The Calgary Flames have announced their opening night roster for the 2026–27 season. Let’s break down the roster by acquisition type.
There are four standard acquisition types in the NHL: trades, the NHL Draft, free agency, and waivers. Right now, the Flames roster has 11 players who were acquired in a trade. Additionally, the roster features nine homegrown drafted players, two players who signed in Calgary through free agency, and two players who were claimed off waivers by the Flames.
Acquired in a trade
Jonathan Huberdeau, Yegor Sharangovich, Kevin Bahl, Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, Zach Whitecloud, Ryan Strome, Brennan Othmann, Simon Nemec, Maxim Tsyplakov, Jake Middleton
Trades account for nearly half of Calgary’s current roster. That might come as a surprise to some people, considering the Flames have been known for trading players away over the last few years rather than acquiring them. However, Craig Conroy often received roster players alongside draft picks when selling off veterans. That strategy is clearly visible in this group. Kevin Bahl arrived in the Jacob Markstrom trade; Zach Whitecloud came in for Rasmus Andersson. Most recently, Jake Middleton came over in the Blake Coleman deal.
Conroy brought in most of the players on the list directly. In fact, Jonathan Huberdeau remains the sole holdover from the previous management regime. Even though Conroy’s main focus in trades is increasing his stash of picks and prospects, he was not afraid to make calculated bets on younger players when he acquired Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, and Simon Nemec.
Selected in the NHL Draft
Mikael Backlund, Martin Pospisil, Dustin Wolf, Connor Zary, Yan Kuznetsov, Matt Coronato, Sam Honzek, Zayne Parekh, Matvei Gridin
A solid chunk of the players who played for the Flames on opening night were players Calgary selected directly on the draft floor. That list is anchored by team captain Mikael Backlund, who was drafted in 2007. However, the homegrown group also features younger players who were drafted more recently. Aside from the 2022 draft, the Flames lineup on October 1st had at least one representative from every draft class spanning 2018 through 2024.
The list features a few players who were not selected in the first round, such as Martin Pospisil, Dustin Wolf, and Yan Kuznetsov. Despite this, the majority of players on the list are former first-round picks. That group is led by Connor Zary and Matt Coronato, who have been on the team for a while. Additionally, highly touted prospects like Sam Honzek, Zayne Parekh, and Matvei Gridin will all be looking to take big steps at the NHL level this season.
Signed in Free Agency
Adam Klapka, Devin Cooley
The Flames only have two free-agent signings on their NHL roster: Adam Klapka and Devin Cooley. This modest count is not surprising considering the Flames barely participated in free agency over the past couple of years. Klapka originally came to Calgary in 2022 as an undrafted European free agent. On the other hand, Cooley joined the Flames organization in 2024 after a brief stint with the San Jose Sharks.
This two-player total is a dramatic change from two years ago, when the Flames boasted nine free agents on their roster. High-profile signings like Coleman and Nazem Kadri headlined that group. Lately, the Flames have avoided signing free agents to use as depth NHL pieces. They now seem to prefer using players they acquired in trades, such as Brennan Othmann and Maxim Tsyplakov, as depth. Previous depth signings like Ryan Lomberg and Jake Bean spent their entire Calgary tenures on the NHL roster. In contrast, recent free agent additions like Alexander Nylander and Michael Benning started their Calgary tenures with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers.
Claimed off Waivers
Brayden Pachal, Joel Hanley
Brayden Pachal and Joel Hanley are the lone waiver claims on the Flames. Both players joined the club late in the 2023–24 season. Since then, they have been reliable defenders under head coach Ryan Huska. However, some fans see them as a hindrance since they believe that these two players are unnecessarily taking up roster spots that could otherwise go to younger players.
Conclusion
Overall, the Flames’ current roster construction is fairly conventional for an organization in a retooling phase. Even though many NHL rosters feature more players acquired through the draft than via trade, there is nothing abnormal about having more traded players. In the next few years, the Flames will likely favour drafted players anyway due to the number of prospects drafted by them that have the potential to be impact players. Meanwhile, featuring just two free agent signings is logical. The Flames have not had any reason to make any big-ticket veteran signings as of late. Ultimately, this roster construction strategy shows a deliberate plan: the Flames are utilizing traded players to fill out roster spots right now while conservatively deploying their drafted prospects in order to develop them properly for the next era of Calgary hockey.
