The Calgary Flames are in a difficult spot as a team – they’re in the mushy middle, neither rebuilding nor tearing it all down, and waiting to see where the next season takes them. Whatever happens this season will likely determine their choices for the future, so here are three best-case scenarios for the fans of this season’s team – or next decade’s.
Flames Put on a Playoff Show
The Flames haven’t made the playoffs since their Pacific Division-leading 2021-22 season. In a few of the seasons since, however, they’ve just barely been the last team out, missing out on the great chase for the Stanley Cup by just a few points (from ‘Calgary Flames tie unlucky NHL record, racking up most points while missing playoffs,’ Calgary Herald, April 18, 2025).
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It’s not unrealistic to see a future where just a few of those games go the other way and Calgary sneaks into the playoffs. Maybe Dustin Wolf starts a few more games than his backup this season, and he steals a couple of them. Maybe Matt Coronato breaks out and ends up recording 80 points instead of just under 50. Maybe Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri lead a team that takes advantage of a weakening Pacific, and Calgary jumps up a spot in a group whose only truly strong teams are the Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers. Given the Flames’ consistent scoring struggles, it would be a difficult road, but in hockey, strange things are possible all the time.
Because of these struggles, even if the Flames make the playoffs, they likely wouldn’t get too far unless they faced an opponent with similar issues. But the playoffs are an important barrier to cross – it provides valuable experience to younger players and gives veterans an opportunity to prove they still have what it takes. Plus, the excitement it brings after an always-long and often heartbreaking season is worth it, even if the end is just as heartbreaking in and of itself. The Flames’ playoff drought ending would bring fans some of the catharsis they deserve.
Flames Pick Touted Prospect Gavin McKenna
On the other hand, while a quality Flames showing right now would be a fun endeavour, the ceiling this current group has without a singularly-talented offensive driver is not as high as it should be to go far in the playoffs. If the Flames miss the playoffs – which, in this difficult league, still seems like the more-likely scenario – their best case should be to miss by as much as possible and win themselves the first-overall pick.
Gavin McKenna, the projected first-overall pick this offseason, is a superstar young winger from Whitehorse, Yukon, who will debut this season with Penn State in the NCAA. If he became a Flame, he would add the one thing the team needs most (offence) and could be their best player for the next 15 years.
Of course, the season preceding the 2026 NHL Entry Draft in a universe where the Flames win McKenna would be a painful one. Even if they do the best it is possible to do and still win – move up 10 spots in the NHL Draft Lottery and only finish 11th from the bottom – that means a lot more losses than last season. It might involve Wolf getting injured or not having as good a second full season as his first full one. It could involve Huberdeau or Kadri aging more rapidly than fans hoped for, which would make either of their contracts go from inefficient to agonizing. It could involve terrible luck – blowout wins and one-goal losses. It certainly wouldn’t seem like a best-case scenario while it was happening.
But it would get the Flames a prospect who could be their best player ever, so it would be worth it.
Flames’ Young Players All Take A Step
A third possibility for best-case scenario lies somewhere in the middle of these two extremes, and has very little to do with the actual standings result. In fact, both this and one of the other results could happen at the same time, meaning that it would be a true best-case scenario for the team. In this scenario, all of the Flames’ notable young players – including those in its American Hockey League (AHL) system and those not yet with the team – take a big step, pulling the team further ahead in a rebuild much faster than they had originally hoped.
Zayne Parekh, Cole Reschny, Wolf, and Coronato are the Flames with the highest ceilings – if the stars align, Parekh could make a run at the Calder Trophy and Wolf the Vezina. A big jump for Reschny would be him signing an entry-level contract and getting into NHL games at the end of the season. Hunter Brzustewicz could grab a spot of defence and play big minutes.
While the circumstances needed to let all the young players grow might be painful, and that growth might not translate perfectly into on-ice success, the Flames having a group of young players all growing would make the team exciting to watch and would definitely eke out as a best-case scenario this season.
Overall, the Flames’ interesting situation means there’s a lot of different ways the team could go this season, and it doesn’t lock them in to a single “best-case” scenario. While it’s not certain that any of these scenarios will come true, the upcoming season should be an exciting and hopeful time for fans anyway.
