The Calgary Flames have been one of the biggest surprises in the NHL this season. Expected to draft in the top five come June, the Flames have turned the tables on the heels of Dustin Wolf’s incredible season to challenge for a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
The team currently holds the second wild card position with a slight point advantage over the Vancouver Canucks, while sitting just behind the Colorado Avalanche for the first wild card spot.
With the first massive deal of 2025 that saw the Avalanche send Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes, the Flames’ road to the playoffs potentially just got a little bit better.
The Flames have improved playoff chances
With just under half a season to go, there is still a ton of time for things to change in favour or against the Flames. I am going to think optimistically here and say that the Avalanche just made their team much worse than it was. Hard to bet against Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, but for now their roster depth is going to cause them headaches.
After losing 3–1 to the Boston Bruins in their first game without Rantanen, the Avalanche are sitting at 58 points through 50 games. The Flames sit just three points back with three games in hand, which means there is a strong possibility that the team could catch and pass the Avalanche in the standings.
The conversation for the last week or so had been whether the team could hold on to the last wild card spot, but it now should change to how much space can they give themselves. If the Avalanche can’t recover from the blockbuster, or don’t make another subsequent move, then they could realistically fall off further.
A real shot at the postseason
The Flames are hard-pressed to catch the third Pacific Division spot, but the fact that they now have an attainable goal of climbing the standings at least into the first wild card spot instead of fending off teams chasing that second one is a significant improvement. They still have to get the job done and turn things in their favour for the next few games, but the Avalanche might have helped the Flames in the short term.
Now depending on which team wins the Western Conference, the Flames may not want to finish in the first wild card position, but with them on the fringe of the postseason picture, they can’t get too picky.
