No matter what way you cut it, the future of the Calgary Flames defence looks bright.

The team has loaded up in the NHL Draft over the last couple years and also has a few early-20s talents who could break through soon. In a couple years, there’s potential for the Flames blueline to be pretty … dare we say spectacular?

This summer, though, the focus will be almost entirely on what they choose to do with one of their veteran leaders and how it impacts the NHL roster next year.

As we go through every position in our Flames Retool Tracker series, the blue-line has always felt like it would be the most interesting week of the bunch.

To get it started, here’s a look at the organizational depth chart:

The big question

This isn’t just the biggest question facing the Flames defence, it’s going to be the dominant question surrounding the team as a whole until it gets sorted out. What do they do with Rasmus Andersson? The Swedish defenceman himself seemed to know that a long-term contract to stay in Calgary might not be forthcoming when he spoke with the media on garbage bag day. Not with guys like Zayne Parekh ready to break through soon. If a deal isn’t worked out — and it seems unlikely — he’ll have to be traded before he becomes an unrestricted free agent. The return that GM Craig Conroy gets could be franchise-altering, even if Andersson underperformed in 2024-25. Is it best to move him this summer if there’s a good offer on the table, or give him a chance to show he’s back at his best before flipping him at the deadline?

Next year

Let’s assume the Flames move Andersson this summer. What does the defence look like next season? Joel Hanley had a great year for the Flames, but he’s an unrestricted free agent and just makes more sense elsewhere. Getting Kevin Bahl re-signed — he’s a restricted free agent — is a priority and MacKenzie Weegar is a proven No. 1. The two of them are a nice foundation. After that? Parekh is too young to play in the AHL and it would be a total waste to send him back to the OHL for another year. He’s going to be around. There will be inevitable growing pains, but the sky’s the limit for him. The Flames will be wanting to see more out of Jake Bean, but he’s a proven NHLer and you’d expect him playing most nights, while it’s a crucial year for the 27-year-old Daniil Miromanov if he wants to stick around in the NHL and Brayden Pachal provides a reliable, physical option on the third pairing. The Flames are in pretty decent shape even without Andersson, especially as they’ll be hoping one or two of the guys we’re about to speak about take another step and push for NHL playing time.

RelatedWho will push next?

There are a handful of blueliners who were with the Wranglers this year who will be making it their business this summer to be ready to push for NHL action next season. At the top of that list is Hunter Brzustewicz, who was acquired in the trade that sent Elias Lindholm to the Vancouver Canucks and quietly had an encouraging season in the AHL after a slow start as he adjusted to life in the pros. He got a call-up for the Flames’ last game of the year, and it wasn’t charity. He earned it and will be looking for more in 2025-26. Yan Kuznetsov and Ilya Solovyov are both entering important seasons in their careers, too. Still in their early 20s, Solovyov has now made 15 NHL appearances while Kuznetsov has made one. With so much young talent coming up behind them, it’s time for them to really push.

A little further away

The Flames have done a nice job with the draft over the last couple years, especially when it comes to blueliners. That starts with Parekh in the first round last year, of course, and he’s got superstar potential, but they also picked up Henry Mews in the third round. Mews had 82 points in the OHL last season and is committed to playing at the University of Michigan next year. He could wind up being an absolute steal. Brzustewicz wasn’t a Flames draft pick, but he’s in the same age bracket, while 2023 second-rounder Etienne Morin has only seen his stock rise and was a key piece of the Moncton Wildcats team that made it all the way to the Memorial Cup semifinal. That’s four defencemen, all 20 or younger, all with sky-high potential.

Going into the draft

As we’ve noted, the Flames are in really nice shape on the blue-line going forward and we haven’t even mentioned guys like Eric Jamieson or Axel Hurtig, who are also in the system and don’t put up the ridiculous numbers that guys like Parekh do, but are still super intriguing as prospects. It’s hard to imagine that adding defencemen will be a big priority in this year’s draft, at least compared to centres — although that doesn’t mean they won’t draft a blue-liner, of course. If anything, the Flames have put themselves in a spot where young defencemen can be useful trade chips in the next couple years. Not everyone we’ve listed will wind up playing their whole careers in Calgary, obviously, and having as much depth as the Flames have means they’ve got some flexibility to play with and trade assets other teams will definitely be interested in.

The NHLers

Rasmus Andersson (28)
MacKenzie Weegar (31)
Kevin Bahl (24)
Brayden Pachal (25)
Jake Bean (26)
Joel Hanley (33)
Daniil Miromanov (27)

The AHLers

Hunter Brzustewicz (20)
Ilya Solovyov (24)
Jeremie Poirier (22)
Artem Grushnikov (22)
Joni Jurmo (23)
Yan Kuznetzov (23)
Jonathan Aspirot (26)
Tyson Barrie (33)
Jarred Tinordi (33)

Next gen

Zayne Parekh (19)
Etienne Morin (20)
Henry Mews (19)
Eric Jamieson (19)
Axel Hurtig (19)