Flames Extend Rory Kerins, Sam Morton

According to a team announcement, the Calgary Flames have extended forwards Rory Kerins and Sam Morton for the 2026-27 season. Each will have identical one-year, two-way contracts with a salary of $850K at the NHL level.

Kerins, 24, has been with the Flames since he was drafted with the 174th overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft. The Caledon, ON native spent one more year with the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds, in which he scored an impressive 43 goals and 118 points in 67 games with a +14 rating.

Since then, Kerins has largely been an AHL talent for Calgary, though he’s knocking on the door. Over the past two years, Kerins has registered 55 goals and 118 points in 119 games with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers. Unfortunately, that hasn’t translated to many opportunities at the NHL level, with only nine games of NHL experience under his belt.

Still, given that level of production in the AHL, Kerins should have every opportunity to crack the NHL roster out of training camp to start the 2026-27 season. The Flames are firmly in a transitional period, and Kerins has shown, at least at the AHL level, that he’s capable of providing the team with additional scoring.

Meanwhile, Morton joined Calgary as an undrafted free agent toward the end of the 2023-24 season after spending his collegiate tenure at Minnesota State University. Like Kerins, Morton has largely been an AHL talent up to this point in his professional career, scoring 37 goals and 83 points in 138 games for the Wranglers throughout the past two years.

Unlike Kerins, however, it’ll be more difficult for Morton to crack the Flames’ opening night roster next season. This isn’t to say he’s been a bad player in the AHL, but he hasn’t shown enough to warrant significant minutes in the NHL. Still, Calgary is expected to be fairly active on the trade market, and Morton could serve as a filler or as an injury replacement for next season.