NHL Prospect Watch: Calgary Flames

In the lead-up to the 2026-27 hockey season, we’re diving into the WHL prospect pool for every NHL team. To be included in this list, a player must be recently drafted, signed to an NHL contract, or meet the NHL’s criteria for rookie status.

The Calgary Flames’ prospect pool ranges from blue-chip and blue-collar pickups to some of the most exciting prospects slated to start their WHL careers in 2026-27.

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Andrew Basha

After starting the season in the professional ranks, 2025 WHL Champion Andrew Basha returned for a final victory lap in Medicine Hat. The 20-year-old registered a goal and four assists in 27 games with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers before being reassigned to Medicine Hat, where he piled up 50 points (18G-32A) in 32 games while making a switch to centre to play alongside the Ruck twins. The 6-foot, 187-pound forward was drafted by the Flames with the 41st overall pick in the second round of the 2024 NHL Draft. Basha will close out his WHL career with 234 points (82G-152A) in 223 regular-season games with the Tabbies, in addition to 35 points (11G-24A) in 29 playoff matches.

Carson Carels

Flames fans won’t soon forget the image of Carels eschewing the pomp of the 2026 NHL Draft in Buffalo, N.Y., in favour of taking in the draft from his family’s farm in Cypress River, Man. They also won’t forget the eye-popping stats the sixth-overall pick posted last season. The 18-year-old Prince George Cougars alternate captain tallied 20 goals (including three game-winners and a trio of shorthanded strikes), 53 assists, 73 points, and a +23 rating in 58 games in 2025-26. He ranked third in points-per-game among all defencemen, was one of just six blueliners to hit the 20-goal mark in the regular season, cracked the WHL Western Conference First All-Star Team and was named a finalist for the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy for WHL Defenceman of the Year. Carels, who clocks in at 6-foot-1, 198 pounds, was also the second-youngest skater on Team Canada at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, where he played alongside star Flames rookie and OHL graduate Zayne Parekh.

Max Curran

Originally drafted by Colorado with the 161st pick in the fifth round of the 2024 Draft, 6-foot-3, 187-pound centreman Max Curran saw his rights traded to the Calgary Flames as part of a package deal in the Nazem Kadri trade in March. The 19-year-old was in the midst of a career year with the Edmonton Oil Kings, posting 41 points (14G-27A) in 31 games before suffering a season-ending shoulder surgery. He also helped Czechia to a silver medal at the 2026 World Juniors with five points (1G-4A) in seven games. Over three seasons with the Oil Kings and Tri-City Americans, Curran has put up  147 points (41G-106A) in 136 regular season games, while earning 2025 WHL Scholastic Player of the Year honours.

Chase Harrington

The Spokane Chiefs power forward is going from on-ice foes to fellow Flames after a heated playoff battle against Carson Carels and the Cougars in the spring of 2026. Harrington is coming off a career-best 57-point (28G-29A) campaign that saw him average a point per game in the second half of the season. Harrington led the Chiefs in game-winning goals (4) and finished eighth in the WHL in penalty minutes with 105. The 6-foot, 202-pound winger earned invitations to the 2025 CHL USA Prospects Challenge and 2026 WHL Prospects Game before hearing his name called by the Flames with the 36th overall pick in the second round of this year’s draft. Harrington owns 130 career points (53G-77A) in 194 regular-season games with Spokane, while helping the team to the 2025 WHL Championship, where he faced off against Basha and the Tabbies.

Samuel Honzek

In a perfect world, former Vancouver Giants captain Sam Honzek wouldn’t be on this list. The speedy Slovak was primed for a full season with the big club entering 2025-26. He scored his first NHL goal, added another, and bagged two assists in 18 games before a collision in November forced him to undergo surgery and take his place on the sidelines. Still, there’s plenty of excitement surrounding the 6-foot-4, 185-pound forward. Honzek, 21, racked up 21 points (8G-13A) in 52 contests with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers in 2024-25 after a successful two-season run in the lower mainland. Honzek wasn’t just the first European player to be crowned captain of the Giants; he also scored 33 goals and 54 assists for 87 points in 76 regular-season WHL games. Calgary selected Honzek with the 16th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

Axel Hurtig

Do we sense a theme here? Punishing 6-foot-4 blueliner Axel Hurtig has also played his way into the history books as the first-ever European captain of the Calgary Hitmen. The towering Swede posted 11 goals, 35 points, a +60 rating and 75 penalty minutes in 119 games over two seasons in the Saddledome. ‘Big Axe’ was drafted by the Flames in the seventh round of the 2023 NHL Draft and signed a three-year, entry-level deal with the club in early April. Now 21, Hurtig won’t be going far as he prepares for his first season in the pro ranks with the Wranglers.

Joe Iginla

Here’s a name Flames fans know and love. Joe Iginla, the son of Hockey Hall-of-Famer Jarome Iginla, was snapped up with the 65th overall pick in the third round of the 2026 NHL Draft. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound forward made moves with 31 points (15G-16A) in 59 games with the Edmonton Oil Kings and Vancouver Giants in 2025-26. After starting his career with the Oil Kings, Iginla was traded to the B.C. Division, where he represented Team West at the 2026 WHL Prospects Game. He’s posted 52 points (27G-25A) over 125 games through parts of four WHL seasons.

Eric Jamieson

Twenty-one-year-old Eric Jamieson’s year was as good as it can get. The former Everett Silvertips co-captain nabbed 18 points (7G-11A) in 43 contests with the Denver Pioneers before going on to capture an NCAA Championship and making the NCHC All-Rookie Team and 2025-26 Academic Honour Roll. The 6-foot-3, 203-pound defender collected 81 points (27G-54A) in 209 games over parts of four seasons with the Everett Silvertips, culminating in a Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy in 2025 as WHL regular season champions. The Calgary product was drafted by the Flames with the 177th overall pick in the sixth round of the 2024 Draft.

Cole Reschny

The hard-nosed forward from Macklin, Sask. teamed up with Carels and Parekh at the 2026 World Juniors, where he scored four times and added an assist en route to a bronze medal. In his freshman season at North Dakota, Reschny scored six times and added 29 assists for 25 points in 36 games. The 5-foot-11, 187-pound forward was named NCHC Rookie of the Year and made the NCHC All-Rookie Team. The 19-year-old was a force at the WHL level with 152 points (48G-104A) in 127 regular-season games with the Victoria Royals. Fans on the Island might remember his postseason dominance best. Reschny had 25 points (9G-16A) in 11 playoff games in 2025 alone before being selected 18th overall that June.

Mace’o Phillips

Six-foot-6, 234-pound rearguard Mace’o Phillips is Gas City bound. He’ll suit up for Basha’s old club, the 2025 WHL Champion Medicine Hat Tigers, as they gear up for an expected deep playoff run. Calgary secured the Wayzata, Minn. product’s services by drafting him in the third round (80th overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft. Phillips joins the Tabbies after a stint as alternate captain of the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers, where he logged 11 points (1G-10A) and 187 PIMs in 44 games.

Jakob Leander

2025 seventh-round pick (208th overall) Jakob Leander is preparing to hop the pond for his first season of North American hockey with the Calgary Hitmen. The 6-foot-4, 209-pound defenceman notched 12 points (2G-10A) in 36 games as an alternate captain for HV71’s U20 side in Sweden before being chosen by the Hitmen with the 48th overall pick in the first round of the 2026 CHL Import Draft.

Bode Laylin

Five-foot-11, 178-pound defenceman Bode Laylin is the most recent addition to the Flames’ stable of prospects, having been chosen with the 164th pick in the sixth round of the 2026 Draft. The St. Michael, Minn. product is slated to join Jamieson’s former team, the Everett Silvertips, after parts of three seasons with the USHL’s Tri-City Storm, most recently putting up 38 points (11G-27A) in 55 games in 2025-26. Laylin signed a WHL Scholarship and Development Agreement in May of 2026.