Calgary Flames have "Murderers' Row" schedule to begin next season: report

The Calgary Flames are going to need to ensure they are ready to go right from the start of the 2025-26 season.

Many teams, particularly ones with longer offseasons, tend to start regular seasons out with some rather inconsistent play as they try to get their legs back under them. The Flames can’t afford to do that, however, as it sounds like they are set to have a very difficult schedule right out of the gates to kick off the 2025-26 campaign.

“Listen, I’ve seen a sneak peak of the schedule, and they have a Murderers’ Row to open the season next year, I can tell you that,” Sportsnet’s Eric Francis said to Pat Steinberg on Flames Talk. “It’s going to be quite daunting. It’ll be tough to get off to a really good start if you’re the Flames.”

This difficult schedule should give indication as to where the Flames are in their retooling efforts. They wound up missing the playoffs by a single point in what was supposed to be a reubilding season in 2024-25. It sounds as though management is looking to take another step forward in 2025-26, though there are many who feel this team could regress, and hearing of this daunting schedule certainly helps support that notion.

While being in the playoff race is certainly fun, falling well short would also help ensure the Flames have a high draft pick in 2026. Regardless of which result fans want to see, we may have an indication on which way things are going very early into the 2025-26 campaign.

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