With the Stanley Cup finding its year-long home in Carolina this weekend, the hockey world turns its focus to the NHL Draft and free agency. Over the next couple of days, we’ll be taking a look at the Calgary Flames’ position groups to get an idea of where they’re at and where they might be headed. Today, we’ll start with the defence, an area where the future has already begun to emerge.
The Everyday Veterans
The Flames’ blueline underwent a season of change in 2025-26 as management committed to the future and moved on from veteran leaders Rasmus Andersson and MacKenzie Weegar. It was notable that GM Craig Conroy made sure he got established NHL defencemen as part of the return in both trades, and both Zach Whitecloud and Olli Maatta settled in quickly and embraced the expanded roles that joining the Flames offered.
Kevin Bahl has emerged as an important piece and is still only 25 years old — at least until June 27. He’ll be playing first-pairing minutes and will only see his role expand as he enters his prime years, especially as he’s signed until the end of the 2030-31 season. Joel Hanley has been invaluable as a mentor for the young defencemen who broke in last year, and Brayden Pachal provides physicality and depth.
The Prospect Pool
Zayne Parekh, Hunter Brzustewicz, and Yan Kuznetsov all broke through and played big NHL minutes this season, forming an exciting foundation for the blueline for the foreseeable future. Kuznetsov is 24, but Parekh is only 20 years old and Brzustewicz a year older, so they still very much fall into the “prospect” category for the purposes of what we’re trying to do here.
Even with those three emerging as NHLers, the Flames are still stocked with some exciting talent. Drafted in the third round in 2024, Henry Mews has looked like a steal ever since and was lighting it up for the University of Michigan before suffering a season-ending knee injury. It will be fun to watch whether Abram Wiebe pushes for playing time after making his NHL debut in April, and there’s intrigue about the likes of Axel Hurtig, Mace’o Phillips, and Etienne Morin, to name just a few.
Pending Free Agents
This list is very short, as 28-year-old Jake Bean is the only veteran blueliner who will be hitting unrestricted free agency at the end of this season. Injuries limited Bean to only 16 games this season after playing 64 in 2024-25, and with the other left-shot d-men the Flames have available, this summer likely marks the end of Bean’s tenure with the organization. Daniil Miromanov was also set to become an unrestricted free agent but has reportedly signed with SKA St. Petersburg.
