In order to become a dominant NHL team, you often have to suffer through some dark periods. Many recent Stanley Cup winners including the Florida Panthers, Colorado Avalanche, and Tampa Bay Lightning are all perfect examples of this. While all three are now very strong teams, there were some tough years beforehand.
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This is often the route NHL teams go now, as struggling allows for the opportunity to get great players through drafting. The Edmonton Oilers, albeit far more drastic in terms of their struggles, have developed into one of the best teams in the league. The Calgary Flames are on the opposite end of the scale.
The Flames, after years of what many deemed perpetual mediocrity, have finally chosen to go the route of a rebuild, even if they’re still refusing to call it such. They traded several of their top players ahead of the trade deadline, and have moved on from Jacob Markstrom and Andrew Mangiapane this offseason. It’s become crystal clear what their plan is, and while most agree it’s the correct move, it could lead to a few painful seasons for their fanbase.
Flames Have an Underwhelming Roster
Going into last season, the Flames had a blue line that consisted of five stellar defencemen in Noah Hanifin, MacKenzie Weegar, Rasmus Andersson, Chris Tanev, and Nikita Zadorov. Weegar and Andersson still remain, but the rest is rather questionable, at best.
Daniil Miromanov, who has just 49 career games under his belt, is expected to have a top-four role. Kevin Bahl, who they picked up in the Markstrom trade, could receive some top-four minutes as well. After that, they’ll have the likes of Jake Bean, Brayden Pachal, and Joel Hanley duking it out for a spot in the lineup, though some young prospects such as Jeremie Poirier and Ilya Solovyov could also make a case for themselves.
Regardless of the way things shake out in training camp, this blue line, at least on paper, is one of the weakest in the entire league. Factor that in with an average-at-best forward group, and you have a struggling team. Sure, there is some talent, perhaps most notably in Nazem Kadri, but is there any reason fans should expect a bounceback season from Jonathan Huberdeau? That would be the best-case scenario, but feels highly unlikely with what he’s done through his first 160 games as a Flame.
There could be some struggles between the pipes as well. Dustin Wolf has all the makings of a starting goalie in the NHL, but is 23 years old and very inexperienced. He won’t have Markstrom to step in for him if he struggles. Instead, it will be Dan Vladar, who has a 3.06 goals-against average (GAA) along with a .894 save percentage (SV%) in 75 career games.
Flames Unlikely to Be Competitive
Taking all the points from above, it’s easy to understand that the Flames would need a ton to go right just to be remotely competitive. It’s hard to imagine this roster staying in the playoff hunt like last year’s team did for a good portion of the season. They are more likely to be duking it out with the likes of the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks of the league for the first-overall pick. It will be painful, but the payoff should be well worth it.
The 2025 draft class is expected to be very strong, similar to this year’s. Should the Flames be a bottom three, or even bottom five team, that will ensure they are picking in a good spot. It should be even better than it was this year, where they were still able to land a top-end prospect in Zayne Parekh with the ninth overall selection.
As for how long it could take for things to turn around, that will come down to the decisions management makes along the way. The Oilers, as brought up above, had very poor management for several years, resulting in them falling into “the Decade of Darkness.” Other teams have been able to turn things around much quicker.
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Based on the moves made so far under general manager Craig Conroy and the rest of his management team, it seems that they have a good hand on what the right moves are to make. Those will have to continue, but the early signs are promising. Bottoming out this season and adding a top pick may not be what every fan desires, but it will be another step in the right direction for this team to become a true contender for the first time in decades.
