Flames Are In Disastrous Spot If Owner Loves The Core

The Calgary Flames are last in the NHL, but the owner has all the belief in the world in the team and the core.

Darren Dreger reported, "Murray Edwards, the owner of the Calgary Flames, is telling people that he has no interest in trading Nazem Kadri; in fact, he doesn't want to trade Nazem Kadri. He loves the core of this team."

The Flames missed the playoffs each of the past three seasons, and only came close last season because Dustin Wolf played amazingly and dragged the team close. The Flames are in last place in 2025-26, finished with the 27th most goals last season and have the fewest amount scored this season. The core of the team is not okay or good enough.

The core of the Flames has to include Kadri, Mackenzie Weegar, Rasmus Andersson, Wolf, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Matthew Coronato based on skill and contract length. There are no superstars here and I'd argue that Weegar and Wolf are the two best players of that group. Huberdeau hasn't been the same since leaving the Florida Panthers. Coronato was a healthy scratch this season, Kadri is 35 years old, and Andersson is going to be traded as it's highly unlikely he re-signs.

There have been no extraordinary offensive producers on the team since Matthew Tkachuk, Johnny Gaudreau, and Elias Lindholm lit up the league for one year. There are a bunch of average complementary pieces as well, providing no life. While Zayne Perekh is part of the next wave, he has scratched this season as well and was being used sparingly.

The Flames have to get worse before getting better, and that is very hard for a GM to accomplish if the owner has his own plans for the team. It is more likely they will stay in the middle of the pack at best, only get a high first-round pick if they get lucky by not winning games with an average team, and it won't speed up the process.