Flames’ Kevin Bahl Suffers Season-Ending Achilles Rupture

The Calgary Flames will be without their top defenseman for the rest of the way. Kevin Bahl, who leads Calgary skaters in average ice time, is set to undergo season-ending surgery to address a ruptured achilles tendon. The injury was sustained prior to warmups for Friday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks per Pat Steinberg of Flames Now 770. In response, Calgary has placed Bahl on injured reserve and could move him to long-term injured reserve later in the year.

No details were initially provided on the extent of Bahl’s injury. He was labeled as out on Friday with a lower-body injury and missed the Flames’ morning practice on Sunday. It wasn’t until after the skate that Calgary revealed the gravity of Bahl’s injury.

This will send the Flames scrambling for a new #1. Bahl made a big impact on both sides of the puck. He is the only Flames defender without a negative plus-minus (0) and notched 12 penalty minutes, 16 shot blocks, and 22 hits through the first 16 games of the season. Bahl’s veteran, two-way presence also offered the perfect support for young defenders Simon Nemec and Zayne Parekh, who each earned reps with the Flames’ top man. Now, it will likely be one of those two who have to fill the moment.

While right-defenders Nemec and Parekh battle for impact, the Flames will have to decide which left-defender to promote up the lineup. Their options are Joel Hanley, Jacob Middleton, and Yan Kuznetsov. The hard-hitting Middleton has played the most among that group (averaging 18:25) but Kuznetsov has scored the most (three points). But of the bunch, it was Hanley who earned big minutes on Friday, after learning that he was going to play during the team’s off-ice warmups. It was just his second game of the season but the 35 year old still recorded one goal and a minus-one.

It seems Calgary could rotate their defenders through the rest of the year – or, at least, until a lefty gels with de facto #1 Nemec. While far from an ideal situation, a major opportunity will open up for the future core of Calgary’s blue line. Parekh (seven points) and Nemec (six points) are the only Flames’ blue-liners with five-or-more points this season.

Calgary sent two first-round picks, a second-round pick, and defender Etienne Morin to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Nemec, the 2022 second-overall pick, and Maxim Tsyplakov this summer. The move was intended to open a world of opportunity for Nemec, who spent much of his first three seasons on New Jersey’s third-pair. Suddenly, he’ll have a chance to stand as the pillar of a blue-line for a Flames team unlikely to contend for playoffs this season.

While Calgary works to reshape their defense, Bahl will bear with a lost season after truly emerging with the Flames. Also a product of the Devils, Bahl quickly worked into Calgary’s top role after joining the team in 2024-25. He reached a career-high 20 points that season – but has made reliable impact away from the puck throughout his time in Calgary. Bahl has averaged 115 shot blocks, 122 hits, and 21:42 in ice time per 82 games played since 2024.

While a lost year will knock into his star standing, Bahl should be well-equipped to take it back next season. He will be 27 years old by the start of the 2027-28 season and entering the third year of an inexpensive six-year, $32.1MM contract signed with the Flames in 2025. Hopefully, he will return to a Flames’ blue-line emboldened by the task of making up for his absence.