Heading into the 2026-27 Calgary Flames season, the one part of the team that is going to have the most intrigue is the defence core.

As of July 20, the Flames have nine NHL defencemen on their NHL roster.

Left handed defencemen: Kevin Bahl, Jake Middleton, Yan Kuznetsov, Joel Hanley.

Right handed defencemen: Simon Nemec, Zayne Parekh, Zach Whitecloud, Hunter Brzustewicz, Brayden Pachal.

How Ryan Huska and Trent Cull go about forming defence pairings is going to be fascinating. Arguably the most interesting aspect of the Flames heading into the season.

We’ll start with Kevin Bahl and Simon Nemec who are likely to be the Flames first pair. Bahl has established himself as the go to defensive defenceman on the Flames. The guy Huska will go to shut down opposing top lines. Nemec plays the yin to Bahl’s yang. He likes to get involved in the rush, play in the offensive zone, and take chances. Bahl will stay back and be relied on to play a safe style of play.

Nemec needs to play big minutes to be the player the Flames think he can be. He showed at the Olympics that he can be a legit top pairing defenceman.

There is also some built in chemistry as Bahl and Nemec played 198:01 together in New Jersey in the 2023-24 season.

Putting together the next two pairings is where things get interesting because it will come down to what side Zayne Parekh is going to play on. Parekh played on the right side for the majority of last season and put up some decent numbers for a 19 year old rookie.

For the final three games of last season Parekh played on the left side with Zach Whitecloud on the right. The pair outscored their opposition 2-1, and were on the ice for more high danger scoring chances (10-7) in 37:25 of ice time. However they were out-chanced by the opposition in shot attempts.

 Parekh also scored the goal of the year for the Flames while on the left.

Let’s take a look at what the Flames defence could look like with Parekh playing on the right side, his strong side.

As previously discussed, Bahl and Nemec are the number one pair.

Yan Kuznetsov and Zach Whitecloud could be a strictly defensive pairing who Huska can use in situations against the opposing teams top players at 5-on-5 and on the first penalty killing unit.

Jake Middleton is the perfect fit for Parekh. Middleton is a stay at home, defensive defenceman who can stay back while Parekh rovers his way around the ice. Middleton can also be used as someone to protect Parekh from taking massive hits. Opposing players might not go after Parekh as hard as they normally would or they won’t go after him at all knowing they’ll have to deal with the 6’3″, 218 pound defenceman.

Parekh and Whitecloud showed some good chemistry together in the final three games of the season. Similar to Middleton, Whitecloud is a great option to be Parekh’s partner next season. He is a steady, reliable and predictable defenceman, which should be perfect for an offensively minded player like Parekh.

My only worry is that it’s asking a lot from a 20 year old to play their off side in the NHL. If Parekh plays on the left, he is going to have to make a lot of plays using his backhand. He’s talented enough to pull off a lot of those plays, but he also has to get the puck off his stick quickly while making a smart play. That’s not easy to do in an NHL that continues to get faster as each year goes on.

Middleton and Kuznetsov would likely rotate in and out of the lineup for the most part in this scenario.

This also gets Hunter Brzustewicz back in the Flames lineup. But keep in mind that it’s not a bad thing if Brzustewicz were to be sent to the Calgary Wranglers in his 21/22 year old season. There is no such thing as too much time in the best development league in the world for someone that young.

Putting Parekh on his right side to start the season is the way to go if you ask me.

This defence core looks pretty solid. It’s balanced. It features a lot of skill. It has some size and toughness. And this group has good options for both sides of special teams.

The key in this group is that it keeps Kuznetsov, who proved he is a full time NHLer last season, in the lineup on a regular basis.

It also allows Parekh to play on the right side, which will make the game a lot easier on himself as he continues to learn and grow.

When it comes to Brzustewicz, he can start the season in the AHL and continue to work on his strength and skating. The Flames can re-evaluate where they are at with Brzustewicz around the trade deadline. They can use him as a trade chip or they can move out a guy like Whitecloud to make room for Brzustewicz.

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