The Calgary Flames lack star power, but they’re deeper than you think

Mike Gould
Mike Gould
The Calgary Flames lack star power, but they’re deeper than you think
Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

There’s a genuine chance that Matt Coronato, a 2021 first-round pick who scored 42 points in 41 AHL games in his first pro season, could start the 2024-25 regular season playing on the Calgary Flames’ fourth line.

Jakob Pelletier, the Flames’ first-round pick from two years before, might not even crack the NHL roster out of training camp despite consistently posting strong results with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers.

Hunter Brzustewicz, who is coming off a standout OHL season and has looked every bit the part of a top defense prospect in the league during training camp, might not even be in the top 10 of the Flames’ defensive depth chart as he enters his first pro campaign.

The challenges these three young players face have little to do with their own limitations on the ice. Instead, they stem from the fact that the Flames, like many rebuilding teams, have countered their lack of organizational star power by casting an extremely wide net in their search for potential future cornerstones.

Take this as an example: Calgary signed Martin Frk, a former top Detroit Red Wings prospect, to a one-year contract this past summer. But, depending on how you stack it, the 124-game NHL veteran could slot in as low as No. 19 or 20 on the Flames’ organizational forward depth chart, which would put him roughly sixth or seventh in line to earn an AHL call-up during the 2024-25 season.

The Flames made 10 selections in this year’s draft. They spent much of the 2023-24 season selling off key veterans for a collection of future assets, including draft picks and prospects. But it is extremely difficult to land true blue-chippers via the trade route, and, as a result of their near-unprecedented teardown, the Flames have an uncommonly large volume of B-grade prospects vying for the same spots in their lineup.

Calgary Flames 2024 training camp depth chart — skaters

Left wingCentreRight wing
Jonathan HuberdeauNazem KadriAnthony Mantha
Connor ZaryYegor SharangovichAndrei Kuzmenko
Blake ColemanMikael BacklundMatt Coronato*
Jakob PelletierMartin PospisilRyan Lomberg
William Strömgren*Kevin RooneyAdam Klapka*
Dryden HuntSam Morton*Walker Duehr
Left defenseRight defense
MacKenzie WeegarDaniil Miromanov
Kevin BahlRasmus Andersson
Jake BeanTyson Barrie (PTO)
Joel HanleyBrayden Pachal
Ilya SolovyovHunter Brzustewicz*
Jeremie Poirier*Zayne Parekh*

* – waivers exempt

According to PuckPedia, the Flames currently have the third-most cap space in the NHL. They needed to sign veterans like Anthony Mantha, Jake Bean, and Ryan Lomberg to multi-million-dollar contracts on July 1 simply to ensure they made it above the cap floor in 2024-25. But while those players might help the Flames become more watchable, they didn’t make things any less crowded in Calgary.

Martin Pospisil, the Slovak sparkplug who came out of nowhere to become a fixture in the Flames’ lineup (often next to Nazem Kadri) last season, might have to start this coming campaign on the fourth line if Coronato forces his way into a top-six scoring role. With guys like Mantha and Andrei Kuzmenko entering the final years of their contracts, Pospisil could eventually find his way back onto the first or second line — but, for now, he might have to settle for the fourth-line centre position to start his sophomore season.

A lot depends on how Coronato performs over the rest of training camp. There’s no question that the 5’10” winger has exceeded expectations through his first two preseason games, scoring three goals and setting up two others with passes like this:

The Flames also have the likes of Sam Morton, William Strömgren, and Adam Klapka vying for NHL gigs this year, but there just won’t be enough spots for them all to make it out of camp. While they may not have that bona fide star prospect up front (yet), the Flames have so many players who project to be 20-goal guys at the NHL level … but they might have to wait until guys like Mantha, Kuzmenko, and Kevin Rooney are traded to get their shots.

On defense, the Flames have two top-pairing defenders followed by a long list of relative unknowns, including recent additions in Bean, Kevin Bahl, Daniil Miromanov, Brayden Pachal, Joel Hanley, and PTO signee Tyson Barrie. If, as rumored, the Flames sign Barrie to a contract, it’ll make it even more difficult for youngsters like Brzustewicz, Ilya Solovyov, Jeremie Poirier, and Artem Grushnikov to make it — let alone 2024 No. 9 overall pick Zayne Parekh, who remains in Flames camp.

As we mentioned here at Daily Faceoff back in July, the Flames still have more significant players who they could look to move as they continue their rebuilding process. Two of the players listed in that piece, Jacob Markstrom and Andrew Mangiapane, are already gone, but many others still remain. If the Flames do end up trading Kuzmenko and Mantha (or even depth players like Rooney, Hanley, and Walker Duehr) at some point in the next few months, it could create room for their younger players to make the jump — but any prospects or picks who come the Flames’ way in those deals will just provide more competition down the line.

Any good rebuild needs a strong foundation. The Flames have a couple of potential core pieces already in their organization in Parekh and Dustin Wolf, as well as an enormous amount of prospective secondary players. The upcoming season should give the Flames even more clarity as to which of Coronato, Pelletier, Brzustewicz, Poirier, and their counterparts fit into their future plans. It’ll also tell them more about which ones won’t cut it.

The Flames are only starting down the long road toward building a contending roster. For now, the stakes are relatively low. Where things are really heating up is with the individual training camp battles, and all that extra competition can only help the Flames as they continue to take a long-term view of their situation. If what someone like Coronato needs to do to secure a top-six spot is to outplay his fellow prospects and a seasoned veteran like Mantha, it’s up to him to sink or swim. The same goes for the other half-dozen or so players in his cohort.

If nothing else, it’ll be fascinating to watch.

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POST SPONSORED BY bet365

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