Welcome to The Win Column 2026 Calgary Flames Prospects Rankings. Ranked 11th on our list is the 41st overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft: Andrew Basha. He dropped from his #6 spot in the 2025 Win Column Prospect Rankings. However, that stands more as a testament to the organization’s recent success in drafting and developing players than a reflection of his own development.
Who is Andrew Basha?
| Position | Age | Year Drafted | Round Drafted | 2026 Ranking | 2025 Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LW/RW | 20 | 2024 | 2nd round | #11 | #6 |
Basha struggled a bit this year. The 2005-born prospect started the 2025–2026 campaign playing for the Calgary Wranglers in the AHL. A third of the way through the season, he was demoted to the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers.
These types of demotions do not often happen with OA prospects, but it worked out best for Basha. He lit up the WHL scoresheet and amplified his own confidence heading into this upcoming campaign.
In terms of the forward’s AHL stint, some struggles were due to a limited 10:13 per night in the Wranglers’ bottom-6.
Basha also had limited on-ice success, with only five points across 27 games. More importantly, both Basha’s confidence and creativity drastically dropped with the Wranglers as his TOI gradually decreased.
With a renewed roster for the 2026–2027 season, the basement-dwelling Wranglers should see moderate improvements in their results, which will also benefit prospect development.
Basha has always been an impact player at the WHL level through his sheer work rate, hockey IQ, and skating. These developments continued after his January 2026 reassignment to the Tigers. Basha’s development was in an awkward position. He was too good for the WHL, but not quite ready for the AHL.
The good news? It looks like Andrew Basha’s injury from the 2024–2025 campaign, which saw his season end early, had no long-term impact on his play from the past season.
Basha’s development so far
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | Medicine Hat Tigers | WHL | 63 | 30 | 55 | 85 |
| 2024-25 | Medicine Hat Tigers | WHL | 23 | 9 | 20 | 29 |
| 2025-26 | Calgary Wranglers | AHL | 27 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 2025-26 | Medicine Hat Tigers | WHL | 32 | 18 | 32 | 50 |
In his AHL stint to start the season, Basha opted for safe plays over more innovative ones. This safety mentality was particularly evident in his passing game; he kept the status quo by supporting plays rather than using his characteristic pace to control them. He looked like a slightly different player at the AHL level, and, to an extent, uncomfortable on the ice.
Then, he was reassigned to the Tigers again.
Throughout Basha’s entire WHL career, the Medicine Hat Tigers have been loaded with talent. That certainly helped Basha’s production. The two-way forward really carved out a career of his own as an important top-line pivot for the Willie Desjardins-led Tigers. He was a consistent play mover and engager, both at even strength and on both special teams units.
Basha has rarely stood still, often being a vital play driver and creator every single shift. This does bode well for his transition next year, as he should be given a fairer look entering the 2026–2027 campaign.
Basha’s strengths
The two-way forward continues to shine in his high-paced, high-speed game that never stops moving. Overall, Basha’s skill set is still heavily defined by high-end skating, flashy compete level, and enough hockey IQ to make him dangerous in all three zones of play. The Tigers forward was at his best in transition, where he controls pace, can open up lanes and force his way to the slot.
With the Tigers this past season, Basha had 18:55 of TOI across both the regular season and playoffs. He played 3:37 on the power play and 1:17 on the penalty kill. Boy, did Basha look comfortable in his 24 shifts. The forward learned to play centre for the first time in his career. He became a main creator, with 121 puck touches per game, and dominated games with his presence.
Basha was one of Medicine Hat’s biggest weapons, making the most of his opportunities on their top line in his WHL finale.
Compete Level
Basha’s game lives and dies with his elite motor, as his footwork, pace, and play engagement never stop. This makes the Calgary product a hockey machine of intensity and consistency on the ice.
In all three zones, this motor is on full display. Consistent defensive, offensive, and physical pressure and high-end hustle are evident in every facet of his game. Basha’s intensity also never wanes, no matter the score or period, which is directly transferable to his effort level in the professional ranks.
Even in low-stakes situations, Basha hustles to join any play without a second thought.
The 2024 2nd-rounders’ rate of play engagement is non-stop in all aspects, especially physically. Basha engages in 14 puck battles and generates 1.21 loose puck recoveries per game, despite a measly 45% win percentage in those situations. Not to mention his 0.78 blocked shots per game. Talk about selflessness, grit, and commitment to the team through intensity.
Basha’s motor is fueled by quality endurance. He shows no physical avoidance, a commitment to disrupting the play, and quality angles of attack in defensive transition and established zone play. It’s through this play disruption and angles of attack that Basha can generate his 4.5 takeaways per game, as he keeps tight gaps and controls defensive pace with a good active stick.
Even offensively, Basha’s endurance shows through a relentless pace across all three periods, while demonstrating a willingness to absorb pressure and punishment despite 0.70 hits per game. After all, Basha does lead eight offensive zone rushes per game himself, so he is consistently a target for opposing defenders to isolate and lock down.
Skating
The Calgary product is one of the most effective skaters in the entire Flames prospect pipeline. From his clean fundamentals to effortless mechanics and high-end speed, the Tigers forward can get to anywhere he needs to be on the ice.
First off, Basha’s posture, flection, and stride are exceptionally clean. He has no issues at the base of his skating. Where Basha blends these basics so well is in his shiftiness, as his weight shifts create flawless cutbacks, edgework, and agility. These elements make his skating both unpredictable and dangerous for opposing defenders, as they rarely know where he is going.
Then Basha’s mechanics are also clean, as his extension, push-off, and depth have no issues. His stride recovery is quick, allowing effortless glides, rapid lateral acceleration, or equally dangerous crossover integration in transitional play. He pairs these mechanics with consistent lane creation, creative routes, and sudden changes of pace to elevate his skating deception well.
The Flames draftee was one of the best skaters in the entire WHL this past season, and it’s through this mobility, top-end speed, and compete level that Basha plays like a madman at 130% pace every moment he is on the ice. This sheer pace can be for better or worse.
Basha is a true transitional asset that thrives in quick-strike rush opportunities.
Hockey Sense
What’s the skating and compete level if a player like Basha can not execute on it with a higher-end hockey sense?
Basha certainly does this with a strong hockey IQ infused with creativity, offensive instincts, and play anticipation.
Through these elements, Basha generated 2.9 scoring chances per game in the WHL. This ability to create scoring chances is also evident through smart positioning and timing, as he can create space and hammer home chances in the few precious seconds when an opponent may not be scanning.
Offensively, Basha is a fan of the half-wall, and with smart give-and-go opportunities, the Calgary product can show flashes of deception to open up lanes. He plays through pressure, reads/scans commonly, and can surprise opponents with good vision or an NHL-level shot (when it hits the net).
He has strong playmaking skills, demonstrated by his 1.81 passes to the slot for a scoring chance. Many NHL prospects have a fraction of that number, but Basha’s pace control and offensive instincts/awareness blend seamlessly in that regard.
This past season in the WHL has also boosted his leadership on the ice. Basha shows clear, concise decision-making and confidence in the offensive zone, which bodes well for his overall growth as well.
Basha’s weaknesses
Basha has some offensive habits in his game that he will need to work out to find actual success at the professional level. The most glaring issue is the game flow of his puck skills and the need for refinement in his physicality. The 2nd-rounder’s game is flashy, and it translates well at the major junior level, but will need refinement in efficiency.
Physicality
Basha is on the verge of elevating his checking game, but issues with body positioning, limited leverage and a less-effective hitting form prevent him from fully unlocking it.
The 2024 draftee is always looking for lacrosse-style pick-and-rolls. This means when he can’t simply roll off pressure, he tends to secure less effective body positioning in gritty situations, which is best exemplified by a measly 45% success rate in puck battles.
These same habits are evident in Basha’s body leverage, as opponents can knock him over or secure a boxout with relatively little resistance, which can hamper his momentum, dynamic positioning and timing. This is something that further muscle mass and hitting power will help compensate for at the professional level.
Although Basha has never been a crusher at any level, the Flames prospect’s hitting form projects as another issue at the professional level, as it largely focuses on an outward push instead of using force, momentum, or leverage to deliver the hit. This outward-type hitting form is something that many pros will simply be able to shrug off, as many did in the AHL this past season.
Puck skills
Basha controls the pace of play, but his previously mentioned constant 130% pace is at times a detriment to himself, and nowhere is this more evident than in his handling and passing.
First off, his puck management is good but ineffective. Basha loves to play a high-paced game. Unfortunately for the Flames prospect, his teammates cannot always keep up, which can lead to sloppy, mis-timed passes, passes directly into pressure, or poor pass execution. Overall, Basha distributes 26 passes a game with a moderate 85% accuracy.
His handling particularly stands out as a weaker point where his control and puck-protection mechanics seem looser, leading to opponent puck strips with low effort. These handling issues are also compounded by a lack of body positioning/leverage in tight, which in part explains Basha’s six giveaways per game.
These physicality and puck skill issues often mean that Basha is limited to a purely perimeter player, which reduces his overall scoring-chance creation and quality. Even worse, Basha’s shot selection demonstrates his willingness to be a perimeter player, as he will often settle for a low-danger shot or has questionable habits around shot lane identification, explaining his low 58% accuracy.
This tendency to settle for low-quality opportunities and issues in recognizing shot lanes was exemplified by his drop from a 0.40 goals-expected rate in the WHL to a 0.05 mark with the Wranglers to start the season. At the professional level, Basha can not generate the quantity of looks he gets at the WHL level. He failed to make the most of the few chances he did have.
Efficiency with the puck is by far the biggest barrier that Basha faces in his transition to the professional level. Although his habits worked well in major junior, the AHL and NHL favour quality over quantity.
Basha’s next steps
Expect Basha to be a middle-of-the-pack cut from Flames camp. He will likely have a true full rookie season with the Wranglers for the 2026–2027 season. With a wealth of veteran players and prospects joining the Wranglers this season, do not be shocked if Basha starts as a middle-6 forward for the Flames AHL squad.
It is possible that if Basha plays well or there are injury issues with the Flames, he could see a handful of NHL games in the event of an injury or trial run, but Basha is a few seasons out from competing for an NHL roster spot full-time.
NHL projection
As Basha’s developmental timeline begins to unravel, it would not be a shock to see him as an energy-driven scorer with some more refined checking skills as he ages up.
Even if the Calgary product does not improve his on-puck efficiency and hard skills, the WHL alumnus could still likely carve out an NHL career as a top-9 forward with the Calgary Flames.
NHL Projection: Quality Top-9 forward.
NHL timeline projection
Basha’s development has been slower than expected. But all things considered, Flames fans should see Basha competing for a roster spot in the next three years.
NHL ETA: 3 Years.
See our other articles on our list of prospect rankings for 2026:
