Flames re-sign blueliner Kevin Bahl to six year extension ($5.35 million AAV)

The 25-year-old Bahl was slated to become a restricted free agent on July 1, but this deal keeps him in a red jersey through the 2030-31 season.

Bahl’s had a pretty unique journey through professional hockey. A standout junior blueliner with the OHL’s Ottawa 67’s, he was originally selected by the Arizona Coyotes in the second round of the 2018 NHL Draft. He was traded to the New Jersey Devils in the Taylor Hall swap in December 2019 before he had even played a pro game.

He went pro in 2020-21 and even made his NHL debut with the Devils, ultimately playing seven NHL games that season. He kept improving and spending more and more time in the NHL in subsequent seasons, finally cementing himself as an NHL regular by 2023-24. He was traded to the Flames in June 2024 as part of the Jacob Markstrom trade.

Bahl is a bit of a throwback, in the sense that he’s a big, meat-and-potatoes two-way blueliner. At this point in his career, he seems to have a good sense of what he is and what makes him effective as a pro blueliner. He defends well, using his range and reach more than his body, and he’s also shown a pretty underrated offensive instinct from the point, too.

If nothing else, this deal locks up a pretty effective, consistent part of the Flames defensive group. We’re not sure if Bahl will ever become a Norris Trophy contender or anything like that – you never know, though – but at the very least he’s a really reliable player that can play in a lot of important situations for the Flames.

With Bahl re-upped, the Flames now have 20 players on one-way deals for the 2025-26 season, including two goaltenders, seven defencemen and 11 forwards. Those players, plus the retained salary on Markstrom, carry a combined cap commitment of $73.913 million (and they have $21.587 million in cap space left).