How much cap space Calgary Flames have entering this season
The Calgary Flames and GM Craig Conroy did next to nothing in free agency this offseason.
Aside from a few depth adds that were made to help improve the Wranglers, Conroy chose not to dish out any dough on NHL-calibre players. The reason? Well, it’s quite simple.
With the Flames still early on in their rebuild, this team has made the (correct) decision to give its young players opportunities to earn big roles.
The roster this coming season is a perfect example. Names like Sam Honzek and Brennan Othmann earned spots up front, while Zayne Parekh and newcomer Simon Nemec are expected to play significant minutes.
Going with this approach also allows the Flames to continue to keep plenty of cap space available. Several players on their roster are on cheap, inexpensive deals right now, once again giving Conroy an arsenal of cap space entering the season.
As per Puckpedia, the Flames are spending just $90.09 million of the $104 million they have available. That gives them roughly $13.91 million in cap space.
The only teams with more cap space entering the 2026-27 campaign are the Seattle Kraken ($17 million), Detroit Red Wings ($16.77 million), and Vancouver Canucks ($15.93 million).
Whether they take advantage of the space or not remains to be seen, but this gives Conroy a ton of flexibility.
One option he could consider is helping another team out by taking on a bad contract while also receiving a draft pick or prospect as compensation. We haven’t seen this take place with the Flames under Conroy’s tenure, but it could be an option this season.
What keeping so much extra cap space has also helped with is working out extensions. Conroy has been able to sign the likes of Kevin Bahl, Matt Coronato, Dustin Wolf, and Simon Nemec with relative ease. It will also help plenty when it comes to re-signing young talent in the coming years, such as Parekh and Matvei Gridin.
There will come a time when the Flames do start to change their philosophy and look to spend to the max, but that time hasn’t arrived just yet. Instead, Conroy is being extremely patient to make sure that this team is a contender for years to come once this rebuild is complete.
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