Calgary Flames
· 2026-07-01
The Calgary Flames will be quiet in NHL free agency, with GM Craig Conroy stating the team has a lot of bodies.
As of July 1, the Flames stand 14th in the Western Conference with a 34-39 record, on a W1 streak.
The Flames chose not to extend qualifying offers to a group of pending restricted free agents, including John Beecher and Lucas Ciona.
Conroy confirmed that it just wasn’t going to make sense for the Flames to re-sign Ryan Lomberg, a fan favourite.
The Flames recognized where they were last season and traded away useful veterans in Nazem Kadri, Rasmus Andersson and MacKenzie Weegar.
They’re not just going to suddenly reverse course and start handing out contracts to a new group of established NHLers in an effort to win now.
The team is looking to get younger and find opportunities for guys who are eager to prove themselves in the NHL.
Coming up with a list of five players the Flames might sign is hard, but for the sake of conversation, here are a few guys on the market, including Cole Schwindt and Owen Say.
Schwindt was part of the package the Flames got in the Matthew Tkachuk trade, and is still only 25 years old.
Owen Say, a 25-year-old goaltender, could fill an AHL role with the Wranglers.
Carter Mazur, a 24-year-old centre, put up 16 points in 16 games and could be an interesting pick-up.
The Flames will have to see how these guys do and if they can find a fit, but for now, it looks like a quiet free agency period.
And with the team's current roster, it's unlikely they'll make any big moves.
But Conroy is always looking to do something, and there's always opportunities, so we'll have to wait and see.
So the Flames will just have to wait and see how things play out, and if they can find any interesting players to sign.
The team's focus is on getting younger and finding opportunities for their current players, and that's what they'll stick to.