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Matt Coronato, Calgary Flames (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)

5 Players to Watch During the Calgary Flames Preseason

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Cody Gzowski | Last updated Sep 8, 2025 8:45 AM ET

The Calgary Flames open their training camp with a split-squad set of games against the Edmonton Oilers on Sept. 21, only two weeks away. The upcoming season is due to be a pivotal one in the Flames’ trajectory, so let’s take a look at some of the players who are going to be worthy of paying extra close attention to during the preseason.

5. Hunter Brzustewicz

Hunter Brzustewicz was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in 2023 and traded to Calgary in the move that brought him north with Andrei Kuzmenko in exchange for Elias Lindholm. He’s one of Calgary’s many right-handed defencemen under contract. He has played most of his games under team control so far in the American Hockey League (AHL), with just one for the Flames – their 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings at the end of the season.

After spending his past season with the Calgary Wranglers, he will be fighting for a spot with the big club, so he’s likely to play a lot of minutes as he climbs the rankings and strives to start the season in the NHL. He’s a good player in transition and on both sides of the puck, and only two seasons removed from a 92-point season as a defenceman in major junior.

4. Matt Coronato

Matt Coronato, Calgary’s first-round draft pick in 2021, is about to enter his second full season with the Flames. A smaller forward who’s had to fight for every inch of ice he’s gotten, he’s put up 56 points so far in 112 NHL games and should be looking to increase his points-per-game rate dramatically as he ages and gets more ice time. During training camp and preseason, as one of the younger and less established members of the forward group, he’ll probably be playing a lot.

Over the past two preseasons, Coronato leads the NHL in points, with 12 points in eight games – a sign that he’ll get a lot of ice time and that he can do well with what he has. Coronato has established himself as a legitimate NHL player, but he’s now looking to move into a spot in Calgary’s top six, and a quality performance in the preseason should help him move up the depth chart.

3. Etienne Morin

Etienne Morin was drafted in 2023, nearly a full round ahead of Brzustewicz. He’s a left-handed defenceman and also an offensively skilled player. He most recently played for the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), where he and his team won the QMJHL championship and played for the Memorial Cup. Now that he has aged out of the QMJHL, he projects to join the Wranglers this season.

Morin is an interesting candidate to watch, especially alongside his age-mate Brzustewicz. The two of them have opposite handedness and might even play games together. Morin led all Wildcats defencemen in points in the QMJHL playoffs, with 20 points in 19 games; if he and Brzustewicz pair up, the two of them could create a dynamic top pair for the Wranglers.

2. Rasmus Andersson

The first three players were exciting to watch for on-ice reasons. This one is exciting for off-ice reasons. Rasmus Andersson has been a member of the Flames’ blue line for the past eight seasons, but as his contract expires in 2026, and he’s been popping up in league-wide trade talks, he probably won’t be one for much longer. While he hasn’t been traded yet and is due to start the season in Calgary, he’s going to be one to watch all season as the contenders make moves for strong defencemen and the trade deadline creeps closer and closer.

Last season, Andersson scored 11 goals and tallied 20 assists for 31 points, 22 of which were at even strength. As a defenceman on a team wanting for offence, especially one who lost the honour of power play quarterback to MacKenzie Weegar, that statline is nothing to feel bad about.

Every game for Andersson will be evaluated by scouts and GMs of opposing teams – if he shows up, the Flames’ return for him gets better, and if he doesn’t, their prospects weaken. Fans should hope for him to succeed, even if his games in Calgary are numbered.

1. Zayne Parekh

The most exciting Flame to watch is one of the newest ones, 2024 first-round pick and prospect Zayne Parekh. Parekh is a defenceman from the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) who put up incredible offensive stats and even won the Memorial Cup in 2024. He projects to be not only a very important player for the Flames’ blue line in the future (with or without Andersson) but an important player for the team as a whole, a potential future on-ice and off-ice leader.

Parekh represented Calgary at the NHLPA Rookie Showcase recently. He played one game for the Flames at the end of the 2024-25 season (the same game that Brzustewicz played), in which he scored a goal.

Parekh’s potential emergence could meaningfully shift the direction of the Flames for the next several years. Should he take to the NHL easily and play well, he could encourage the team and management to ensure the Flames are a contender sooner rather than later. Even if his adjustment is a little rough – the NHL is a man’s league – he should be an exciting player for Flames fans to watch, in training camp and beyond.

All in all, the Flames’ preseason should have a lot of exciting storylines for Flames fans to watch, on-ice and off-ice, including trades, prospect development, and the future of their defence corps.