It’s been a tough year offensively for the Calgary Flames blueline. Currently sitting 32nd in the NHL in goals per game, the Flames’ offence has been among the very worst in the entire league. As such, it’s been a down year across the board for most Flames players, with multiple players staring down a disappointing 82-game pace. Earlier in the week, we took a look at the forward group. Now it’s time for the defence.
The defenders
Here’s how the current 82-game paces look for the Flames’ blueline, and how their totals compare to last season. Only players with at least 25 games played were considered. All numbers are courtesy of hockeystats.com.
| Player | P/82 in 25-26 | P/82 in 24-25 | Change from 24-25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rasmus Andersson | 51 | 31 | +20 |
| MacKenzie Weegar | 29 | 48 | -19 |
| Kevin Bahl | 19 | 22 | -3 |
| Yan Kuznetsov | 18 | NA | NA |
| Joel Hanley | 11 | 14 | -3 |
| Brayden Pachal | 9 | 13 | -4 |
The risers
First off we’ll look at the players who are currently producing at a higher rate than last season. Overall, there was one single defender on the Flames blueline who has produced better than last season. Oh and he isn’t even on the team anymore.
That player is of course Rasmus Andersson. The 29 year old has had one of the best season’s of his entire career in 2025-26, and was easily the team’s top defender before being traded at the beginning of February.
This after Andersson has one of the worst season’s of his career in 2024-25. The veteran defender went from a 31 point pace last season to a 51 point pace this season, which represents a massive 20 point increase. Needless to say, Andersson did a great job boosting his trade value this season and helped the Flames get a better return for him.
The fallers
Now onto the fallers. In other words, everyone. Andersson was the only defender on the roster who was on pace for more points than last season, and with him gone the Flames don’t have a single defender on pace for a better season than last year.
The most notable faller is MacKenzie Weegar. In a year in which he should’ve been pushing for a spot on team Canada, Weegar has had a dramatic fall-off. His point pace has dropped from 48 last season to just 29 this year. I don’t think anyone would’ve expected a 19 point drop-off for Weegar this season, and yet here we are.
His current pace of just 29 points would be the third worst 82 game pace of his career, and his worst since coming to Calgary. It also represents his worst season points wise since his 2018-19 season in Florida.
Past Weegar, there aren’t any clear standouts. None of Kevin Bahl, Joel Hanley, or Brayden Pachal are offensive producers. While all three are on pace for less points than last year, their totals aren’t too different and all fall within a similar pace of last season.
A blueline lacking talent
With the loss of Andersson and Weegar’s down year, it’s exposed a massive weakness in the Flames blueline. In a year in which the Flames offence has been dreadful, they are getting next to no help from the blueline to fix the issue.
