The Calgary Flames have significantly bolstered their ranks of young centres, starting with Cole Reschny and Cullen Potter.
Growing Depth at Centre
A year ago, the Calgary Flames were desperate to add centres to their prospect cupboard. Then, they went out and drafted a handful of them in the 2025 NHL Draft, including Cole Reschny and Cullen Potter in the first round. There are still questions about whether they have a true first-line option coming up in the ranks, but the Flames are in a much different position today than where they were 12 months ago.
Here, we will take a look at the state of the middle of the ice, from the top down.
The Everyday Veterans
What more really needs to be said about Mikael Backlund? He is the captain, the longest-tenured player, and could pass Jarome Iginla for most all-time games played in a Flames uniform by the end of next season. He put up 43 points last season, second-most on the team — which is not necessarily a good thing — and continued playing his two-way game at a high level. Morgan Frost stepped up his game after the Flames traded Nazem Kadri, providing a tantalizing glimpse at some untapped potential that should see him step into a bigger role next season. Ryan Strome, meanwhile, was a deadline day acquisition and embraced his role as a veteran leader from Day 1. He is the type of guy you want around during a rebuild.
There are questions about who will be on the fourth line, though. John Beecher was a waiver wire pickup and an RFA this summer, but did not set the world on fire after arriving, while neither Connor Zary nor Martin Pospisil seem like natural fits.
The Prospect Pool
As noted in the introduction, the Flames have significantly bolstered their ranks of young centres. It started with drafting Reschny and Potter in the first round in 2025, and they proceeded to take Theo Stockselius in the second round and then Yan Matveiko in the seventh. In-season, they acquired highly-regarded Jonathan Castagna in the trade that sent MacKenzie Weegar to the Utah Mammoth. He subsequently signed a three-year deal, and the Flames followed that up by signing Tyson Gross, bringing one of the most highly-touted NCAA free agents home to Calgary. Carter King and Sam Morton could both push, too.
Pending Free Agents
Most of the Flames' centres are not going anywhere this off-season. It will be interesting to see what they do with Justin Kirkland, who had a great start to the 2024-25 season before a devastating injury ended his year. He never quite found the same form when he returned and spent lots of time with the Calgary Wranglers in the AHL in 2025-26. He is a UFA this summer, but is the type of guy teams like to have around. King and Morton are both restricted free agents.
Who Is in the Draft
This is not the deepest draft when it comes to high-end centres, at least not compared to last year. Still, there are a few guys expected to go high, including Caleb Malhotra. Most experts do not have him dropping to the Flames when they pick at No. 6, though. Tynan Lawrence and Alexander Command are both considered top-15 players in this year's class, but you will not find many mock drafts with them going as high as sixth. Later in the first round, guys like Ilia Morozov, Maddox Dagenais, Oliver Suvanto, and Egor Shilov are all highly regarded.
