A look at the Calgary Flames organizational roster before the 2023 NHL Draft

Eight days before the 2023 NHL Draft, the Calgary Flames have 36 players under contract for 2023-24… and a lot of questions to answer. By the time the dust settles on Canada Day weekend, it’s likely that the roster will look a lot different.

So in advance of all the chaos we’ll inevitably experience over the next fortnight, here’s a quick snapshot look at the Flames’ organizational roster.

Goaltenders

[4 under contract]

Name	Age	Contract Details
Jacob Markstrom	33	$6 million (one-way, no-move)
Dan Vladar	25	$2.2 million (one-way)
Dustin Wolf	22	$813,333 (two-way, waiver exempt)
Oscar Dansk	29	$775,000 (two-way)

In the system: Arsenii Sergeev (NCAA), Daniil Chechelev (ECHL)

Pending free agents: None

Markstrom is the undisputed #1 netminder, but Wolf was named the AHL’s most valuable player and based on comments from new GM Craig Conroy, it sure does sound like the Flames are open to moving out Vladar to open an NHL roster spot for Wolf.

Defencemen

[11 under contract]

Name [Shot]	Age	Contract Details
MacKenzie Weegar [R]	29	$6.25 million (one-way, no-trade)
Noah Hanifin [L]	26	$4.95 million (one-way, modified no-trade)
Rasmus Andersson [R]	26	$4.55 million (one-way)
Chris Tanev [R]	33	$4.5 million (one-way, modified no-trade)
Nikita Zadorov [L]	28	$3.75 million (one-way)
Oliver Kylington [L]	26	$2.5 million (one-way)
Dennis Gilbert [L]	26	$762,500 (one-way)
Nick DeSimone [R]	28	$762,500 (two-way)
Jeremie Poirier [L]	21	$823,333 (two-way, waiver exempt)
Yan Kuznetsov [L]	21	$870,000 (two-way, waiver exempt)
Ilya Solovyov [L]	22	$828,333 (two-way, waiver exempt)

In the system: Jake Boltmann (NCAA)

Pending free agents: Michael Stone, Troy Stecher, Nicolas Meloche, Colton Poolman

Well, good news first: Kylington is expected back for the 2023-24 season after missing 2022-23 for personal reasons. But Hanifin, Tanev, Zadorov and Kylington will become UFAs following this season, with reports indicating that Hanifin may not be too keen on sticking around long-term. It sure does sound like we’ll see a Hanifin trade in the near future. The AHL group is a little bit lean, so perhaps we see some UFAs re-signed to bolster that depth a bit.

Centres

[9 under contract]

Name [Shot]	Age	Contract Details
Elias Lindholm [R]	28	$4.85 million (one-way)
Nazem Kadri [L]	32	$7 million (one-way/no-move)
Mikael Backlund [L]	34	$5.35 million (one-way/modified no-trade)
Adam Ruzicka [L]	24	$762,5o0 (one-way)
Kevin Rooney [R]	30	$1.3 million (one-way)
Connor Zary [L]	21	$863,333 (two-way/waiver exempt)
Cole Schwindt [R]	22	$855,833 (two-way/waiver exempt)
Rory Kerins [L]	21	$846,667 (two-way/waiver exempt)
Ilya Nikolaev [L]	21	$836,667 (two-way/waiver exempt)

In the system: Cade Littler (USHL), Josh Nodler (NCAA), Topi Ronni (Finland)

Pending free agents: Ben Jones (RFA), Matthew Phillips

As we head into the meat of the off-season, the Flames have a solid 1-2-3 punch… and then some question marks. This group gets really lean, really fast, and you would imagine the Flames will make a big push to attempt to keep both Jones and Phillips in order to ensure they have some depth (and don’t need to throw Zary to the wolves). Backlund and Lindholm are UFAs after this season.

Wingers

[12 under contract]

Name [Shot]	Age	Contract Details
Jonathan Huberdeau [L]	30	$10.5 million (one-way/no-move)
Andrew Mangiapane [L]	27	$5.8 million (one-way/modified no-trade)
Blake Coleman [L]	31	$4.9 million (one-way/no-trade)
Tyler Toffoli [R]	31	$4.25 million (one-way)
Dillon Dube [L]	24	$2.3 million (one-way)
Walker Duehr [R]	25	$825,000 (one-way)
Jakob Pelletier [L]	22	$863,333 (two-way/waiver exempt)
Matt Coronato [R]	20	$925,000 (two-way/waiver exempt)
Clark Bishop [L]	27	$775,000 (two-way)
Adam Klapka [R]	22	$832,500 (two-way/waiver exempt)
William Stromgren [L]	20	$900,833 (two-way/waiver exempt)
Lucas Ciona [L]	20	$830,000 (two-way/waiver exempt)

In the system: Parker Bell (WHL)

Pending free agents: Martin Pospisil (RFA), Emilio Pettersen (RFA), Dryden Hunt, Trevor Lewis, Milan Lucic, Nick Ritchie

If there’s going to be an injection of youth into the 2023-24 Flames, it’ll probably be on the wings. Duehr is a virtual lock because of his waiver status. Pelletier and Coronato will make pushes, too. Heck, don’t rule out gigantic Klapka after he had a super end to the AHL season. We suspect we’ll see some depth signings for the AHL group, potentially with some re-signings, too. Toffoli is a UFA after this season.

Projected 2023-24 lineup

(Meant to illustrate how the team would look right now, without trades.)

Dube – Lindholm – Toffoli
Huberdeau – Kadri – Mangiapane
Coleman – Backlund – Duehr
Pelletier – Ruzicka – Coronato
Extras: TBD

Weegar – Andersson
Hanifin – Tanev
Kylington – Zadorov
Extra: Gilbert

Markstrom
Vladar

With the forward extra(s) to be determined, this roster would cost $83.938 million against a cap ceiling of $83.5 million. In other words, it’s about $438,000 over the cap… and that’s without any extra forwards, or any in-season breathing room for injury-related call-ups or trades.

They need to open up some cap breathing room.

What do you think of the Flames’ roster depth? What areas should they focus on shoring up?