Calgary went 34-39-9 for 77 points last season, seventh in the Pacific Division and out of the playoffs for a fourth straight year. The Flames scored 212 goals, the fewest in the NHL, averaged a league-low 2.54 goals per game and finished with a minus-47 goal differential, third-worst in hockey, according to NHL.com. The power play converted 16.2% of the time, second-worst league-wide. The penalty kill, at 80.4% and 12th overall, was the one unit that held up.
General manager Craig Conroy has been explicit that the plan is youth and development ahead of the new arena opening in 2027-28, and he sat out almost all of free agency to protect minutes for young players. Compare the full slate of sports betting odds before backing Calgary in any market this season.
The Board Has Calgary in the Bottom Two
Lines posted on 1xBet tell a consistent story across every Flames market. Calgary sits at 100.00 to win the Stanley Cup and 100.00 to win the Western Conference. The playoff market is where the pessimism gets specific: the Flames are 7.00 to qualify, the second-longest price in the league behind Vancouver at 9.00, and just 1.10 to miss out entirely.
Most telling of all is the wooden spoon market. Calgary is 5.75 to finish last in the NHL, behind only the Canucks at 4.25 and ahead of Chicago at 7.50.
Market1xBet — Yes1xBet — NoStanley Cup Winner100.00—Western Conference Winner100.00—To Make the Playoffs7.001.10Finish in Last Place5.75—
Odds current as of Monday, Aug. 24. Futures prices drift quickly once camps open, so shop the number across Stake and Tonybet before you commit.
Conroy Sold, Then Spent
The deadline sell-off was comprehensive. Andersson went to Vegas in January for Zach Whitecloud, Abram Wiebe and a conditional 2027 first-round pick. Weegar was dealt to Utah on March 4, and Kadri was moved to Colorado two days later. Calgary walked away with eight picks in the first three rounds of the 2026 draft and selected defenceman Carson Carels sixth overall.
Then came the move that complicates the tanking narrative. On June 23, Conroy sent conditional 2027 and 2028 first-round picks, a 2026 second and prospect Etienne Morin to New Jersey for Simon Nemec and winger Maxim Tsyplakov, and on July 6 he signed Nemec to a five-year, $36.25 million deal. Nemec is 22, was the second overall pick in 2022 and posted 26 points with 104 blocks last season. TSN framed the deal as the move that jump-started Calgary’s offseason, and Nemec himself has said he feels ready to play heavy minutes and lead.
Calgary also acquired defenceman Jake Middleton from Minnesota on July 2, sending Blake Coleman, Olli Maatta and three picks the other way. Coleman’s 20 goals were tied for second on the roster, which underlines how thin the scoring was. Ryan Lomberg signed in Columbus and Jake Bean went to free agency.
Want to price the Flames’ season for yourself? Sign up at 1xBet or open an account at Tonybet and compare the futures board before puck drop.
Dustin Wolf and the Bounce-Back Question
Wolf regressed sharply in his second full season, sliding from 29-16-8 with a 2.64 GAA and a .910 save percentage to 23-29-3 with a 3.01 GAA and a .899 mark across 57 games. Some of that belongs to the roster in front of him: he still posted 27 quality starts, tied for 10th in the league, while the club traded away its top two defencemen mid-season.
He is locked in through 2033 on a seven-year, $52.5 million extension, so Calgary’s crease is settled regardless. Backup Devin Cooley was arguably the better goaltender by the numbers, going 10-10-6 with a .909 save percentage and finishing seventh in the NHL in goals saved above expected. NHL.com’s fantasy projections put Wolf at just 20 wins for 2026-27, a meaningful data point for anyone eyeing Calgary game lines this winter.
The Slowest Team in the League
NHL Edge tracking produced the defining statistic of Calgary’s season: 1,180 speed bursts of 20 mph or more, dead last among all 32 clubs. Oddly, the Flames still ranked 10th in goals off the rush with 87, per NHL Edge data.
Matt Coronato led the club with 45 points on 197 shots, ranking in the 95th percentile in midrange shots on goal. Morgan Frost added 43 points including 16 high-danger goals, a 92nd-percentile figure, and captain Mikael Backlund matched him with 43 points at age 37. Nobody on the roster cleared 45. Jonathan Huberdeau, who managed 25 points in 50 games before hip resurfacing surgery, is projected healthy for opening night and remains the biggest variable on a contract carrying a $10.5 million cap hit.
Zayne Parekh is the prospect worth watching. The ninth overall pick in 2024 put up nine points in 37 NHL games as a teenager, six on the power play; spent 45.5% of his shifts in the offensive zone; and produced 13 points in seven games at the 2026 World Juniors. Twenty-year-old winger Matvei Gridin chipped in 19 points in 33 games after a January call-up.
Circle These Dates
The 84-game schedule gives Canadian bettors plenty to work with. Calgary opens at home against Seattle on Oct. 1 in the Saddledome’s farewell season, hosts Toronto on Oct. 26 and welcomes the defending champion Carolina Hurricanes on Oct. 18. The Battle of Alberta runs Oct. 28, March 23 and April 5. Vancouver visits on Boxing Day, Winnipeg comes in on New Year’s Eve, Montreal arrives Jan. 28 and Ottawa on Feb. 21. Calgary’s longest homestand is a six-game run from Jan. 5-16.
Best Bets and Predicted Finish
DailyFaceoff projects Calgary to finish 30th overall and land a top-three pick in 2027. The market broadly agrees, but it has priced Vancouver as the clearer basement team, and that is where the disagreement is worth money.
Best Bet: Calgary Flames to finish last in the NHL (5.75 on 1xBet) — the league’s worst offence, its slowest skating profile, no meaningful free-agent additions and a starting goalie projected for 20 wins. At nearly 6-to-1 with only one team priced shorter, this is the most defensible Flames ticket on the board. Compare it on Stake before locking in.
Value anchor: Calgary Flames not to make the playoffs (1.10 on 1xBet) — too short to bet alone, but a reasonable leg in a multi alongside other rebuilding clubs.
Longshot flier: Calgary Flames to win the Western Conference (100.00 on 1xBet) — a novelty stake only, and one that requires Nemec, Parekh and Wolf all to arrive a full year early.
Predicted finish: eighth in the Pacific, bottom three in the NHL, and a genuine lottery position heading into a 2027 draft the Flames are already well armed for.
For more NHL coverage and the latest sports betting lines before the Oct. 1 opener, check reviews for 1xBet, Stake and Tonybet before placing a wager, and always bet within your limits.