Positives Heading Into the 2026/27 Season
Any positives coming out of Calgary this season will revolve around players aged 23 or younger, and thankfully, there's plenty of them within the organization. Standouts include Simon Nemec, Zayne Parekh, Matvei Gridin and Matt Coronato, and this season, all four are likely to play in major roles for the Flames.
On top of that, the Flames goaltending group remains one of the strongest in the National Hockey League, and if Dustin Wolf can get back to what we saw from him in 2024/25, this team may be much more competitive than people expect.
Negatives Heading Into the 2026/27 Season
For the few positives this team has, there are many, many more negatives, with the first of all being the abundance of veterans on the team that could take away playing time from those younger players under Huska. Whether that's Zach Whitecloud on the blue line or forwards like Yegor Sharangovich, Adam Klapka, Maxim Tsyplakov or even Joel Farabee, there are positions simply being blocked by veterans that won't be key pieces on this team moving forward.
However, the biggest hole in Calgary is one that still hasn't been fixed, as they have arguably the worst centre depth in the NHL, with Morgan Frost and Mikael Backlund set to serve as 1 and 2C in 2026/27. Beyond that, it's just veteran Ryan Strome and a makeshift fourth line, and with other teams having a star along with two or three other very good centres, the Flames lack of talent becomes even more evident.
The lack of proven offense all over the ice is also a major problem, and while the Flames are expected to finish in the bottom-three in the NHL standings, it's going to get very, very ugly throughout the year.
Add us as a preferred source on Google