{"id":781423,"date":"2026-07-05T08:22:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T08:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/781423\/"},"modified":"2026-07-05T08:22:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T08:22:45","slug":"an-attempt-at-an-early-july-depth-chart-for-the-2026-27-calgary-flames","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/781423\/","title":{"rendered":"An attempt at an early July depth chart for the 2026-27 Calgary Flames"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friends, the Calgary Flames have gotten through the busiest time of the National Hockey League\u2019s calendar, navigating the two days of the 2026 NHL Draft, the opening of free agency, and the frenzy of trades we\u2019ve seen surrounding both of those events.<\/p>\n

As we ease into what\u00a0could be a quiet part of the calendar \u2013 at least based on general manager Craig Conroy\u2019s comments on Friday afternoon at the end of development camp \u2013 let\u2019s take a way-too-early look at how the Flames\u2019 23-man roster looks to be shaping up for opening night in late September.<\/p>\n

Goaltending<\/p>\n

This is the position with zero controversy at the NHL level. Dustin Wolf will be the team\u2019s starting netminder, as he begins his shiny, new seven year, $7.5 million AAV contract. His backup, Devin Cooley, begins his new two year, $1.35 million AAV contract.<\/p>\n

Behind them as the Wranglers\u2019 starter is Arsenii Sergeev, the fifth goalie on the depth chart when 2025-26 began. He jumps to third on the depth chart after a really impressive first pro season, spanning all three of North America\u2019s pro leagues.<\/p>\n

Dustin Wolf<\/p>\n

Devin Cooley<\/p>\n

Defence<\/p>\n

After the movement we\u2019ve seen, the Flames have six players on one-way contracts, as well as promising young defenceman Zayne Parekh and slightly more experienced young defenceman Simon Nemec, who\u2019s a restricted free agent.<\/p>\n

We suspect we\u2019ll see a lot of mixing and matching during the season \u2013 especially with the shortened pre-season \u2013 as head coach Ryan Huska tries out different defensive pairings. But right now, the Flames have four left-shot defenders (Kevin Bahl, Jake Middleton, Yan Kuznetsov and Joel Hanley) and four right-shot defenders (Zach Whitecloud, Parekh, Nemec and Brayden Pachal).<\/p>\n

Our big question: are the Flames comfortable with carrying eight defencemen, as they have done in the past, or does one of Hanley or Pachal, projected to be the extras, go on waivers and head to the AHL to help out that group?<\/p>\n

The answer to that question depends on if someone unexpected forces their way into the opening night forward group. We\u2019re defaulting to \u201cthey carry eight\u201d for right now, but we\u2019re open to being surprised in September.<\/p>\n

Kevin Bahl \u2013 Simon Nemec<\/p>\n

Jake Middleton \u2013 Zayne Parekh<\/p>\n

Yan Kuznetsov \u2013 Zach Whitecloud<\/p>\n

Joel Hanley \u2013 Brayden Pachal<\/p>\n

Forwards<\/p>\n

The departure of Blake Coleman simplified a few of our questions \u2013 such as where Samuel Honzek fits in \u2013 and makes the overall group look fairly coherent. The Flames have 11 forwards on one-way deals and then two forwards, Honzek and Matvei Gridin, who likely impressed enough to start in the NHL next season\u2026 or at least have to play their way off the team in training camp.<\/p>\n

Morgan Frost formed a really fun scoring line with Gridin and Matt Coronato down the stretch, so we expect to see them together. Similarly, Mikael Backlund had chemistry with both Honzek and Joel Farabee separately last season, so putting them together \u2013 with Farabee effectively swapping in for Coleman \u2013 makes sense, too.<\/p>\n

The remaining two lines are admittedly a bit of a melange, but there are seven forwards for six spots, and we may see a bit of a rotation depending on performance, opponent or injury status. And we\u2019re assuming until told otherwise that Jonathan Huberdeau is 100% for opening night. Our big question for the bottom six: who plays fourth line centre? We\u2019re\u00a0guessing Connor Zary and Martin Pospisil get a chance to take on that role.<\/p>\n

Matvei Gridin \u2013 Morgan Frost \u2013 Matt Coronato<\/p>\n

Samuel Honzek \u2013 Mikael Backlund \u2013 Joel Farabee<\/p>\n

Jonathan Huberdeau \u2013 Ryan Strome \u2013 Yegor Sharangovich<\/p>\n

Maxim Tsyplakov \u2013 Connor Zary\/Martin Pospisil \u2013 Adam Klapka<\/p>\n

What do you think the Flames opening roster will look like? Do you expect further moves between now and training camp? Let us know in the comments!<\/p>\n

This article is a\u00a0presentation\u00a0of Prairie\u00a0Toyota Dealers\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s time for a truck that can play in every zone. Which means, it\u2019s time to Toyota! Its standard i-FORCE engine delivers more power than ever and a towing capacity of up to 6,400 lbs. It helps you take on challenging landscapes with confidence with its available Panoramic Multi-Terrain View Monitor that provides a live, underfloor view of the terrain your tackling. It even makes loading and unloading gear effortless with its available Power Liftgate. Whether it\u2019s for early morning practice or weekend away games, the Tacoma is a teammate you can rely on. Visit your local Prairie Toyota dealer today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Friends, the Calgary Flames have gotten through the busiest time of the National Hockey League\u2019s calendar, navigating the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":781424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194293],"tags":[49,2798,48],"class_list":["post-781423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-calgary","tag-ca","tag-calgary","tag-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=781423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/781424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=781423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=781423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=781423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}