It's no secret that the Calgary Flames have been falling further and further in the standings in recent seasons, and in 2026/27, they may hit the lowest we've ever seen from this franchise. There's no guarantees, but with the Flames in desperate need of a top-three pick, struggling may be just what they need to find their future top line centre, something the team have never truly had.
The roster is certainly a weak one, and while there is some positives in Zayne Parekh, Simon Nemec, Dustin Wolf, Matvei Gridin and Matt Coronato, players that fans can hopefully enjoy developing over the coming season, but beyond that, it's a dire outlook for the organization.
That seems to be the concensus as well, as PuckEmpire has now begun their annual standings predictions, and to no surprise, it's the Flames that come in at No. 32 on the list, with centre depth, the lack of a belief in Ryan Huska as a coach and the overall lack of proven star power the reason behind it.