{"id":876073,"date":"2026-08-29T17:50:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T17:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/876073\/"},"modified":"2026-08-29T17:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T17:50:12","slug":"20-days-20-questions-is-there-an-nhl-roster-spot-for-hunter-brzustewicz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/876073\/","title":{"rendered":"20 Days, 20 Questions: Is there an NHL roster spot for Hunter Brzustewicz?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friends, the National Hockey League \u2013 and pro hockey in general \u2013 can be a tough place to make a living. Often, it\u2019s not about whether you are good enough to play at a certain level, but whether or not there\u2019s a role available that matches your specific skillset.<\/p>\n

A third round selection by the Vancouver Canucks back in 2023, Brzustewicz joined the Flames organization via the Elias Lindholm trade<\/a> and went pro in the Flames\u2019 system starting in 2024-25. The upcoming 2026-27 campaign will be the third and final season on his entry-level system, and his final year of waiver exemption.In 2024-25, Brzustewicz spent most of the season with the AHL\u2019s Calgary Wranglers, playing on a pairing with Yan Kuznetsov<\/a>. There was probably some concern about how an offensive-minded junior defender who had 92 points with the OHL\u2019s Kitchener Rangers the season prior would adjust to the rigours of pro hockey, so a two-way partner like Kuznetsov made sense. Well, Brzustewicz adjusted really well and had 32 points over 70 games.<\/p>\n

In 2025-26, Kuznetsov spent the majority of the season with the Flames, so Brzustewicz kinda bounced around a bunch, playing 34 games in the NHL (scoring seven points) and 34 games in the AHL (scoring 13 points). In the NHL, he played with Olli Maatta, Joel Hanley and Yan Kuznetsov. In the AHL, he played with Nick Cicek and Turner Ottenbreit. In other words: Brzustewicz bounced up and down between hockey\u2019s top two levels, and between a bunch of different partners at both levels, and still had a pretty good season.<\/p>\n

As the 2026-27 season approaches, Brzustewicz is in a bit of a weird spot.<\/p>\n

Is he too good for the AHL? Not necessarily, but if he\u2019s down with the Wranglers, he\u2019s undoubtedly be their best defender on paper and probably the top contender for a call-up.He is good enough for the NHL? Definitely. We saw him play 34 games over the course of last season. And while he was never dominant \u2013 we never saw him develop the swagger that Zayne Parekh displayed late in the season \u2013 he went from being a bit tentative early on to being pretty poised late in the season. Like we saw in his first AHL year, there was a progression.Is there an obvious spot or role for him on the Flames roster? We\u2019re not quite sure of that.<\/p>\n

The Flames have seven defencemen on one-way NHL contracts for the upcoming season \u2013 Zach Whitecloud, Kevin Bahl, Jacob Middleton, Simon Nemec, Brayden Pachal, Hanley and Kuznetsov \u2013 plus Parekh, who\u2019s still waiver exempt and on his entry-level deal, but a virtual lock to be an everyday NHL defender. On paper, it feels like the Flames have a pretty well-defined starting six\u2026 and then Hanley and Pachal as extras.<\/p>\n

Because he\u2019s still waiver exempt, Brzustewicz feels like the easiest guy to send down to the AHL. And because he\u2019s still young and developing as a pro blueliner, there\u2019s no upside in having him sit in the NHL as a healthy scratch. So the question facing him coming into camp isn\u2019t whether he can be one of the eight best defenders in camp but whether he can be one of the best six, and that\u2019s a pretty tall order.<\/p>\n

In other words: at this point, because of the lack of an obvious NHL role for him on the Flames roster, we\u2019re thinking Brzustewicz starts the season as a Wrangler. But if he has a strong camp, perhaps he can force the Flames\u2019 hand when it comes to making a spot for him on the big club.<\/p>\n

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