The 2024-25 NHL season is fully underway, with each team having played at least six games thus far. There have been many surprises to begin the campaign, but none more bewildering than the start the Calgary Flames are experiencing. The team has begun the season by earning at least a point in their first six games before their regulation losses against the Carolina Hurricanes and Winnipeg Jets. However, excitement is building a bit outside of the NHL with the league unveiling the national team jerseys for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off event.
The event is the first of its kind, and for those unaware, it will be a four-team international round-robin tournament between Canada, Sweden, Finland, and the United States. The two teams with the best records after the opening round will play in the Final. As part of the buildup, we have created a series looking at the best Flames players to come from each nation, and we will be continuing it here. So far, we have covered Finland and Sweden. The nation under the spotlight for this edition is the United States. Here are the best five Americans to suit up for the Calgary Flames.
5. Matthew Tkachuk, Forward
Our fifth spot belongs to the recently departed Matthew Tkachuk. The 26-year-old currently plies his trade for the Florida Panthers, where he is a defending Stanley Cup Champion after winning it in 2024. For anyone unaware, Tkachuk is the son of former NHL All-Star Keith Tkachuk and brother of Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk. The rugged forward was born in Scottsdale, Arizona but raised in St. Louis, Missouri, and began his career with the Flames after they drafted him sixth overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. He had just come off of Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and Memorial Cup Championships with the London Knights. Tkachuk made the 2016-17 Flames roster out of camp and scored his first NHL goal on Oct. 18, 2016.
Tkachuk suited up for the next five seasons with the team and endeared himself to the Flames faithful on a nightly basis with his entertaining combination of offensive skill and opponent agitation. The 2021-22 season was his best; he scored a career-high 42 goals and 104 points in 82 games and had a whopping plus-57 plus/minus rating. He also helped push the team to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with four goals and 10 points in 12 games. As a pending restricted free agent that summer, Tkachuk let then-general manager Brad Treliving know that he would not re-sign with the franchise and that they should trade him. This caused a huge stir league-wide and soured many Flames fans. Shortly afterward, Tkachuk was traded to the Panthers in a blockbuster trade for a package that included current Flames Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar. All in all, Tkachuk played 431 games with the Flames and scored 152 goals and 382 points.
4. Joe Mullen, Forward
Next up is legendary American winger Joe Mullen. Born and raised in Manhattan, New York City, he didn’t begin skating until the age of 10. Mullen picked up hockey very quickly, however, as he dominated his local junior hockey association and earned himself a full ride to play hockey at and attend Boston College. Over four seasons there, Mullen racked up then-school records of 110 goals and 212 points. Likely due to his small stature (5-foot-9, 180 pounds) Mullen wasn’t drafted into the NHL. The St. Louis Blues took a chance on him and he rewarded them with multiple 40-goal seasons and 20 points in 19 playoff games. The Flames needed a goal-scorer at the time and made the decision to acquire Mullen in a massive six-player trade.
Related: Calgary Flames’ Best Undrafted Players of All-Time
Mullen found immediate success in Cowtown. He helped the team get all the way to the 1986 Stanley Cup Final, where they fell to the Montreal Canadiens. With only 14 penalty minutes in 1985-86, Mullen was voted as the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winner for the first time (he won it again in 1988-89). The 1988-89 season saw the diminutive forward unlock his full potential; he scored a career-high 51 goals and 110 points in 79 games and then followed up with 16 goals and 24 points in 21 playoff contests as the Flames won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. As part of another “rebuild on the fly”, the Flames shipped the veteran Mullen to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1990, where he won two more Stanley Cups (1991,1992). He retired from playing in 1997, transitioned to coaching, and was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000. As a Flame, Mullen scored 190 goals and 388 points in 345 games.
3. Joel Otto, Forward
Third is defensive stalwart Joel Otto. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound centreman hails from Elk River, Minnesota, and played three years of college hockey at Bemidji State. He led his team to an undefeated record and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award in 1984, garnering him some NHL interest. The Flames signed him to a minor-league contract for the 1984-85 season. He impressed enough to get into 17 games with the big club and scored 12 points. The next season, Otto stayed with the Flames and scored a career-high 25 goals and 59 points in 79 games. He added an impressive five goals and 15 points in 22 playoff contests during the aforementioned run to the 1986 Stanley Cup Final.
Otto quickly developed into a premier two-way centreman, tasked with shutting down the opposition’s best forwards and winning key faceoffs. Over the next three seasons, Otto scored 50 or more points and scored over 20 goals for a second time in 1988-89. Otto turned it up a notch during the 1989 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as he scored six goals and 19 points in 22 games en route to his first and only Stanley Cup victory. After six more solid seasons with the Flames, the franchise decided that they couldn’t afford to keep Otto in the fold with new salary rules buckling them. He decided to sign with the Philadelphia Flyers as a free agent in 1995. The hulking forward suited up for three seasons with the Flyers and retired after he started to slow down in 1998. He too became a coach, with the Western Hockey League’s Calgary Hitmen. Otto finished his Flames tenure with 167 goals and 428 points over 730 games.
2. Gary Suter, Defense
Our second-best American is also the only defender on the list (spoiler alert). Madison, Wisconsin’s Gary Suter played for his hometown university team from 1983-85. In 1984, the Flames liked what they saw and took a flier on Suter, drafting him in the ninth round, 180th overall. He made the team for the 1985-86 season and made a splash right away; he finished his rookie campaign with 18 goals and 68 points in 80 games to lead all Flames defenders in scoring. For his efforts, he was named an All-Star and won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s best rookie. After 10 points in 10 playoff games, Suter was injured and couldn’t continue in the team’s trip to the 1986 Stanley Cup Final.
Suter’s best regular season came in 1987-88 when he scored 21 goals and a career-high 91 points in 75 games, which led all NHL rearguards. Suter was once again named an All-Star and was a finalist for the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenceman. In 1989, he was unfortunately knocked out of another Stanley Cup run as he broke his jaw in the opening round against the Vancouver Canucks. Nevertheless, his name was etched on the Stanley Cup for the first and only time in his career. After five more seasons and a lingering knee injury, Suter was dealt to the Hartford Whalers and subsequently flipped to the Chicago Blackhawks. He played four seasons there and four with the San Jose Sharks before retiring in 2002. Suter tallied 128 goals and 564 points in 617 matches as a Flame.
1. Johnny Gaudreau, Forward
The best American Flame of all time is unquestionably “Johnny Hockey” himself, Johnny Gaudreau. The winger was born and raised in the state of New Jersey and was drafted by the Flames in round four of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft before going on to play for Boston College. Gaudreau finished his three-year college career with a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship and a Hobey Baker Award amongst a handful of other accolades. He made his NHL debut with the Flames in the last game of the 2013-14 season, scoring his first goal on his first shot. This translated into his rookie season of 2014-15, where he totalled 24 goals and 64 points in 80 games, was selected as an NHL All-Star, and finished third in Calder Trophy voting. Gaudreau helped the Flames reach the second round of the playoffs that season with four goals and nine points in 11 games before the team was defeated by the Anaheim Ducks.
Gaudreau got better and better as time went on, earning six more All-Star selections. The 5-foot-9, 165-pounder played big and always wanted the puck on his stick. Once he had it, magic was likely to happen. A gentleman on and off of the ice, he also won the Lady Byng Trophy in 2017. Gaudreau exploded in 2021-22, scoring a career-high 40 goals and 115 points in 82 games. He and the Flames faced the Dallas Stars in round one of the 2022 playoffs, who defeated them two years earlier. Gaudreau scored the game-winning goal in Game 4 and electrified Flames fans with a game-winning overtime goal in Game 7, sending the Flames to the next round. That summer, Gaudreau elected to test free agency and signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He played two seasons with them before the hockey world stopped dead in its tracks with the untimely deaths of him and his brother Matthew in 2024. They were struck and killed by a drunk driver in New Jersey while cycling. The Flames faithful will never forget Gaudreau’s contributions to the franchise. They were much more than his 210 goals and 609 points in 602 games.
On a final note, a handful of players could have arguments to be included on this subjective list. These five all had tremendous impacts on the Flames franchise as well as American hockey. Their names are synonymous with successful times in Flames team history which is no coincidence. Make sure to tune in to the 4 Nations Face-Off and please remember to report any and all instances of impaired driving to your local authorities.
