FN’s 2026 Flames summer prospect rankings – #20: Max Curran

When Calgary Flames general manager started making trades during the 2025-26 season, a pattern soon began to form. As he sent out some established, reliable NHL regulars elsewhere, the returns he got back tended to include an NHL roster player, an interesting prospect, and some draft picks.

When the Flames made the trade that facilitated Nazem Kadri’s return to the Colorado Avalanche, they received a very interesting – albeit injured – prospect back in the move: Czech forward Maxmilian (Max) Curran. Curran has played exactly zero games since being acquired by the Flames back in March, but he’s a player with a ton of upside.

Curran checks in as our 20th-ranked prospect on our 2026 list.

Max Curran

Forward; shoots left
Born Aug. 27, 2006 (age 19) in Praha, Czechia
6’3″, 194 pounds
Drafted in the fifth round (161st overall) by Colorado in the 2024 NHL Draft

A product of Praha (or Prague), Czechia, Curran’s hockey journey has primarily been in his hometown. He played his youth hockey with HC Kobra Praha before joining the HC Slavia Praha system later on. (He was also part of the Czech Knights team that played at the Quebec Invitational Pee Wee Tournament in 2018-19.)

Curran moved up the ladder of elite Czech junior hockey fairly rapidly. He played in Czechia’s top under-17 league as a 15-year-old. In his 16-year-old season, he played in the top under-17 league, the second under-20 tier, and even made his pro debut with a couple games with Slavia Praha’s senior team in the Czech Extraliga.

He was selected by the Tri-City Americans in the 2023 CHL Import Draft and decided to make the leap, moving to North America for his 17-year-old season. He appeared with Czechia’s national under-18 team at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup and the Under-18 Worlds, and posted 32 points in 40 games with Tri-City. He missed a chunk of the WHL season with an upper-body injury, but he returned in time for the U18s. He showed well enough in his season as a whole to earn selection by Colorado in the fifth round of the 2023 NHL Draft.

The following season, 2024-25, he impressed on several levels with Tri-City. He played in 68 games. He increased his goal output from 5 to 22. He increased his assist output from 27 to 52. He increased his points output from 23 to 74. And while experiencing this breakout on the ice, he excelled in academics, being named the WHL’s Scholastic Player of the Year. Sure, he didn’t end up making Czechia’s World Junior team, but that might have been the only thing that didn’t go his way.

Curran experienced a bit more change the following season. In advance of the 2025 Import Draft, Curran was traded to the Edmonton Oil Kings in exchange for a first-round import pick, and a trio of WHL prospect picks – 2026 first-round, 2029 third-round and conditional 2027 fifth-round. He found a rhythm with the Oil Kings, posting 41 points in 31 games. He also made Czechia’s World Junior team and captured a silver medal. However, he suffered a shoulder injury in January that required surgery, so his season ended early.

Here’s what our pal Derek Neumeier at McKeen’s Hockey noted about Curran’s game and progress:

I’ve liked Curran quite a bit ever since his draft year. People don’t fully understand how good he actually is because of the time he missed due to injury, both this season and two seasons prior. He plays center, he’s big, he moves well, he’s good with the puck, he’s an incredibly smart kid… a player like that just brings a ton of utility. Coaches really appreciate him, even though he’s more of a duct-tape guy than a specialist at any one thing. If he can finally stay healthy I think he could turn out to be a very pleasant surprise for the organization.

Expectations for 2026-27

After three seasons in the Dub, Curran is headed to the United States for a new challenge. He’s joining the University of Massachusetts Minutemen as a 20-year-old freshman. If UMass sounds familiar, it’s probably for a couple reasons. First, Aydar Suniev played two seasons a UMass before signing his entry-level deal with the Flames. Second, Curran will be one of three freshmen from the Flames joining the team, with 2026 second-rounder Tobias Trejbal and 2026 fourth-rounder Egor Barabanov also moving to college.

It’s a new environment for Curran, but he’s shown a real nice ability to adapt his game to new circumstances, and UMass head coach Greg Carvel has a pretty good track record of helping players adjust to the college game and helping them become well-rounded players. If nothing else, Curran will be on a good college team, and time will tell if he can become a big part of what makes them successful.