There's very few open spots in the Calgary Flames roster with a good mixture of exuberant youth and valuable experience. There's still a few questions facing the Flames, mainly what to do with top prospect Zayne Parekh, dealing with Rasmus Andersson rumours, and who's backing up Dustin Wolf.
The answer for Zayne Parekh it's simple, he's done everything developmentally at the junior level and sending him back would do nothing for him, or the team. Finding the right spot, and the right partner, for him is a little more tricky. He'd fit in pretty well with the likes of Kevin Bahl, but as many have said, the National Hockey League is not a developmental league. The jump from juniors to the NHL is one of the largest leaps in professional sports.
As for the backup to Dustin Wolf, the Flames signed Ivan Prosvetov in the offseason creating competition in the goaltending room with Devin Cooley also in the mix to be in the NHL. Prosvetov is returning to North America after spending last season with CSKA Moscow of the KHL, getting into 38 games and producing a 20-16-2 record with a goals against average of 2.32. His last NHL bid was in Colorado the season before with 11 games and a 4-3-1 record and GAA of 3.12.
The 2025-2026 Calgary Flames opening night roster
Forwards
Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
Jonathan Huberdeau | Nazem Kadri | Matthew Coronato |
Yegor Sharangovich | Morgan Frost | Connor Zary |
Blake Coleman | Mikael Backlund | Joel Farabee |
Ryan Lomberg | Justin Kirkland | Adam Klapka |
Martin Pospisil |
Last season Matthew Coronato played the majority of time with Coleman and Backlund and would be an combination again, however he has the ability and the shot to be the first line right winger. The pairing of Coleman and Backlund also elevates who ever plays on their wing with them and Farabee could use the confidence boost of playing with them.
Defense
Left Defense | Right Defense |
|---|---|
MacKenzie Weegar | Rasmus Andersson |
Kevin Bahl | Zayne Parekh |
Joel Hanley | Brayden Pachal |
Ilya Solovyov | Daniil Miromanov |
Kevin Bahl is the perfect partner to Zayne Parekh, his long reach and defensive responsibility would allow Parekh to play his own game from the start. Which is getting the breakout going with a crisp first pass and joining the rush, being an offensive threat.
Goalies
Dustin Wolf |
|---|
Ivan Prosvetov |
For the forwards there's a number of players that could be the first to be called up, but to me the first forward to be called up should be William Stromgren. His progression year over year has been exciting to watch and the future looks bright.
Questions will be answered on October 8 as the Flames open the season against the Edmonton Oilers.