Going into the 2025–26 NHL season, the Calgary Flames are spending the eighth most money on their forward core. For a roster that was one of the worst scoring in the NHL, this is a major problem. Their highest-paid player, Jonathan Huberdeau, has a career high of 62 points in a season as a Flame. This is arguably the biggest problem on the Flames; however, the team in general lacks goal scorers. The only upcoming goal scorer on the team is Matt Coronato. Let’s take a look at how the Flames compare to everyone else in the league with forward spending.

Worst forward spending

The Flames are one of the worst spenders on forwards in the NHL. Huberdeau is overpaid, but at least he was once a superstar player who deserved that kind of contract. The main issue with the Flames is spending too much money on middle-six forwards who are inconsistent. Some examples of these can be Yegor Sharangovich, Joel Farabee, and Blake Coleman.

Sharangovich had a great year in his first season as a Flame, although he fell off mightily last year and was a complete liability. One could say that Farabee did not even deserve the contract he has. The 25-year-old has only had one great season in the NHL when he hit 50 points in 2023–24. Lastly, Coleman has simply gotten older and will likely never hit the 30-goal mark again in his career.

A sad but true current fact is that the Flames are spending more money on forwards than the Edmonton Oilers. As the Oilers have one of the best offensive cores in the league, it makes it even more embarrassing for the Flames.

Edmonton has been able to build around the massive contracts of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Guys like Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins took team-friendly deals to keep the core together. After this, their forward spending really slows down. The Flames must take a note from the Oilers and learn to effectively spend money on depth players.

Top-managed forward cores

Let’s take a look at some of the best forward cores in the league based on their spending ability.

1) Washington Capitals

The Washington Capitals are coming off a fantastic season, where Alex Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky’s goal record. They were one of the best teams in the regular season last year, and currently spend the seventh least amount on their forward core.

Outside of Ovechkin and Pierre-Luc Dubois, the Capitals have spent their money exceptionally well. Dylan Strome, Aliaksei Protas, and Michael McMichael are on magnificent deals that are all team-friendly. All three of these players were crucial to the Capitals’ success last season, making them some of the most valuable contracts on the team.

2) Winnipeg Jets

The Winnipeg Jets have been a dominant force in the Western Conference for many years. They are currently listed nineteenth in their forward spending. This may come as a surprise, considering how strong a team they are, but outside of their top three forwards, many players are signed to great contracts.

The superstar players of Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, and Gabriel Vilardi are all making over $7M a season, solidifying their core forwards. Afterwards, depth players of Cole Perfetti, Adam Lowry, Vladislav Namestnikov, and Jonathan Toews are all making under $3.5M. The Jets lost forward Nikolaj Ehlers in the offseason, but it proved worthwhile as the Carolina Hurricanes overpaid for him.

3) Ottawa Senators

The Ottawa Senators are coming off a fantastic season, during which they finally returned to the playoffs. They are listed seventeenth for forward spending and have built a solid forward core. Like the Jets, the Senators have their three main guys of Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, and Dylan Cozens locked up long-term. Then they have younger depth guys like Shane Pinto and Ridly Greig making under $4M a year.

Other depth forwards like Fabian Zetterlund and David Perron may be a bit overpaid, but they could make a huge difference at key moments during the season.

Looking at how these teams are built, the Flames have a lot of work to do on their forward spending.

What can the Flames do?

There are some positives in the Flames organization. They currently spend one of the smallest amounts on their defensive core and their goaltending duo. This is a promising stat considering MacKenzie Weegar is locked up long-term and Zayne Parekh is on the rise. The defensive depth looks fine. Furthermore, Dustin Wolf is under contract for the next eight seasons, so a cheap backup goalie will be a fine option for many years.

Looking at the forward core, there is not much that the Flames can do. They do not have a core set of forwards locked up for the future. Yes, Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri are signed long-term, but they are already at the end of their prime years. They are not like the Senators, who have signed their top young forwards long-term at a young age.

Craig Conroy took a step in the right direction when he signed Coronato to a seven-year deal. Other than Coronato’s contract, the Flames’ future seems a bit unknown. Do you think the Flames need to reconsider the assembly of their forward core?

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