Player | Grade | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Mikael Backlund | B- | A bit of a dip for the 1st year captain and longest tenured Flames. What you get is consistency and that’s what Backlund brought every night. It’ll be a testament to his leadership how well he leads the team through a tough rebuild. |
Blake Coleman | A- | Will Black Coleman score 30 goals again? unlikely. Is he proving to be an excellent surprise at 3rd line LW? Yes. Limited ice on the PP and yet still put up 30 goals against tougher opposition. We’ll see what he can do in 2025. |
Walker Duehr | F | Signed for another year, 2023-24 saw a drop-off in production from minuscule to barely there. Don’t expect Duehr to make the team next year. |
A.J. Greer | D+ | Waiver wire pickup did what was asked on the 4th line. Can’t see him being re-signed though. |
Jonathan Huberdeau | D | Rough start, record drop in production, insane 12 goal performance, another 7 years left on a 10.5 million dollar contract. Huberdeau was finding his game late in the season, but fans are skeptical finding the ‘right players’ for Huberdeau will help him return to form. At this point, it’s a huge contract for non-playoff team in rebuild to carry. A remnant of what could have been, Huberdeau traded here so Tkachuck could win in Florida (all because Gaudreau jumped ship). |
Dryden Hunt | D | Limited games for the journeyman winger. Depth winger likely to land in the minors. |
Nazem Kadri | A | Slow start, great finish. Kadri earned the contract in a losing cause. We’ll see if he sticks around for this rebuild, but Kadri was one of the few bright spots in the lineup this year. |
Andrei Kuzmenko | B- | Rough start, but flashes of brilliance. We’ll see if Kuzmenko comes into the lineup hungry next year. He’s likely trade-bait and a stronger performance will net a haul for Calgary. |
Andrew Mangiapane | D+ | One year left on a fat contract that netted 14 goals. Not good enough. I expect Mangiapane to be traded out East before deadline. |
Martin Pospisil | B- | Tkachuck light. Needed sandpaper in the lineup. If he can tone down the unnecessary penalties, Posposil will find a home here (and he needs to stay healthy). |
Kevin Rooney | D | Flames improved on the 4th line with Rooney at C, but not sure why they decided to resign him after he spent the prior season in the minors. Scored 3 goals. |
Yegor Sharangovich | A | We didn’t expect 31 goals from Lego Man. Sharangovich replaced Toffoli and didn’t disappoint. Struggled at C to drive play, but found his groove across the ice on wing. He could be a Lindholm type if his C game improves. Not sure if he wants to re-sign in Calgary though…. |
Connor Zary | A | Probably the most surprising player this year. Came out of camp with a trip to the minors, but once called-up he never went back down. Zary is going to be a mainstay on the roster. |
Others: Elias Lindhom | F | Phoned it in in October. Traded. Bye. |
| Matt Cornato | C | Tough to grade a player so young. Spent development time in the AHL and needs more. Foot speed a problem. High hopes for Cornato, unsure if he’ll deliver though. |
Adam Klapka | If he make sthe team out of camp next year he’s going to add needed size on the 4th line. |
Defensemen
Player | Rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Rasmus Andersson | B- | I wouldn’t say Andersson took a step forward this year. He was a mainstay and will now be tapped to work #2 minutes. Potential trade-bait? I’d prefer to see the Flames work to keep him longer term. |
Chris Tanev | A- | Took pucks to the face. Traded in the end. Would be nice to have a solid D man back there again. |
Dennis Gilbert | C- | Didn’t play many games once Pachal arrived. Likely won’t be resigned. Brought the grit though. |
Joel Hanley | ANother depth defencemen that the Flames have too many of. | |
Oliver Kylington | B- | Came back after a lengthy time away from the game for mental health reasons. Would be nice to see him re-sign with the Flames and put in a full season of work. |
Daniil Miromanov | C+ | Unknown commodity. Needs to work on defensive game. Teammates think highly of his skill, but we’ll see how he develops. |
Nikita Zadorov | C+ | Tough to find a player with size, skill, and grit. Zadorov had it all. But wanted money the Flames weren’t willing to part with, which is odd given how much cap room they have. |
Brayden Pachal | C- | There’s a reason why he was 8th on the depth chart in Vegas. A slight upgrade from Gilbert. |
Ilya Solovyov | 98 | Mogilev, BLR |
MacKenzie Weegar | 52 | Ottawa, Ontario, CAN |
Noah Hanafin | A | Contract year, signed big money elsewhere. Didn’t watn to stay with a team rebuilding. Can’t blame him. |
Goalies
Dan Vladar | C- | this will be his last year to prove he’s more than a backup. Last year wasn’t a great year in terms of stats. Went in for hip surgery in the off-season.
Jacob Markstrom | B | When fresh he was on and held the Flames in many games. Then the team tried to trade him despite his no-trade-clause. That irked him. After that he wanted out and the Flames wanted assets for an aging goalie. Update: Traded to NJ finally for a 1st.
Dustin Wolf | C+ | The future is now with Dustin Wolf likely tapped to put in starter reps this year. It will be shaky at time, but we hope it’s a signal of development into a bonafide #1 goalie of the future (today).
