It’s been a quiet offseason for the Calgary Flames, and throughout the NHL in general. We’re less than a month away from training camp and around 45 days until the start of the regular season. In today’s article, we’ll be previewing the Flames and what the expectations are for this team in 2025-26.
Additions and subtractions by the Flames
As mentioned, if you were expecting the Flames to be busy this offseason, you were in for an underwhelming few months.
Additions:
G Ivan Prosvetov
D Nick Cicek
Subtractions:
F Anthony Mantha (PIT)
G Dan Vladar (PHI)
F Kevin Rooney (UFA)
D Tyson Barrie (Retired)
Despite the Flames having over $15 million in cap space, the team wasn’t active much this offseason. Their biggest addition was adding backup goaltender Ivan Prosvetov, who spent last season in the KHL. He has 24 games of NHL experience.
As for subtractions, nothing major happened either. It was expected that the Flames were unlikely to re-sign Anthony Mantha and Kevin Rooney. Dan Vladar was asking for a raise that was a bit too rich for the Flames, as he’ll be getting a bigger role in Philadelphia. Given their lack of moves, it’s clear the team is content with running the team back this season, mostly with the same roster. Time will tell whether that’s a smart decision or not.
Projected lineup for the Flames in 2025-26
Assuming no moves happen between now and the start of the regular season, the Flames’ lineup will pretty much look the same as last season. Only this time, expect some more youth attempting to win over jobs.
Huberdeau-Kadri-Zary
Sharangovich-Frost-Coronato
Coleman-Backlund-Farabee
Lomberg-Pospisil-Klapka
Kirkland
Bahl-Andersson
Hanley-Weegar
Bean/Pachal-Parekh
Solovyov/Miromanov
Wolf-Prosvetov
I fully expect Zayne Parekh to make a push to get a spot in the lineup. That way, he’d push someone like Daniil Miromanov out. I can also see someone like Jake Bean being replaced by Ilya Solovyov or Brayden Pachal if he can play the left side. As for forwards, I see players like Rory Kerins, Sam Morton and even Sam Honzek getting longer looks in the NHL. For fans, it’s really unknown what they can expect from this group. They’re either capable of regression or more progress.
Tough start to the season
The Flames will begin their season against their provincial rivals in the Edmonton Oilers, on October 8th at Rogers Place. They’ll then be playing against the Vancouver Canucks the following day at Rogers Arena.
The official 2025-26 home opener will be on October 11th at 2 PM MT against the St. Louis Blues. The Flames will then go on to play about three games a week for the rest of the month, playing teams such as the Winnipeg Jets and Vegas Golden Knights twice each. Either way, the start of the 2025-26 regular season won’t be an easy one for the Flames. Other teams they’ll be playing against in October include the Toronto Maple Leafs, Utah Mammoth, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers.
Will the team’s lack of moves haunt them this season?
It’s clear that the Flames have a goal of making the playoffs, as they do every season, but realistic expectations need to be set. The team’s lack of moves this offseason could either be a benefit or a curse.
The Flames’ last season were among the bottom five for scoring in the entire league. They didn’t make any improvements to their roster to address their goalscoring troubles, and while many players can rebound from bad seasons, it’s not a guarantee. The Flames are banking on continuing internal growth and bounce-back efforts.
Essentially, the story of the summer is highlighting the moves the Flames didn’t make. The Rasmus Andersson storyline still hangs over this team, as it’s likely he starts the season in Calgary. Not only will it be a major distraction, but it’ll also be a significant risk from an asset management perspective. Connor Zary also remains unsigned. This could change during the next few days, but it’s quite bizarre how long this has taken. We’ll see how both situations play out.
Season predictions
While I think there’ll be some improvement for individual players, I believe this team is still on a collision course with finishing in the mushy middle yet again. Regression is definitely possible, but I don’t see the Flames being bad enough for a top-five pick. I also certainly don’t view them as a lock for the playoffs either. The Flames’ lack of action this offseason further confuses fans. They didn’t sell off players to continue getting assets, but also didn’t add to improve the team despite having the goal to make the postseason. They’re running back the same squad that barely missed the playoffs, and I don’t see anything different occurring this season unless injuries occur or players have really bad slumps.
Standings prediction: 4th or 5th in the Pacific Division, 16-17th
Leading point scorer: Nazem Kadri (64)
Leading goal scorer: Nazem Kadri (32)
Team MVP: Dustin Wolf
