While the Flames have yet to pull the inevitable trigger on one Rasmus Andersson, that’s not the only decision the team have to make. One of the biggest is what to do with Zayne Parekh, moving Andersson frees up an opening which would be marked down for Parekh, at least to start the season. The issue for the Flames regarding Parekh is the rules around AHL/NCAA eligibility. Because Parekh has signed a professional contract he’s ineligible to play in the NCAA, and due to his age he doesn’t qualify for the AHL, the only places he can be is with the Flames or back in the OHL. Normally with a top prospect that wouldn’t be an awful thing, except Parekh has done everything he can do to develop in the OHL including being the second defenseman to score 30 goals in the league in multiple seasons. The other is arguably the greatest defenseman in NHL history, Bobby Orr. If the Flames decide to put Parekh back in the OHL, it will not be good for his development as complacency will no doubt become a factor and regression will be a real thing.
The second question is going to be the real battle in training camp, with Dustin Wolf securely intrenched as the number one netminder it’ll come down to Devin Cooley and Ivan Prosvetov. However we can’t count out Arseni Sergeyev as a potential option, if he can provide an excellent camp and force questions to be asked the Flames will be in a good spot in goal.
With all that being said, my prediction for the 2025-2026 Calgary Flames lines and roster is
*=If signed/traded
Forwards (LW-C-RW)
Jonathon Huberdeau-Nazim Kadri-Matthew Coronato
Yegor Sharangovich-Morgan Frost-Connor Zary*
Blake Coleman-Mikael Backlund-Joel Farabee
Ryan Lomberg-Samuel Honzek-Adam Klapka
Martin Pospisil
Defense (LD-RD)
Mackenzie Weegar-Rasmus Andersson*
Kevin Bahl-Zayne Parekh
Iyla Solovyov-Brayden Pachal
Daniil Miromanov
Goalie
Dustin Wolf
Devin Cooley
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