Youth movement maturing, Calgary Flames less of a team in transition to start camp

CALGARY – Expectations inside the Calgary Flames dressing room were high as the players hit the ice at training camp Thursday.

The Flames are less of a team in transition than they were a year ago. Their 96 points last season tied the highest by a team that didn’t make the playoffs.

Calgary (41-27-14) was in post-season contention until the second-last game of the regular season, but ultimately fell short of the playoffs for a third straight year.

“As much as I said last year how proud I was and all that, yadda, yadda, this year, it’s a little different,” said Flames defenceman MacKenzie Weegar.

“It’s a lot of internal expectations. We’re pushing ourselves to be that one to four points better than last year, which gets us into the playoffs. Expectations are high for individuals to try to make the team, to the team expectations to make a push in playoffs.”

The injection of youth general manager Craig Conroy sought a year ago was fruitful.

Forwards Matt Coronato and Connor Zary, defenceman Kevin Bahl and goaltender Dustin Wolf, all under the age of 25, proved their worth to the Flames and were rewarded with multi-year contracts over the summer.

“We’ve got a lot of people that have opportunities to make jumps and really solidify themselves in the NHL,” said veteran forward Nazem Kadri.

“Some good contracts, I think there’s a lot of opportunity there. Last year we played a lot meaningful games. It felt like playoff games for most of the year. With that experience, I think you can become better from that.”

There’s somewhat less job opportunity for newcomers at training camp this year, but 19-year-old defenceman Zayne Parekh is intent on becoming an NHL player this season.

Calgary’s first-round pick (ninth overall) in the 2024 NHL draft didn’t participate in rookie camp because of a lower-body injury, but he skated Thursday and wants to play in Sunday’s split-squad, pre-season game against the Edmonton Oilers.

“There’s a lot of pressure on me,” said the teenager from Markham, Ont. “I think a lot of nerves too. There’s a lot expected of me. 

“I’m just going to try my best to see what happens. Last camp, I was kind of coming in just trying to soak everything in. This time around, I’ve got to push for a job.”

Flames head coach Ryan Huska spent time with Parekh last spring at a pre-tournament world championship camp in Europe. Huska was Canada’s assistant coach at worlds.

“Having the opportunity to spend quite a bit more time with him and work with him in Europe, I thought was a very good thing for me and I hope it’s something that allows him to feel a little bit more comfortable about a situation here,” Huska said.

The departure of Dan Vladar and a seven-year, $52.5-million extension for Wolf, who was the runner-up for the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie last season, means Calgary won’t run a tandem to start the season.

Devin Cooley is the front-runner for the backup job, although 26-year-old Russian netminder Ivan Prosvetov is also at camp after signing a one-year contract in the summer.

Coronato, who scored 24 goals last season, returned to the top line forward line alongside Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau in the morning’s first skate.

“When you look at our lineup, Matt’s our pure goal scorer, so you put your pure goal scorer with one of your main passers and your top centre to start with,” Huska explained. 

“There were stretches last year where I liked the way they played together and there were stretches last year where we didn’t, so we’ll see what they can do early on this year.”

The Flames open the regular season with back-to-back road games against the Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 8 and Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 9. Their home-opener is Oct. 11 against the St. Louis Blues.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2025.