In this series, Heavy Sports is looking at what every NHL team has done over the offseason. Next up is the Calgary Flames. The Flames are coming off another middling season in the NHL standings. The team missed out on postseason contention once again, having not made the playoffs since the 2021-2022 season. Calgary has entered a rebuilding period after selling assets during this past trade deadline.
Who are Calgary’s Additions?
Key additions: Mike Benning, Andreas Englund, Ben Jones, Jacob Middleton, Simon Nemec, Maxim Tsyplakov
The main additions to this Calgary squad have been on their back-end. They acquired Simon Nemec in a trade with the New Jersey Devils. The hope is that the promising young defenseman thrives with a change in scenery. Nemec’s role with the Devils was more sheltered as he often found himself buried in their crowded defensive rotation. The emergence of Luke Hughes in particular made Nemec expendable on their end. He will get an increased opportunity with Calgary to achieve that breakout he never did with New Jersey. He received a five year $36.25 million extension shortly after his move to Alberta. Jacob Middleton provides a solid veteran presence for this team and adds more depth to their blueline. Maxim Tsyplakov was the other piece in the Nemec trade. He had an impressive KHL career, but that has not yet translated in the NHL. The Flames also selected Carson Carels with the sixth overall selection in this past entry draft. He should be a nice piece on their defense in a few years.
Who are Calgary’s Subtractions?
Key subtractions: John Beecher, Blake Coleman, Justin Kirkland, Ryan Lomberg, Olli Maatta, Victor Olofsson
The biggest loss of the summer for the Flames is the departure of Blake Coleman after the forward was dealt to the Minnesota Wild in the Middleton trade. Coleman was a superb offensive contributor for Calgary, amassing 20 goals and 15 assists in 69 games last season. He provided some scoring touch on a team that struggled to find the back of the net last year. Otherwise, the remaining losses for this group consist of mainly depth players. There could still be more action from this regard as the team has been shopping forward Connor Zary.
Overall, the direction this Calgary team is heading in is clear. This is a team approaching the beginning of a rebuild. The goal for this group is to refill the bare cupboard and stock up on top prospects and draft picks for the foreseeable future. This is a squad that will likely finish towards the bottom of the standings next season and be firmly in the Landon DuPont lottery race. This would not be a bad outcome for them as they need more stars to be able to build a team around; they have a good chance of getting that in what projects to be a stacked 2027 draft class. A successful campaign would be seeing growth from their young players that include the likes of Matt Coronato and Zayne Parekh.
All transactions are available via Puck Pedia.
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