The Calgary Flames should give Ryan Lomberg a contract extension

After trading Rasmus Andersson, the Flames have one remaining pending unrestricted free agent in Ryan Lomberg (Jake Bean is also a UFA, but has been out with injury since December and has no expectations to return this year). We’ve heard lots of rumours surrounding guys with terms, with a few whispers on what Lomberg’s future might look like. I believe the Flames should give Lomberg a contract extension rather than moving on from him either via trade or letting him sign elsewhere in free agency. He brings a unique combination of physicality and speed, and brings up the overall atmosphere of the team.

Fans agree that the Flames should re-sign Lomberg

We ran a Flames fan poll earlier this year, and the majority of respondents wanted the team to re-sign Lomberg:

Lomberg is more valuable to the Flames than what they could get in a trade

I’m not one who buys into the ‘culture’ aspects that are often brought up in this market, especially last year. You can sign guys that have leadership experience in free agency, as the Flames did with Lomberg a few summers ago. The Sharks signed Tyler Toffoli in free agency after moving guys like Tomas Hertl, Erik Karlsson, and Timo Meier. I’m not in favour of keeping guys like Nazem Kadri and Blake Coleman when you can secure high assets for those guys on the trade market. But I think it would be keen to keep a guy like Lomberg if you are moving those other guys. The reality is that Lomberg brings a lot more value to the Flames than what they could get in a trade. On the market, I would guess he probably returns a mid-round pick at best?

Going from a core seven of veterans (Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri, MacKenzie Weegar, Blake Coleman, Rasmus Andersson, Mikael Backlund, and Ryan Lomberg) to potentially half of that (depending on how many of Kadri, Weegar, and Coleman are traded and if Huberdeau ever comes back from his hip surgery). I don’t think Mikael Backlund is going anywhere, but depending on what happens regarding trade discussions with those three aforementioned guys, you might be sitting on two or three players from that core in the lineup next year.

The Flames are losing a lot of their veteran core, so it makes sense to keep at least a few of those guys around

The underlying message here is that the Flames should be listening to pretty much everything on their roster, besides Zayne Parekh. It hasn’t worked with this core group of players for four straight seasons, so it’s time to rip off the Band-Aid and draft and develop a new core. You shouldn’t be keeping guys on the roster because of their intangibles – with the exception of Lomberg. If someone comes knocking and offers you a 2nd round pick or higher for Lomberg, I think you jump on that. But I doubt that happens. He is much more valuable to the Flames organization than the 4th or 5th round pick you could get back.

Lomberg brings speed and atmosphere to a group that doesn’t feature much of either

One other point on Lomberg – he’s also the fastest Flame this year according to NHL Edge data. He ranks in the 83rd percentile for max skating speed of 36.81 km/h. For a team that has consistently looked slow for years and has plans to get faster, maybe he can be a guy who helps in that department. He’s not going to get on the scoresheet much (unless he’s playing the Oilers, where he two goals in four games), but that’s not what you’re paying him for. He’s going to defend his teammates when needed, fire his teammates up with some haymakers from time-to-time, and hype up guys from the bench. I don’t think it’s a coincidence we saw the morale of the team increase in 2024–25 when he joined the locker room compared to 2023–24.

For a guy who is the only one who can make the Scotiabank Saddledome noisy on most nights, I think the decision to give him another contract extension makes total sense. I don’t see the harm in giving him another one or two-year extension at around the money he’s making now. The Flames aren’t hard-pressed for cap space at all, and won’t be for several years. And it’s not like he’s a guy who is going to be blocking guys from coming into the lineup. He’s playing under nine minutes a night on any given night on the fourth line. He can sub out as a 13th/14th forward if need be. He’s not there to score goals, but rather provide physicality and lighten up the mood. Every team needs a guy like this, and it makes total sense for the Flames to keep him around during this transition.