Did the Flames jump the gun on extending head coach Ryan Huska?

Maybe the best word to describe the Calgary Flames’ recent head-coaching history is “turbulent.”

The highs and lows of Bob Hartley, the rather forgettable Glen Gulutzan era, the tumultuous reign of Bill Peters, the Geoff Ward debacle, and the anticlimactic return of Darryl Sutter are what preceded current bench boss Ryan Huska.

The Flames took a chance on Huska in 2023 as a first-time NHL head coach who had been a part of the organization for nearly a decade. As a rebuilding club, they were in a position to take a gamble on a homegrown coach, as expectations were fairly low anyway. But the same can’t be said about their decision to ink Huska to a two-year extension on October 2nd.

The decision to extend Huska was made after the Flames exceeded expectations last season, and as the head coach, he deserves some credit for their improbable rise. However, a great deal of that credit goes to goaltender Dustin Wolf, whose phenomenal rookie campaign was central to the team’s success. If this season’s early blunders are an indication of anything, it’s that last season’s triumphs had more to do with Wolf’s heroics than Huska’s coaching. Wolf has simply not been able to bail out his team the way he did all of 2024-25, and the results have been disastrous for the Flames.

Nobody expects Huska to miraculously turn this team into a contender, but he still has to be held accountable for the lack of results under his tutelage, as any coach should. In his seven seasons as a head coach at the pro level (four in AHL, three in NHL), Huska has missed the playoffs in all but one, the 2016-17 season when the Stockton Heat were bounced in the first round. The current Flames’ bench boss is on pace to miss out on post-season play yet again as Calgary sits dead last in the NHL through 12 games. Huska has a combined NHL head coaching record of 81-74-21, and an AHL record of 135-118-27.

In terms of lineup decisions, Huska is erratic, constantly jumbling D-pairings and forward lines, with the only constant being Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman sticking together. Recently, Huska’s lineups have become more confusing by the day. His benching of one of the team’s best goal scorers, Matt Coronato, while the team ranks last in goals, is particularly head-scratching.

Re-upping the coach just prior to the season was somewhat puzzling, not only because of his lack of success as a pro head coach, but also because there was virtually no pressure on the front office to make that move. Huska still had this season left on his contract, and it’s not uncommon for teams to walk coaches into the final year on their deal and wait on more results before locking them in. Rod Brind’Amour, the current head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, coached through the final year of his contract — a sixth straight appearance in round two of the playoffs — before the Canes eventually met his conditions and signed him to a multi-year deal that off-season. In contrast, Huska’s extension seems incredibly premature.

The lone saving grace for Huska and the Flames is that there is a long season ahead, and only time will tell whether or not the third-year head coach’s extension was a mistake.