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Dryden Hunt played his way to a contract extension over the past season

Originally posted on Flamesnation | By Paige Siewert | Last updated Jun 27, 2025 1:36 PM ET

Dryden Hunt has had a place between the Calgary Flames and Calgary Wranglers for the last two and a bit seasons and secured a future with the organization by sorting out his contract in recent days. He served in the leadership group with the Wranglers and was a simple call away when injuries hit the NHL club. He was a solidified spot on the AHL squad’s top line and contributed to some big plays and big wins over the course of the season.

Dryden Hunt was undrafted but caught NHL attention in the 2017-18 season when he made his debut with the Florida Panthers. Hunt played over 200 games in the NHL before coming to the Wranglers mid-season in 202-23 after jumping around five different teams. He spent some time with the New York Rangers, Colorado Avalanche and Toronto Maple Leafs that season, then the Toronto Marlies. He played his first game with the Wranglers on Mar. 4, 2023 and played his first game with the Flames on Oct. 24 of the same year.

2024-25 expectations

It was known that some prospects were going to be making more of a case for themselves with the Flames in 2024-25. Many of them, former teammates of Hunt down at the NHL level. Hunt acted as a peer leader for these guys and was still in the mix as far as forward options go on the left side. Hunt was expected to have a similar year to 2023-24 where he split time between the AHL and NHL, appearing in 23 games with the Wranglers and 28 games with the Flames.

2024-25 results

Dryden Hunt played about the same amount of games in the 2024-25 season but less split between the two squads. He was called up multiple times but more so as an extra body if needed. He ended up playing 49 games with the Wranglers and five games with the Flames. For the Flames, he put up three assists and for the Wranglers, he averaged a point per game with 16 goals and 33 assists.

Hunt’s absence was felt when he was away from the Wranglers. He managed to evade some of the harder moments the Wranglers faced by missing most of their franchise high losing streak. The times he was sprinkled back in the lineup. He put up points consistently and helped drive his team to Calder Cup qualification.

Dryden Hunt scores his 11th goal of the season on the power play and puts the Wranglers up 4-3. Hunt now has five goals in his last six games. pic.twitter.com/m36hjMXwYY

— Paige Siewert (@thathockeygirly) January 16, 2025

In playoffs, he played in both games and kept up his point per game average with a goal and an assist. His lone playoff goal was part of the comeback in game one that helped Calgary force a triple overtime.

It starts with one! Dryden Hunt scores from a distance on the 4-on-4 to make it a 3-1 game. pic.twitter.com/DSJL7LiWK7

— Paige Siewert (@thathockeygirly) April 23, 2025

When Dryden Hunt took the time to reflect after the season he said:

“Yeah, it was a weird year, different coaches, guys going up and down. But I thought a lot of guys stuck with it. It was one of the bright spots in the year was just seeing everybody kind of stick with it. Even the young guys. It wasn’t easy, so it was kind of nice to see everybody kind of pull through, make playoffs.”

Next season’s expectations

Dryden Hunt’s is one of the contracts that has already been taken care of this off-season. The organization announced on June 20th that he had been extended to a two year, two-way contract worth $825,000. His role is expected to be similar to what we’ve seen out of him over the last couple of seasons. Get the bulk of your playing time in the AHL and pop up to the NHL ready for when you’re called upon.

Dryden Hunt understands his role at this point in his career and is happy to mentor the next guys coming up in the organization. As he said during exit interviews:

“I think as you get older, it’s just something that you just accept. You know, obviously, there’s in this league, especially there’s more young guys, than there is old guys, so you kind of have to take it upon yourself to be that guy and we have great younger guys it’s pretty easy just to kind of show them the way a little bit.”

For him, the confidence of another contract early in the summer should be a motivating factor for him to take into his off-season training. He enjoys any chance he gets at NHL play and strives to make an impact for whoever he is playing with.

This article first appeared on Flamesnation and was syndicated with permission.

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