Calgary Flames Shakeup their Practice Lines Ahead of Clash With Carolina Hurricanes

The 2026/27 season was always going to be a tough one for the Calgary Flames, but with just one win in their first six losses, the team are facing a goal differential of -21, the second worst mark in the NHL ahead of only the Philadelphia Flyers at -22.

Things could be getting worse in the near future, as the team face a very tough upcoming schedule, with their next outing being on Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes before matchups with Minnesota, Toronto and Edmonton in three of the following four games.

They come into this one on the back of a 6-2 defeat at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights, and unsurprisingly, practice on Sunday features plenty of changes for the Flames lines, both up front and on the blue line.

Calgary Flames Blue Line Shaken Up

One change that Flames fans have been calling out for is the pairing of Jake Middleton and Zayne Parekh, as the latter's offensive game simply isn't helped by the veteran, who has struggled to find his offensive groove despite posting a short-handed goal on Thursday night.

The expectation is that eventually, the team will move Parekh to the left and pair him with Zach Whitecloud, but instead, the team appear to be rolling with the following three pairings ahead of their next game;

Kevin Bahl-Simon Nemec
Jake Middleton-Zach Whitecloud
Yan Kuznetsov-Zayne Parekh

Sure, it's a change, and it's one that may work, but given how well the Parekh-Whitecloud pairing worked at the end of 2026/27, it's a matter of when, not if the team look to get the best out of that duo once more.

Flames Forward Group Put in a Blender Once More

Up front, there's been some consistent lines for much of the 2026/27 season, but as of late, there have been some changes, and at practice, there were at least another two. Instead of rolling with the Morgan Frost-Matt Coronato duo, the team have placed No. 27 alongside Joel Farabee and Mikael Backlund, with Frost now getting the wing pairing of Aydar Suniev and Yegor Sharangovich.

The bottom-six remains unchanged from the teams latest loss, and while there's the potential for Brennan Othmann to slide in, it would make more sense for him to take Maxim Tsyplakov's role, so it's unlikely that he comes into the lineup for this one.

On paper, it remains one of, if not the weakest forward group in the National Hockey League, but with Martin Pospisil, Suniev and Coronato providing sparks as of late, these latest changes may help the team put it all together over 60 minutes.

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