The end of the pre-season, a very, very short one is nearing for the Calgary Flames, and with the roster needing to be trimmed ahead of their finale against the Edmonton Oilers, fans expected moves to be made on Friday.
Fortunately for the front office, most of those moves are obvious ones, with many believing that the team came into this training camp period with an opening night roster in mind, and outside of the Jonathan Huberdeau injury, things are tracking to be as expected.
On Friday, those moves came, and with the regular season now just six days away, the official Flames roster is getting closer and closer to being announced.
Calgary Flames Trim Roster Ahead of Regular Season
On Thursday, the team had a very, very impressive showing against the NHL might of the Seattle Kraken, but for most players in the Flames lineup, it was their last opportunity of the pre-season, as many likely knew coming into the game.
On Friday, the team made a flurry of moves as revealed by Eric Francis on social media, with the team sending Hunter Brzustewicz, Andrew Basha, Jonathan Castagna, Will Dineen, Tyson Gross, Axel Hurtig and Arsenii Sergeev all to the American Hockey League.
Flames announce they have assigned the following players to the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers:
— Eric Francis (@EricFrancis) September 25, 2026
Andrew Basha (LW)
Hunter Brzustewicz (D)
Jonathan Castagna (C)
Will Dineen (C)
Tyson Gross (C)
Axel Hurtig (D)
Arsenii Sergeev (G)
The Flames have also placed the following players on…
Each and every one of them made a good showing of themselves throughout camp, and heading into the regular season, there are many names in that group that could stand out for the Wranglers this season.
Not only that, but the Flames placed several players on waivers with the intention of re-assignment to the AHL, with that list including key players like Rory Kerins, Sam Morton and William Stromgren among others.
Flames Final Roster Spot Battle Begins
However, that doesn't mean the final roster spots in the NHL have been decided, as these moves leave Aydar Suniev, Brayden Pachal, Joel Hanley and Brennan Othmann all fighting for a spot on the roster to start the new season.
All four have more than earned a spot on the current iteration of the Flames roster, but with the belief being that Suniev needs more seasoning before finding a full-time, top-nine role at the NHL level, he's likely to get a few months of action in the AHL. That likely leaves things up to one of the two veterans and Othmann to take on the final roster spots with the Flames, but given what we've seen in the past few weeks, anything could happen ahead of the regular season.
Ultimately, the construction of the depth in Calgary may not be a huge story early in the regular season, but on the back of some impressive showings, Craig Conroy has some big decisions to make.
Add us as a preferred source on Google