The case for Rory Kerins to have a bigger role with Flames in 2025-26

Thus far, the Rory Kerins rollercoaster has been an interesting one, to say the least.

As a 22-year-old, Kerins began the 2024-25 American Hockey League season on an absolute heater, scoring 21 goals in his first 34 games, good enough for the AHL lead in goals and an NHL call-up.

Kerins’ stellar start came as a surprise considering he was just over a year removed from playing in the ECHL. The then 20-year-old spent almost the entirety of the 2022-23 season suiting up for the Rapid City Rush, Calgary’s ECHL affiliate.

Kerins registered 37 points in 38 games on the coast before posting 32 points over 54 contests in his first full AHL stint during the 2023-24 season. In his most recent AHL campaign, Kerins went bonkers, amassing 33 goals & 28 assists in 63 games, and finished fourth in goals by season’s end despite missing nearly a month while with the Flames.

However, the Caledon, Ontario native has seemingly flown under the radar, outside of his January call-up, so let’s backtrack to then.

Back in early January, the Flames had gotten off to a better-than-anticipated start. As a result of their strong play, reports indicated that general manager Craig Conroy was looking to add a young centreman. Additionally, Connor Zary was injured in a gruesome knee-on-knee collision on Jan. 7 against the Anaheim Ducks.

All the while, Kerins who plays centre, was scoring at will with the Calgary Wranglers.

All of this culminates in Kerins being recalled from the Wranglers on Jan. 10, and debuting against the Chicago Blackhawks three days later. Kerins NHL debut makes headlines as he records two assists on the night, both coming in the first period.

Kerins would play in the Flames’ next four games, posting two more assists and a +3 rating while averaging 12:14 of ice time, mostly playing with Yegor Sharangovich, Jakob Pelletier, and Andrei Kuzmenko.

As quickly as he emerged, Kerins was gone and reassigned to the Wranglers on Jan. 27. At the time, his rather surprising reassignment was thought to be correlated with the AHL All-Star festivities, which he was set to be a part of, but he never got another call-up and instead played out the rest of the season with the Wranglers.

Kerins could have gotten a better look in the NHL last season, especially in a lineup that featured Kevin Rooney 70 times, a guy who doesn’t provide much outside of penalty killing.

However, this may have more to do with organizational philosophy, as it’s not unlike the Flames to be overly cautious when it comes to promoting young players. It took three straight years of Dustin Wolf utterly dominating AHL competition to get a full NHL season, and Matt Coronato, who signed a 7-year, $44.5 Million contract in May, began this season with the Wranglers.

For better or for worse, Calgary seems to be OK with letting players over-marinate at the AHL level, and that’s likely their current approach with Kerins.

However, Kerins is now 23 and has little left to prove with the Wranglers. Though he wasn’t perfect in his brief NHL stint, he certainly showed enough to warrant another chance.

The Flames need young centres and goal scorers; Kerins could potentially help out in both areas, but that means someone has to come out.

Daily Faceoff projects Calgary’s line combinations next year to look something like this:

Jonathan Huberdeau — Nazem Kadri — Matt Coronato
Blake Coleman — Mikael Backlund — Connor Zary
Joel Farabee — Morgan Frost — Yegor Sharangovich
Ryan Lomberg — Martin Pospisil — Adam Klapka

Barring an injury or trade, there’s not much room in the lineup, the only flexibility in my eyes is with Lomberg, who could cede some playing time to an up-and-coming player. However, the more likely scenario is that Kerins sees playing time in a relief capacity.

There are other forwards vying for a spot in the Flames’ lineup next season, names like Justin Kirkland, William Stromgren and Sam Morton, but none with comparable AHL production to Kerins.

The Flames aren’t in any position to win a Stanley Cup, so there’s no harm in expanding Kerins’ role next season to at least get a better idea of what they have in him.

The 5’10”, 175-pound centreman is currently a restricted free agent and will need to agree to terms with the Flames before next season, most likely on a short-term deal around league minimum.