It was an ugly season on the ice for the Calgary Flames, finishing 29th in the NHL and posting a 34-39-9 record. There is reason for optimism, with many young prospects getting comfortable or making their NHL debuts and a few mainstays on the roster having quality seasons. However, there is still a long way to go before this organization can compete for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
With the season in the books, it’s time to take a look at each player who suited up for the Flames this season (excluding Nazem Kadri, Mackenzie Weegar and Rasmus Andersson, who were traded mid-season) and evaluate their play, how it compares to prior seasons, look at their development, and assess their future in Calgary before giving them a final grade.
Starting alphabetically by first name, first up is Abram Wiebe, one of the promising rookies the Flames got a look at late in the season.
Wiebe’s Development Path
In 2021-22, Wiebe played for the Chilliwack Chiefs of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). He put up two goals and 29 assists for 31 points, which led him to be selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the seventh round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.
After being drafted, he returned to the BCHL and played one more season with the Chiefs, scoring 12 goals, adding 41 assists, and totalling 53 points.
After that, the Mission, British Columbia native committed to the University of North Dakota, where he continued to develop. As a freshman, Wiebe only managed a goal and nine assists through 40 games with the Fighting Hawks. But as a sophomore taking on a larger role, he more than doubled his offensive production from the blue line, posting 24 points, including four goals.
That leads us to this season, when Wiebe returned to North Dakota for his junior year to play massive minutes on the Fighting Hawks’ blue line, rather than signing with the Golden Knights.
This Season
As you would expect, after seeing it every season prior to this, Wiebe took his game to another level this season. He finished the season with five goals, 24 assists, and 29 points, which led all Fighting Hawks defensemen and earned him a spot on the All-NCHC Second Team.
He helped lead a loaded North Dakota team to a Frozen Four appearance, where their run finally came to an end, losing to Wisconsin at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Following the loss, the 6-foot-3, 209-pound defenseman signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Flames and made his NHL debut just two days after his final college game. When speaking about the transition, the former seventh-round pick said: “It’s been an absolute whirlwind, and I’m just very grateful for the opportunity.”
After taking his rookie lap in front of a large number of family and friends and playing his first NHL game, Wiebe said, “Just the size and the speed of the game is just so much faster,” when asked about making the transition from college to the pros, and that it would be “something I’ll have to get used to game-by-game.”
The Flames let him play out the rest of the season to give him a real chance to feel out the game, but the results weren’t anything to write home about, with the Flames only having a 39.58% shot share, 33.33% scoring chance share, 27.59% share of the high-danger chances, and a 32.79 expected goal percentage with Wiebe on the ice.
While he was only on the ice for one goal for and one against, the expected goal share is especially noteworthy, as the Flames were giving up 1.03 more expected goals per 60 minutes with Wiebe on the ice compared to any of the other five to play on the Flames’ blue line in the final four games of their season (via Natural Stat Trick).
Future Outlook & Final Grade
While the underlying numbers weren’t pretty after his first few NHL games, you can’t hold that against the 22-year-old. The sample size is just much too small, especially considering that three of those four games were played against a team gearing up to make a run at the Stanley Cup, and it is unfair to solely look at on-ice numbers for a guy getting very little ice time with players who will drive the offence and create better-looking underlying numbers.
Numbers aside, Wiebe looked the part at the NHL level. You can see the size, the skill, and some of the poise that made him a player the Flames wanted in the return for Andersson from the Knights.
At 22, being one of three seventh-round picks to make the NHL debut from his draft class, you can’t complain that he didn’t have a major impact in his first few games with the Flames. Heck, there are still first-round picks from that class who haven’t had their chance to play in the NHL yet. There is still plenty of time for him to adjust to the speed of the NHL game.
With the way Wiebe has seemingly taken his game to a new level every season, dating back to his days in the BCHL, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him return in the fall and push for a roster spot on a blue line that will likely be much younger in 2026-27.
However, even if he is sent to the American Hockey League to play with the Calgary Wranglers to give him more time to adjust to the pro game, Wiebe is well ahead of schedule in developing as a seventh-round pick and certainly has an NHL future, and for that reason, I’m giving him an ‘A’ for his short stint with the Flames to end the season.
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