2 More Calgary Flames Players Who Should Be Untouchable – The Hockey Writers – Calgary Flames

Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff recently reported that the Calgary Flames have four untouchable players on their roster, but are open to conversations about anyone else, according to sources. General manager Craig Conroy is unwilling to move Matthew Coronato, Dustin Wolf, Matvei Gridin and Zayne Parekh. Not shocking, considering Wolf and Coronato signed lengthy extensions to stay with the team, and Gridin and Parekh had impressive rookie seasons.

Outside of those four, the team has several players, such as Blake Coleman, Zach Whitecloud, Olli Maatta, Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee, Connor Zary and Jonathan Huberdeau (assuming 50% of the contract will be retained), who could draw serious interest, especially considering the weak free-agent class this summer.

Shipping out multiple players would be a welcome change for a rebuilding team, as well as adding assets for the future and opening opportunities for young players. However, there are more than four players on the roster worth keeping and building around. Here are two additions to the Flames’ untouchable list.

Yan Kuznetsov

Drafted by the Flames in the second round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, it took some time for the Russian to make his NHL debut. He had a unique path to the league, playing a season in the NCAA before making the jump to the professional ranks, where he played a handful of games in the American Hockey League with the Calgary Wranglers, then finished out the 2021-22 season in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).

From there, Yan Kuznetsov played three straight seasons with the Wranglers, suiting up for 63 or more games in each and made his NHL debut in 2023-24. After another 10 games with the Wranglers to open up the 2025-26 season, Kuznetsov earned his spot on the Flames as ‘the next man up’, scoring four goals and twelve points through 57 games.

Between injuries and an underperforming blue line to start the season, Kuznetsov got his first extended chance in the NHL and ran with it, playing the second-most minutes of any Flames defenseman this season (second if you don’t include the now Utah Mammoth blueliner Mackenzie Weegar).

While his stats aren’t eye-popping, he was incredibly reliable on the back end, making plays defensively and moving pucks. He also has all the tools to continue developing into an impactful two-way defender. At 6-foot-4, with above-average skating and a max shot speed that ranks in the 97th percentile across the league, he is the prototypical defenseman teams are looking for. At 24 years old, this is a player worth keeping, unless the return package is undeniable.

Devin Cooley

Heading into the 2025-26 season, it was clear who would see the bulk of the action in the Flames’ net. Wolf was coming off a rookie season that made him a Calder Trophy finalist, and then signed a massive contract extension in the offseason. However, the backup role was wide open coming into camp, and like Kuznetsov, when given his first extended NHL opportunity, Devin Cooley took full advantage.

With limited chances through October, Cooley slowly began to earn coach Ryan Huska’s trust. Wolf struggled to start the season, and Cooley began to see more playing time, and for a while, he was the goalie giving the Flames the best chance to win games. That led to Wolf and Cooley becoming more of a tandem than a starter-backup.

Cooley finished the season with a .909 save percentage, which ranked in the top-10 in the NHL. He had the third-best high-danger save percentage and ranked seventh in goals saved above expected per 60 minutes among goalies to play 1000 minutes this season.

Are those numbers sustainable for a player who went undrafted and fought tooth and nail to make the NHL full-time through three different junior hockey leagues, the NCAA, two stints in the ECHL and four different American Hockey League (AHL) teams? Who knows. But Cooley proved this season that he has the mindset for success and an infectious personality. With plenty of young players coming into this organization over the next few years, his positive, unflappable personality will be an invaluable asset in the locker room.

There are a lot of teams thin in net that could really use a player like Cooley. With Wolf as the Flames’ goaltender of the future, it would make sense to move him if the deal favours Calgary. But for the sake of team culture, management should keep him and let him serve as a role model for young players trying to break into the NHL.

Flames Future Framework is Solid

Calling these two players untradeable alongside Coronato, Gridin, Parekh and Wolf may be a bit of a stretch. But I keep coming back to something GM Craig Conroy said when speaking about the team’s new arena: “When I was over in the new building the other day, thinking it won’t be next year, but the year after, we’re gonna be there, I want to be on that upswing going where we’re pushing to make the playoffs.”

If that’s still the plan, they need to keep the players who can continue to grow while the core is still being built and be at their best when these prospects turn the corner. While the Flames are still desperate for the high-end talent needed to make their team competitive, they can’t lose sight of the need to fill every role.

The Flames might not be building around Cooley and Kuznetsov per se, but both will strengthen the foundation they’re building. Barring a deal where the Flames are fleecing another team, these two should be added to that untouchable list.