Saturday night saw the Calgary Flames take on the Edmonton Oilers in the final BOA of the season. With the St. Louis Blues winning their ninth in a row just prior to puck drop, the game became even more crucial for the Flames. The Blues extended their lead in the final wild card spot to eight points.
It was a hard-fought game, but the Flames ultimately fell short in overtime, salvaging a point. Despite that single point, the Flames won’t go anywhere in the standings if the Blues keep their hot streak alive. With playoff hopes dwindling in Calgary, we wanted to know what grade fans would give the franchise if the team misses the playoffs. We asked, you answered.
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How would you grade the season if the Flames miss the playoffs?
We presented the below poll to our readers:
If the #Flames end up missing the playoffs this season, how would you grade their season?
— The Win Column (@wincolumnCGY) March 30, 2025
Grade: A
Just over 10 percent of respondents thought the Flames season would still be worthy of the highest grade available despite missing the playoffs. The least voted for option in this week’s poll. I think you can pull some silver linings out of this season for the franchise; they have certainly exceeded expectations. Coming into the season, it appeared a rebuild was finally happening.
Next thing you know, the team starts hot, and the attitude around the locker room didn’t waver. It really did feel like the team was a closer-knit group with no selfish players this season. Jonathan Hubeardeau is on pace for 30 goals while being labeled as a power forward by some, a thought many of us could’ve imagined two years ago. Kadri has also had an outstanding season with a “why not us?” mentality that the whole team has followed.
Can’t forget about the young guns and, more specifically, Dustin Wolf either. Wolf has really been the X factor all season, stealing games despite the Flames’ ongoing offensive woes. But the people who voted A must value team culture and goaltending immensely, or they’re a Montreal Canadiens fan.
Grade: B
Collecting roughly 40 percent of votes this week, the majority of Flames think it was pretty good. There are lots of angles to this one, in my opinion. I think most fans were on board with the rebuild to some degree prior to the season but have shifted their perspective as the team has proved the naysayers wrong.
The Montreal Canadiens receiving the Flames’ first-round pick isn’t that big of a sacrifice for this faction of fans. Leadership, team culture, and resilience are all major pieces to the puzzle of a championship team. It’s a young group that Craig Conroy did make attempts to improve by trading for Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee, two players within his sub-25 age range.
Despite the offensive struggles, Matt Coronato has been a bright spot up front alongside Connor Zary, despite his injury-riddled season. The two former Flames’ first-round picks have developed into impact players, not just everyday NHLers.
Speaking of impactful players, Dustin Wolf has already been labeled the next Miikka Kiprusoff. His performance has been discussed at length all season, and there’s no doubt the 23-year-old is the future of the franchise.
But the mushy middle is still all too familiar to Flames fans. It’s been a good season, but not committing to rebuilding and falling short of the playoffs is a tough pill to swallow nonetheless.
Grade: C
Roughly 30 percent of fans would give the franchise a C on the season if they miss the playoffs. Finishing second in this week’s poll, it’s really been a mediocre season for this faction of fans. In this case, I think commitment is the issue, or lack thereof. Like I mentioned earlier, expectations for this team have shifted more than once. Sure, good things are happening, and the team is developing, but no playoffs and no lottery pick isn’t considered successful with the Montreal situation this season.
I agree; there’s nothing beneficial about tanking or trying to lose. But riding the back of a hot goalie to the playoffs only works if you make the playoffs. The trades, cultural development, and hot goaltending simply don’t outweigh the loss of a top-10 pick or a playoff spot for these fans.
At the end of the day, Flames fans are sick of the franchise not picking a direction
Grade: F
Roughly 20 percent of votes were in favour of failure this week. There are plenty of reasons to see this season as a failure. Sure, there have been positives on the year, but this faction of fans doesn’t see any of that as being worthy of praise. There’s no success in missing the playoffs; the only silver lining is the higher draft odds. Odds which were much more important this season.
The Flames hold three first-round picks currently, with the condition that Montreal receives the better of Florida or Calgary’s first-round pick. The only caveat being: if the Flames ended up finishing bottom 10—receiving a lottery pick—then the Canadiens would receive the lower Florida pick.
That’s a big deal when you’re rebuilding. Drafting is incredibly important. The Flames look to have drafted one of the best prospects in last year’s class with Zayne Parekh at seventh overall. Their last top-10 pick prior to that was Matthew Tkachuk.
It doesn’t mean you can’t draft incredibly talented and impactful NHL players after 10th overall. But, falling short of a lottery pick in a season where that could mean sliding ~20 places in the draft hurts a lot. Especially with no playoff birth and a young team in desperate need of offensive firepower going forward.
Losing that pick and playoff experience is the worst-case scenario and has been since the outset of the season. It is the ultimate failure in this season’s particular situation.
What to think?
So, what do we make of all this too-early grading business? Well, there’s been a lot that’s happened over the course of this season, and it’s really felt like this season the team did develop a new identity to a degree. Whether you value the individual and team successes this season or you dread the loss of both a playoff spot and a top-10 pick, it’s been an unconventionally conventional ride for Flames fans that looks destined to end in yet another mushy middle season.
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