- The Flames have been one of the biggest surprises around the league this season. Expected to struggle by many, they instead find themselves in the second Wild Card spot in the West. Despite their success, GM Craig Conroy acknowledged to Sportsnet’s Eric Francis that there have not been any discussions on an extension for head coach Ryan Huska yet. He’s in the second season of a three-year deal and with coaches rarely working with only one year left on their contracts, this sounds like something that will get done by the summer at the latest.
Flames Rumors
Flames Assign Tyson Barrie To AHL On Conditioning Loan
The Flames assigned defenseman Tyson Barrie to AHL Calgary on a conditioning loan Friday, per a club announcement. It will be the 33-year-old’s first minor-league action in over 11 years.
Despite not dealing with an injury, Barrie hasn’t suited up for the Flames since mid-November. After being scratched in a remarkable 29 straight contests, the veteran will once again get some playing time, even if at a lower level of competition.
Barrie hasn’t been a factor for Calgary after joining the organization on a tryout and landing a one-year, $1.25MM contract near the end of training camp. He was scratched for all but three games in October before getting an extended run of play in November, posting a goal and an assist with a minus-two rating in nine appearances before heading to the press box for the last two-plus months.
Whether the 5’11” righty’s NHL career continues past this season remains to be seen. Once one of the league’s better offensive defensemen with the Avalanche in the mid-2010s, he’s continuously slid down depth charts ever since Colorado traded him to the Maple Leafs in the 2019 deal that sent Nazem Kadri to Denver. His minutes have been reduced in stops with Toronto, Edmonton, Nashville, and now Calgary. Before becoming an unrestricted free agent last summer, he’d dressed in only 41 games with the Preds in the last year of a three-year, $13.5MM commitment, recording 15 points with a -10 rating.
His unimpressive possession metrics in his short stint in Calgary are evidence of how far his two-way game has lapsed. His 49.2 CF% at even strength ranks 18th on the club, and his 3.0 GA/60 is fourth-worst. He was getting second-unit power play time when in the lineup but didn’t produce anything aside from the lone assist.
Barrie will continue counting against the Flames’ cap and roster limit while on a conditioning loan. If they choose to keep him in the minors after two weeks, they’ll have to place him on waivers.
Flames Recall Clark Bishop
The Flames recalled center Clark Bishop from AHL Calgary on Thursday, per a team announcement. They had an open roster spot after losing winger Walker Duehr on waivers to the Sharks yesterday, so no corresponding move is required.
Bishop, 28, has 47 NHL games under his belt with the Hurricanes and Senators but none since signing with the Flames in 2022. The Newfoundland native has bided his time as a middle-six depth piece on the farm – that is, until this season. He’s exploded offensively for 16 goals and 17 assists for 33 points through 39 contests, third on the Wranglers in scoring. His 0.85 points per game puts his 0.38 career AHL average in the rearview, at least for the past few months.
For the majority of his career, Bishop has served as a physical, defensively responsible depth center who also has utility at left wing. He has just one goal on 44 shots in the NHL, adding seven assists for eight points with a minus-six rating. He’s yet to average north of 10 minutes per game in any of his four NHL seasons and has won 46.9% of his faceoffs.
If Bishop suits up tonight against the Sabres, it will be his first NHL appearance in nearly three years. He last skated in a big-league contest with the Senators on Feb. 15, 2022.
At the very least, Bishop won’t be a downgrade from Duehr by any stretch of the imagination. Duehr had just one assist in 16 games with team-worst possession metrics before landing on the wire.
Bishop, who cleared waivers during training camp, can remain on Calgary’s roster for up to 30 days or play 10 games before he requires them again to return to the AHL.
Sharks Claim Walker Duehr Off Waivers From Flames
Jan. 22: The Sharks plucked Duehr off the wire from the Flames on Wednesday, Friedman reports. He’ll provide a likely temporary bottom-six presence for San Jose with Tyler Toffoli, Nico Sturm and Klim Kostin currently sidelined with injuries. The Sharks don’t have an open roster spot, however, and will need to make a corresponding transaction. Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News reports that move will be placing Sturm, who missed Tuesday’s loss to the Predators with a lower-body injury, on IR.
Jan. 21: The Flames placed winger Walker Duehr on waivers Tuesday, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. He’ll presumably head to AHL Calgary if he clears.
Duehr, 27, hits the wire for the second time this season. After making the opening night roster last season, he failed to do so in 2024-25 and cleared without incident near the end of training camp.
The 6’3″, 205-lb righty responded by notching 11 goals and eight assists for 19 points through 20 AHL games. That earned him a recall back to the Flames in early December as they needed a replacement for Justin Kirkland, who underwent season-ending ACL surgery.
Duehr appeared in 10 consecutive games for the Flames to begin his call-up, which was interrupted on a few occasions by paper transactions to extend his temporary waiver exemption. The number of days he’d spent on the roster no longer mattered once he played his 10th game, though.
Since that run of 10 straight, he’s been scratched four times in the Flames’ last 10. On the whole, the South Dakota native only contributed one assist with a minus-six rating.
Given Duehr’s underwhelming offensive performance, limited ice time and his team-worst -12.2 relative CF% at even strength, today’s demotion is unsurprising. The South Dakota native has nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points in 84 games with Calgary since signing as an undrafted free agent out of Minnesota State in 2021.
A pending unrestricted free agent, the Flames may have an interest in keeping Duehr around on a two-way extension, considering his strong AHL production. However, given his poor NHL showing over the past few weeks, the chances of him replicating a one-way deal like he’s had for the past two seasons are slim.
Duehr’s bottom-six spot looks to go to recent call-up Rory Kerins, who’s earned his keep with four assists through his first four NHL games. Kerins, 22, was added back to the roster today after being sent down over the weekend to bank cap space, Ryan Pike of Flames Nation reports.
Calgary Flames Reassign Rory Kerins In Paper Transaction
According to Ryan Pike of Flames Nation, the Calgary Flames have reassigned forward Rory Kerins to their AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers. Pike adds that Kerins’ reassignment is a cap-related move and indicates Kerins should be back on the NHL roster by Monday.
It’s a testament to Kerins development that the Flames have no interest in keeping him with AHL Calgary. He’s gotten off to an impressive start in his NHL career with four assists in his first four games with a +4 rating averaging 13:33 of ice time per game. It shouldn’t be a surprise given Kerins has already scored 21 goals and 34 points in 34 games for the Wranglers this season.
Kerins will likely reprise his role as a full-time AHLer once forward Connor Zary is activated from the team’s injured reserve. Kerins is the only waiver-exempt forward on the roster outside of Matthew Coronato and Calgary will likely want to keep their fourth highest-scoring player on the roster. The only avenue for additional playing time at the NHL level for Kerins is if the Flames make a trade from the active roster or place one of their eight defensemen on waivers.
Kuzmenko Unlikely To Be Traded
- Heading into the season, Flames winger Andrei Kuzmenko felt like a probable trade candidate. It was expected that Calgary would be rebuilding and they hoped he’d bounce back after a tough 2023-24 performance. Neither has happened, however, as the Flames are in a battle for the playoffs and Kuzmenko has struggled even more. Accordingly, even though they’d likely welcome the open roster spot, Wes Gilbertson of the Calgary Herald opines that the 28-year-old is unlikely to move. At $5.5MM, Calgary would have to retain salary to move him and since he only has one goal and nine assists in 32 games, they may not get more than a late-round pick even with retention, meaning it might be the best usage of a retention slot and money. Kuzmenko had 74 points in 2022-23 and 46 last season; even getting to half of that this year is now in question.
Flames Unwilling To Move Rasmus Andersson, Interested In Dylan Cozens
The Flames have “no interest” in trading star defenseman Rasmus Andersson ahead of the March 7 deadline as things stand, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports Wednesday. LeBrun adds that they’re also “among the very long list of teams that have checked in” with the Sabres about trading for center Dylan Cozens.
Calgary general manager Craig Conroy has continued to receive calls on the 28-year-old Andersson, who is in the fifth season of a six-year, $27.3MM contract. According to a report from David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, they listened earnestly to those offers over the summer but had set a high threshold for a return price that other teams didn’t meet.
With the Flames still holding onto a playoff spot in the Western Conference past the halfway point of the season, Conroy has been shutting down those inquiries entirely. He’s “even talked to Andersson recently to make sure he knows the trade speculation is not real,” LeBrun wrote.
Their optimism about agreeing on an extension with Andersson this summer likely factors into their unwillingness to discuss trade options. Andersson told Eric Francis of Sportsnet over the weekend that he prefers to stay in Calgary for the long term. So, assuming Conroy is willing to pay market value for the righty, there shouldn’t be many issues in getting a deal done.
It’s been a somewhat slow campaign offensively for Andersson, whose 18 points through 42 games is his worst pace (0.43) since his 0.38 points per game in the 2020-21 season. Nonetheless, he’s averaging a career-high 24:21 per game and leads the club with 105 blocked shots.
Unfortunately, his defensive play has lapsed slightly with the increase in usage. His 3.0 on-ice goals against per 60 minutes at even strength is tied with Tyson Barrie for worst on the team among defenders, and his 49.3% share of shot attempts at EV play is the lowest of his nine-year career.
Nonetheless, he’s a core piece on a Calgary blue line that’s seen a lot of turnover as part of a roster retool over the past couple of seasons. His 156 points in 282 games since the start of the 2021-22 campaign rank 24th among defenders league-wide.
Regarding Cozens, they join the Red Wings as teams that have firmly demonstrated interest throughout the season, at least from what’s been reported. Their pursuit of a young middle-six center dates back to an early-season report from Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff.
Goal-scoring has been the limiter for the Flames, who rank 27th with 2.63 goals per game. But buoyed by solid team-wide possession play and expert goaltending from rookie Dustin Wolf, they’re still firmly in the playoff race far later in the season than most expected.
However, they have just six players with at least 20 points and none even in the neighborhood of a point per game. Cozens, who’s struggled by his standards with nine goals and 21 points in 43 games, would still rank seventh on Calgary in scoring.
Cap space won’t be an issue in any transaction the Flames want to make. They’ve already accumulated $36.66MM in space as of today’s writing and will have a whopping $81.18MM to add on deadline day if their roster remains as is, per PuckPedia.
Whether they’re willing to move any of their four first-round picks over the next two years will be the determining factor in how aggressively they can continue their retooling in the coming months. Cozens, selected seventh overall in 2019, would likely require at least a first-rounder for Buffalo to consider parting ways, but with Buffalo likely desiring a roster player back in return, the Flames don’t have much to offer that would be appealing.
Rasmus Andersson Hopes To Remain With Calgary Flames
Rasmus Andersson wants to remain a member of the Calgary Flames beyond this season in no uncertain terms. Andersson reiterated his desire to stay with the Flames organization in a recent interview with Sportsnet’s Eric Francis and his displeasure for some specific teams in the Pacific Division.
Francis quoted Andersson saying, “I love playing here and I’ve always loved playing here and that’s never going to change. Of course I would love to stay here, but I’ve heard from everyone else who has been in my situation that it’s a business.” Furthermore, his passion and loyalty toward the Flames organization has turned into distaste for other organizations with Andersson saying, “I hate the Oilers, I hate the Canucks and that’s just the way I am.”
Given his age, contract term, and recent production, Andersson entered the season as arguably the best trade chip at Calgary’s disposal. Many preseason expectations had the Flames finishing at or near the Western Conference basement after moving on from Noah Hanifin, Elias Lindholm, Andrew Mangiapane, Jacob Markström, Chris Tanev, and Nikita Zadorov during the 2023-24 season and this past offseason.
Calgary didn’t get the memo as they hold a 19-14-7 record through the first half of 2024-25 and sit one point back of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Flames don’t have the league’s best offense, defense, or goaltending but are controlling scoring chances more times than not leading to their surprising record.
It would be surprising if there wasn’t mutual interest in retaining Andersson. He’s been one of the more underrated two-way defensemen in the league from 2022-2025 scoring 30 goals and 156 points in 279 games for the Flames while holding a career 51.7 CorsiFor% at even strength and +43.5 expected +/-.
Defensemen like Andersson don’t grow on trees, especially as a right-handed shot. He’ll earn a more than affordable $4.55MM salary for the next two years before being eligible for a new contract on July 1st, 2026.
It’s a precarious situation for the Flames. On one hand, they won’t have a trade candidate with as much value as Andersson for quite some time. On the other hand, the loyalty he holds toward the organization plus his on-ice production is something Calgary should want in the roster for the foreseeable future. A resolution of some sort will be decided on soon in the form of an Andersson extension on July 1st or his wearing of another team’s jersey by the end of this season.
Flames’ Connor Zary Out Indefinitely With Knee Injury
4:47 p.m.: Zary does not require surgery but will be out indefinitely while he rehabilitates his knee injury, the Flames announced Friday afternoon.
2:43 p.m.: The Flames placed center Connor Zary on injured reserve Friday after he sustained a left knee injury Tuesday on a hit from Ducks defenseman Drew Helleson, per the league’s media portal. Initial imaging yesterday revealed no ACL or MCL damage, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports, but they’re still working out a concrete timeline for his return.
Taking Zary’s spot on the active roster will be 22-year-old Rory Kerins, who the team announced has been recalled from AHL Calgary. Kerins, a 2020 sixth-round pick, currently leads the AHL in goals with 21 in 34 games.
The IR placement means Zary will miss Calgary’s next three games at the very least. Now in his second NHL season, the 2020 24th overall pick had 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points through 40 games.
Zary finished eighth in Calder Trophy voting last year after finishing 10th on the Flames in scoring with 34 points in 63 contests and ranking fifth with a +12 rating. He had started the season in the minors, but after posting a goal and nine assists through only six AHL games, he earned a call-up and never looked back.
The Saskatchewan native has bounced around a few lines this season and has been shifted to the wing, struggling in the faceoff dot with a 36% win rate. He’s shooting at 12% and is averaging 16:18 per game, seventh among Flames forwards.
Zary has posted some of the best possession numbers on the Flames, controlling 53.6% of shot attempts at even strength – a relative share of 2.4%. He’s due for a new contract as a pending restricted free agent with a qualifying offer of $874,125. He will not be eligible for arbitration if he reaches free agency this summer.
In the meantime, Kerins will get his first NHL chance, although he’s not expected to make his NHL debut on Saturday against the Kings. In addition to leading their AHL club in scoring with 34 points in 34 games, his +13 rating leads Wranglers forwards.
The Flames have a full active roster with $34.79MM in current cap space after the moves. Kerins, also a pending RFA, is waiver-exempt this season.
Update On Zary Expected On Friday
- The Flames are expected to have more information on how long they’ll be without forward Connor Zary on Friday, relays Sportsnet’s Eric Francis (Twitter link). The 23-year-old suffered what looked to be a serious knee injury against Anaheim on Tuesday and the belief is that he may be facing an extended absence. After spending some time in the minors last season, Zary has been a full-timer with Calgary this season and had a solid first half before the injury, picking up 10 goals and 22 assists in his first 40 games.