7 former Flames players who excelled after leaving Calgary

The Calgary Flames are a team that has seemed to move on from certain players far too quickly.

While some players they drafted and attempted to develop didn’t pan out, many others struggled in their early days but have seen their careers blossom once they left Calgary. With that said, here are seven players who took off after departing from the Flames organization.

Martin St. Louis

Despite putting up massive numbers during his four seasons with the University of Vermont, Martin St. Louis went undrafted due to his small stature. However, the Flames chose to give him an opportunity and signed him as a free agent.

Over the next three years, St. Louis posted excellent numbers in the AHL but was given very limited opportunities with the Flames. His contract ended up being bought out after the 1999-2000 season, and he signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning as a free agent. The rest is history, as the now 48-year-old went on to have a Hall-of-Fame career that included a Stanley Cup championship, two Art Ross Trophies, a Hart and Lester B. Pearson Trophy, and three Lady Byngs.

Brett Hull

Brett Hull was already well on his way to becoming a star talent in Calgary. During his rookie season in 1987-88, he had 26 goals and 50 points in 52 games but was traded alongside Steve Bozek to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Rob Ramage and Rick Wamsley.

While the Flames were able to win their first and only Stanley Cup that same season, one can’t help but wonder how many more they could have had if they held onto Hull. The 58-year-old sits fifth all-time in career goals with 741, and 25th in points with 1,391.

Marc Savard

Marc Savard showed glimpses of his potential during his four seasons with the Flames, including a then career-high 65 points in the 2000-01 campaign. That said, he was never able to put it all together, and his inconsistencies resulted in him being traded to the Atlanta Thrashers.

It was with the Thrashers that Savard turned into a star-calibre player and that high-level production continued in his later years with the Boston Bruins. In his prime, he was one of the game’s most elite playmakers. His four-year stretch from 2005 to 2009 in which he had 359 points in 320 games proves just how dominant he was.

Dwayne Roloson

Dwayne Roloson is perhaps best remembered for his years spent with the Edmonton Oilers, but his NHL career first began with the Flames. After going undrafted, Roloson signed as a free agent with the Flames after four seasons with the University of Massachusetts Lowell. He would spend an additional four years in the Flames’ system, which included 70 appearances at the NHL level. Due to inconsistent play, however, he walked as a free agent after the 1997-98 season.

It took Roloson some time, but he established himself as a solid number-one goaltender later in his career and went on to play in 606 games at the NHL level. He finished his career with a 2.72 goals-against average (GAA) along with a .908 save percentage (SV%) and a 227-257-82 record.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere

Another goaltender the Flames gave up on too early was Jean-Sebastien Giguere. The 46-year-old was acquired by the Flames in a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes alongside Andrew Cassels that saw Gary Roberts and Trevor Kidd head the other way. At the time of the deal, there was plenty of excitement surrounding Giguere given that he had been taken 13th overall in the 1995 draft.

Giguere spent the next three seasons with the Flames, split between the NHL and AHL, never developing as management had hoped. He was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in June of 2000, and shortly after became a starting goalie at the NHL level for years to come.

Sam Bennett

After being taken fourth overall in the 2014 draft, there was serious belief that Sam Bennett was on his way to becoming a star-calibre player. That never happened in Calgary, however, as he was primarily used in a bottom-six role where he chipped in with some secondary scoring but was far from the player many expected him to be.

Due to his diminishing role and disappointing results through the first five and a half seasons of his career, the Flames traded Bennett to the Florida Panthers, and he turned things around instantly. Bennett is now regarded as one of the game’s better power forwards, a player who can check an opponent through the glass or score a timely goal. He has 104 points in 144 games since joining the Panthers.

Juuso Valimaki

This one may still be too soon to judge, but the early results of Juuso Valimaki’s play since leaving the Flames have been much improved. Despite being taken 16th overall in the 2017 draft, Valimaki was never able to carve out a full-time role on the Flames’ blue line and was put on waivers ahead of the 2022-23 season.

The Arizona Coyotes picked him up off waivers and are reaping the rewards so far. After putting up just 16 points in his NHL career prior to joining the Coyotes, Valimaki scored four goals and 38 points in 78 outings this past season. The strong play earned him a one-year extension, where he will hope to further improve on those totals and make the Flames look foolish for giving up on him too soon.

You might also like:
• Flames' projected lines for opening night next season