year-old freshman. He spent two seasons as a bottom-six option for the Fighting Hawks, and he transferred to Arizona State University for the upcoming season in his junior year.

A right shot blueliner, Mews was a third-round pick by the Flames in 2024.

A product of the OHL, Mews spent most of three seasons with the Ottawa 67’s before a trade to the Sudbury Wolves at the tail-end of 2024-25. He was one of the first major names to commit to college hockey, moving to the University of Michigan as a freshman for 2025-26. He suffered a knee injury 10 games into his first college season, but he was superb on Michigan’s power play before his season came to a premature end. He’ll be back for his sophomore year.

A left shot centre, Misa was a fifth-round pick by the Flames in 2024.

Another OHL product, Misa played with the Steelheads – three years in Mississauga and one more in Brampton – and impressed offensively. He moved onto Penn State University this past season as a 20-year-old freshman, and he was kinda quiet in the first half and quite good in the second half. He was a third line centre for much of the season and he’s likely going to be playing up the rotation in his sophomore season.

A left shot defender, Phillips was a third-round pick by the Flames in 2025.

A gigantic human being and a product of the State of Hockey, Minnesota, Phillips played two seasons with the U.S. National Development Program and then played this past season with the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers. He’s a big shutdown defender, and he’ll be trying to transition his game to the NCAA level in the fall when he’s a freshman at the University of Minnesota as a 19-year-old.

A left shot centre, Potter was a first-round pick by the Flames in 2025.

One of the smaller players in the system, Potter has been lauded for his skating prowess. After a year with the U.S. National Development Program, he went to Arizona State as a 17-year-old to play his freshman year, then returned this season for his sophomore year. His season was cut short by an injury, and he transferred to Michigan State last month, where he’ll play his junior season. He should contend for a spot on the United States’ national junior team for the World Juniors.

A left shot centre, Reschny was also a first-round pick by the Flames in 2025.

Reschny played two seasons with the WHL’s Victoria Royals and impressed with a superb playoff run in 2024-25 (and then a run with Canada at the Under-18 Worlds following Victoria’s playoff exit). He was one of the most prominent draft prospects to move to the NCAA, joining the University of North Dakota for his freshman year. He had a heck of a year overall, emerging as a really trsuted, reliable 200-foot centre for a strong school. He was named his conference’s rookie of the year and a second-team conference all-star, and also won a bronze medal with Canada at the World Juniors. He’s back for his sophomore year, and will probably return to Team Canada, too.

A right shot winger, Wyttenbach was a fifth-round pick by the Flames in 2025.

Man, Wyttenbach was one of the best stories in all of hockey in 2025-26. He was drafted after a single impressive year with the USHL’s Sioux Fall Stampede, where he was the inaugural winner of that circuit’s Gaudreau Award, honouring a player that best exemplifies the qualities and spirit of the departed Gaudreau brothers, Johnny and Matthew. He moved onto college a year earlier than expected, and coming off off-season knee surgery, and absolutely hit it out of the park. Playing with Quinnipiac, he led the NCAA in scoring. Not just for first-year players, for all players. He was the national rookie of the year, a conference all-star, a first-team All-American, and was generally just very good at hockey and a ton of fun to watch.

He’ll be back at Quinnipiac for his sophomore campaign having set an incredibly high bar for himself. He’ll probably be in contention for a Team USA spot at World Juniors.

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