Canucks 2025-26 Opponent Preview: Calgary Flames

The Canucks ended up winning the season series against the Flames last season, but every game was a battle, starting with a barnburner on Oct. 9 when the Flames came back from a 4-1 deficit and won 6-5 in overtime. The other three games were tight as well, with the teams trading 3-1 decisions in November and December and the Canucks finishing it off with a 4-3 win in March. The Canucks and Flames will only face each other three times this season, two in Vancouver and one in Calgary. Their first matchup will be on Oct. 9, the season opener for both teams.

Nazem Kadri, Jonathan Huberdeau & Matthew Coronato Will Lead the Flames’ Attack Again

With no major additions up front, the Flames will be relying on the trio of Nazem Kadri, Jonathan Huberdeau and Matthew Coronato to lead the way again. They made up 39.5 percent of the team’s goal production last season with Kadri being the only 30-goal scorer. Huberdeau looked more like the player that he was in Florida, but was still a far cry from the 115 points he put up in 2021-22. He nearly scored 30 goals last season, but will need someone to start finishing his passes if he hopes to get to the century mark again, since 85 of those points were assists. According to early line projections, he is set to start on the top line with Kadri and Martin Pospisil, who only scored four goals in 81 games last season.

As for the rest of the Flames’ attack, 36-year-old captain Mikael Backlund returns as the second line centre, while newcomers Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost will be expected to make some noise in the bottom-six after coming over from the Philadelphia Flyers for Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier last season. But the biggest X factor will be Yegor Sharangovich, who had a down season with only 17 goals after leading the team with 31 in 2023-24. If he can bounce back and make the 2024-25 power trio a quartet, then the Flames will be much better off offensively. It would also help if Connor Zary could get closer to the 20-goal mark rather than staying between 10 and 15, which has been his ceiling so far through his first two seasons in the NHL.

Flames Projected Line Combinations

Zayne Parekh Will Be an X-Factor on the Flames’ Blue Line

The Flames should be getting a fresh face on the blue line in the form of top prospect Zayne Parekh , who has dominated the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) over the past two seasons. He scored a staggering 66 goals and 203 points in his draft and draft-plus-one seasons, finishing second in scoring last season on the Saginaw Spirit with 107 points. He plays like a forward on defence and could drastically change the Flames’ attack like Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar have done for the Canucks and Colorado Avalanche, respectively. The 2024 ninth-overall pick won’t take the top defenceman mantle from Rasmus Andersson or MacKenzie Weegar right away, but given his offensive skill and ability to lead the rush, that isn’t too far off in the distance. If Andersson is traded at some point this season, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him take his place on the top pairing.

Beyond Parekh entering the fray, the Flames will return pretty much the same defence corps as last season. Andersson, Weegar and Kevin Bahl round out a formidable top four, but after that, Joel Hanley, Daniil Miromanov, Jake Bean and Brayden Pachal don’t exactly scream contender. However, given the goaltender they have behind them and the defensive system Huska employs, they will be in every game and could be in the playoff mix if their offence starts to add more run support than they did last season.

Flames Projected Defence Pairings

The Wolf Era Has Begun in Calgary

Speaking of the Flames’ goaltending, after his performance last season and being named a Calder Trophy finalist, the Wolf era has begun in earnest in Calgary. He was one of the reasons the Flames were in the playoff mix all season, and at times, may have been the only reason. He finished with a 2.64 goals-against average (GAA) and .910 save percentage (SV%), while appearing in 53 games, the most since his 2022-23 season with the Calgary Wranglers, when he won both the Les Cunningham Award (AHL MVP) and Baz Bastien Memorial Award (best goaltender). Wolf is the best goalie the Flames have had since Miikka Kiprusoff, and should enter the Vezina Trophy conversation at some point as well.

Prosvetov and Devin Cooley will battle for the right to be Wolf’s backup this season after Vladar decided to sign with the Flyers in free agency. Last season, Prosvetov was in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) with CSKA Moscow, while Cooley took Wolf’s job in the AHL as the Wranglers’ starter. Both goaltenders have not been in the NHL since the 2023-24 season when Cooley appeared in six games for the San Jose Sharks and Prosvetov appeared in 11 for the Avalanche. Both of them are arguably a downgrade on Vladar, which means it could be a season of up to 60 starts for Wolf if one of them can’t put together solid performances when they are in the crease.

How Do the Canucks Match Up?

Forwards: Tied

It’s honestly tough to give either of these teams the edge when it comes to their forward group. Both have underachieving players that need to start playing up to the level of their high-priced contracts (Huberdeau, $10.5 million and Elias Pettersson, $11.6 million), a top-six capable of scoring 20 or more goals, and a bottom-six with grit and offensive potential. Each bottom-six even has a player that needs to bounce back to their 2023-24 selves in Sharangovich and Nils Hoglander. Last season, the Flames finished 29th in offence while the Canucks were 23rd. I don’t see that changing this season, unless a lot of players start trending upward in the goal department. As of right now, they are pretty even heading into 2025-26.

Defence: Canucks

As I mentioned earlier, the Flames have a solid top four that can match up with pretty much everyone in the league, especially if Parekh hits the ground running. The Canucks also have a solid group, led by the power duo of Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek and a second pairing of Tyler Myers and Marcus Pettersson. Where the Canucks have the edge is their projected bottom pairing of Derek Forbort and Elias Pettersson, along with depth in the form of top prospect Tom Willander and reliable veteran Pierre-Olivier Joseph. The Flames don’t have that kind of mobility and depth on defence, so I am giving the Canucks the advantage here.

Goaltending: Canucks

The goaltending matchup is even with Wolf and Thatcher Demko, but when it comes to backups, the Canucks take the win. Cooley and Prosvetov are well behind Kevin Lankinen, and given Lankinen’s standout season as the starter when Demko was injured, the Flames’ overall goaltending just can’t match the Canucks’.

Season Series Schedule

• Oct. 9 vs. Flames
• Nov. 23 vs. Flames
• March 28 @ Flames

That’s a wrap on the first Canucks opponent preview of the offseason. Next up, the Edmonton Oilers, who will likely fight for the top spot in the division with the Vegas Golden Knights.