NHL teams were required to submit their start-of-season rosters this afternoon. The Calgary Flames’ opening night roster is in! Notably, preseason injuries to forwards Jonathan Huberdeau and Martin Pospisil mean that Flames fans will get a legitimate look at youngsters Matvei Gridin and Sam Honzek.
The Flames’ opening night roster consists of 13 forwards, eight defencemen, and two goaltenders. Let’s check it out!
Forwards
| Number | Player |
|---|---|
| 11 | Mikael Backlund “C” |
| 16 | Morgan Frost |
| 17 | Yegor Sharangovich |
| 20 | Blake Coleman “A” |
| 23 | Justin Kirkland |
| 27 | Matt Coronato |
| 29 | Sam Honzek |
| 43 | Adam Klapka |
| 47 | Connor Zary |
| 70 | Ryan Lomberg |
| 86 | Joel Farabee |
| 91 | Nazem Kadri “A” |
| 92 | Matvei Gridin |
The big “surprise” here is Gridin and Honzek making the opening night roster. This is almost certainly due to the fact that Huberdeau and Pospisil are starting the season on the injured list. Honzek was actually recalled from the AHL earlier today:
Otherwise, we see a very similar group up front to what we saw on the ice last season. Let’s hope both Gridin and Honzek can prove they’re here to stay!
Defencemen
| Number | Player |
|---|---|
| 4 | Rasmus Andersson “A” |
| 7 | Kevin Bahl |
| 19 | Zayne Parekh |
| 24 | Jake Bean |
| 44 | Joel Hanley |
| 52 | MacKenzie Weegar “A” |
| 62 | Daniil Miromanov |
| 94 | Brayden Pachal |
This group is about what you’d expect at this point. Rasmus Andersson—barring a trade, MacKenzie Weegar, and Kevin Bahl were locks. This is the exact same blue line as last season, with Zayne Parekh seasoned on top.
It’s no surprise Parekh is on the roster, considering he’s not eligible to play in the AHL and would have to return to the OHL. He’s already shown he’s too good for the OHL, and he looked good in his NHL debut at the end of last season.
It’s hard to temper expectations with a prospect like Parekh, but we’ll have to try. That said, I could see him running the top power play in Calgary in short order. He’s just that good.
Goaltenders
| Number | Player |
|---|---|
| 1 | Devin Cooley |
| 32 | Dustin Wolf |
Dustin Wolf is the guy between the pipes. The only question has been: Who will be his backup? After placing free agent signing Ivan Prosvetov on waivers on October 2, it became abundantly clear that Devin Cooley won that job.
Cooley was phenomenal for the Calgary Wranglers to start last season, but a mid-season concussion derailed his season. The 6’5″ netminder finished the year with a 21–17–7 record, a 2.94 goals against average, and a 0.905 save percentage. He’ll look to prove that he’s back to 100% and capable of being relied on behind Wolf.
Calgary Flames hockey is back! Their season opener is on the road against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday, October 8, at 8:00 PM MDT. They then head to British Columbia for a date with the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, October 9, at 8:00 PM MDT. Finally, the Flames return to Calgary for their home opener against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, October 11, at 2:00 PM MDT.
