It CAN’T get any worse than this for the Calgary Flames…

For the Calgary Flames, it genuinely cannot get any worse in terms of not only their forward depth, but more specifically, their centers. The team has been dying for a top center for decades, and things are maybe finally looking promising, but not for this upcoming season. We're going to get to all that more in this video, but first I want to welcome you to Flames Digest. I'm Mark Griffith. If you're new around here and you love the Flames, make sure to subscribe so you can stay up to date on all the latest news, updates, reports, and rumors revolving around your Calgary Flames. We would love to welcome you to the Flames Digest family, and yes, it's going to be all about the centers in this one here, and like I said, Conroy, the holy grail for him is landing that number one center, preferably a younger right shot guy, whether that's going to be through the draft, through trades is what we've really been talking about for years, and it hasn't quite panned out, but where is this all kind of stemming from for me? It's actually stemming from something I came across here on Instagram. I saw this, and it's every team's most recent elite number one center, so obviously this is opinion-based, but it's really startling when you get to Calgary, so you go down the list, you see some current guys, you see your Celebrini, your Crosby, McDavid, Matthews, guys like that in there, Jack Eichel, you go to the Flames, who is our most recent elite number one center? Well, you got to go all the way back to Joe Neuendijk. That is before the 21st century. The Flames have not had an elite number one center. There have been guys who they've tried to develop, guys who maybe could have been better, really dependable number one centers, but not necessarily elite caliber. We've had MVP caliber players like Aguimba, Kiprosoff, Johnny Gaudreau, none of them obviously were centers, so it's been a very long time since the Flames have had that kind of elite center, and it's funny, because on the same account as the one that posted this, I think that says Slapshot Hockey or something like that, either way, all credit due to them for that, it's also tiering every team's 2026-27 number one center, and this was obviously spawned off of what happened with Leo Carlsen and the offer sheet that was obviously matched by Anaheim, so there's an S tier, A, B, C, D, and then F. Our number one center, who is Morgan Frost, according to this, is compared to the rest of the league in the F tier, which is obviously quite concerning, so the Flames, they're not expected to be all that great of a team this year, as we know, and their forward core right now, their forward group is a good reflection of that, but you go down strictly the middle, the spine of the team, the centers, it's really not looking all that good. No hate to Morgan Frost, I think he's a sensational player, love the chemistry he built with Gritton and Coronado towards the end of last season, and I think he'll have a really good season this year, but when you compare it to all these other guys, you look at that kind of top list there, some of those guys we named, you get Barkov in there, Eichel, guys like that, even the A tier there, guys like, you know, Hughes, Stutzler, Wyatt Johnston, you know, really good players, you go down the list, it goes further and further, I don't understand the hate for Aho, man, that guy's underrated, look what he just did in winning the cup, but yeah, we're down there in not exactly the highest of tiers, which, you know, it technically, in terms of this tier list, cannot get any worse, and if we go back to the first one here, I think it also, the only way it can get worse on this one is those teams where it says they've never had an elite center, elite number one center, like it says for, you know, Columbus, Minnesota, Nashville, and obviously this is a very harsh opinion, it's just more so, I think in terms of elite, it means genuinely a guy that will either be like a hall of famer type thing, or, you know, an MVP conversation, but then you guys get guys like Dylan Larkin in there somehow, so I don't know, a little bit messed up, but one interesting point that it does obviously lead me to, I think this goes great, is this article here that was originally posted on the win column by Gurpal Singh, so he said an updated look at the Calgary Flames depth chart at center, and it almost just adds fuel to the fire of how it's, it's really not all that great, but the Calgary Flames have significantly built up their prospect pool since general manager Craig Conroy took over, the most important position for the Flames right now is down the middle, as it honestly probably always should be, other than, you know, goal tending, really. The team has significantly added some promising center prospects, but is still in need of an elite number one center, there you go, hand in hand, let's take a look at the Flames current organizational depth chart at the center position to kind of decide if we do have that elite number one center, or if there's one at least coming, or we just don't have it at all, and we gotta pick it up elsewhere, whether through trade, free agency, or most likely and preferred for myself, next year's draft. So Michael Backlin, as we know, is the first one, the Flames captain, will be entering his 18th season with the team, the 37-year-old didn't have a bad season, scoring 17 goals and 43 points, but clearly shouldn't be relied upon to provide big minutes in a top six role, however, Backlin is currently slotted as the Flames second line center, clearly he's been getting a bigger role than he should due to the team being thin down the middle, maybe it's all caused by Backlin, he wants the team to be thin at the position so he can be the number one guy, again, no hate to Backlin at all, but let's face it, he's in the waning years of his career for sure. With Backlin likely not having many more years left in the tank, he'll continue to provide a key membership, sorry, membership, what is this, like co-op or something? Mentorship role for the young players by being a voice in the locker room and a solid veteran presence, a great teammate, a great Calgary Flame, and a great Calgarian overall. Morgan Frost is next, who again, as we just saw, kind of is our number one center going into this season, but he wouldn't be labeled one of those elite number one centers. So Frost could very well find himself on the trade block as he's a pending UFA, of course the Flames could always extend him, but it depends on how much money Frost Camp is commanding, given the rising cap and the nature of contracts being handed to players around the league, nuts, there's a decent chance that Frost will be looking to cash in, and in that case, it doesn't make much sense for Conroy to pursue that. Frost is likely a third line center on a contending team and could be a great addition down the middle for any team looking for centers, he could net back a decent return for the Flames, if he becomes available, depending on his playoff course. So in Gurpal Singh's eyes here, Morgan Frost ain't even part of the plans of the future really for Calgary at all, which is quite interesting. Another guy, and a really interesting one, Connor Zeri. So he's a player who has already found himself on the trade block, and you know, he's a 24 year old that's reportedly available for trade with the Flames asking for a second round pick and return. Despite that, there has been little to no interest in Zeri, but it's looking more likely that his time in Calgary may be coming to an end sooner rather than later. One guy who maybe at one point was touted to maybe be the team's next number one center, as we know, he doesn't even get to play that position. So Zeri's career so far has been defined by injuries and a lack of true utilization. Surprise, surprise, welcome to the Calgary Flames. He and Flames head coach Ryan Huska clearly aren't on the same page, as despite being drafted as a center, Zeri has actually never truly gotten the opportunity to play down the middle. This is a player who certainly needs a fresh start elsewhere, and will likely get it. So again, not going to be our number one center of the future. The next, next, we're just going down the center's, you know, depth chart here. Ryan Strom. So acquired by the Flames at the 2026 trade deadline, Strom has rejuvenated his game in a way with the Flames. He scored 12 points in 19 games upon arriving in Calgary, as he acted as a replacement of some sort of the team traded away Nazem Hadri. Strom is very likely to be trade bait for the Flames next season. But that could easily be retained in a deadline deal. While Strom provides a good veteran presence, it makes sense for the Flames to flip him for an asset. So clearly, according to Singh here, we're going to have zero centers by the end of the season. Then you get into some more AHL guys. So there's Rory Cairns, there's Ben Jones. I won't pick up on Jones too much since we just picked him up, but I can't imagine he's going to play too much at the NHL level. As for Cairns, he's a player who was once highly coveted by fans. He has since fallen under the radar. He played four games this season with the team, scoring zero points. But the season before, he notched four assists in five games. Cairns clearly has skill, but the chance for him to make the Flames lineup full-time is unknown. Cairns was a point-for-game player at the AHL level, but could that be his ceiling? And that is a valid question for sure. Good AHL player, but maybe not quite ever good enough to really make it in this show. Again, not being utilized correctly when he was brought up last season in a season where it seemed like everyone should have gotten an opportunity to play at the NHL level. But you bring in a guy like him, what does that do? It pushes guys like Zary to the outside. So it does continue that conundrum, but we do have to keep in mind, Cairns is still here. He was re-signed. Then you get some of those younger guys that we recently just picked up, like Tyson Gross. So he will be in the mix to be the Flames' fourth-line center. He was signed by the team out of college and played six games with the Flames, scoring a goal. He's still only 23, so there still could be some untapped potential with him. I think he could be a filler in at that fourth-line center role until some of those younger guys that we've picked up in the past few drafts can come up and kind of play those in the last few games of the season. Another one that we actually spoke about recently on the channel, Jonathan Castagna. So he was acquired by the Flames in the Uyghur trade. He's an intriguing center prospect. He was a point-per-game player for Cornell University this season and will likely get his shot at pro hockey with the Wranglers this upcoming year. He could be a player who gets in some NHL games if he catches the Flames' attention. They clearly value him as a prospect to watch, or else why else would they have picked him up? But it'll be interesting. If he plays well with the Wranglers, he could very well find himself with the Flames sooner rather than later as next season begins. A couple more, some recent draftees. Theo Stokzalias with a 2025 second-round pick. He's an intriguing prospect to keep an eye on. His game screams pure skill, and his development path will be interesting to watch. Regardless, Stokzalias will continue to play in Europe as Flames scouts continue to monitor his progress. So in no time soon will he be playing center for the Flames, but maybe down the line he very well could be. And who knows? If everything goes to plan, he very well could be a number one center. Now, the next one is the most hopeful of who we currently have to be that elite number one center, and it's Cole Reshne. The best center in the Flames prospect pool by far is Reshne, and he will continue playing for North Dakota this upcoming season. Reshne was drafted 18th overall by the Flames in 2025 and projects to be a second-line center at the NHL level. The team won't rush his progress, and he's bound to make leaps in his development in college. It also helps that he's playing on a stacked UND team, so when you're playing with better players, you'll hopefully develop a little bit better. The last two here, so Cullen Potter, obviously taken later after Reshne in the 2025 draft, was obviously injured this year, but he's going to Michigan State this season, and a speedster with skill. I don't envision him being the number one elite center, you know, our next Joe Neuendyke, but I very well could see him being a good NHL player. And then Jack Hextall is the final one here. He was just drafted this past draft about a month ago now. Well, not even half a month ago. Yeah, he won't ever be, you know, the next Joe Neuendyke either, I don't really think, but he has the potential to once again be a center for the Flames sooner rather than later. With a thin prospect pipeline, all these guys could get in at some point. So again, we don't have it yet, but there is chances we get it in the future. Maybe through what we have right now, but more likely through next year's draft, or obviously there's always the option of trading or free agency as well, but it currently can't really get any worse. It can only get better, which I think Flames fans are down for right now. Now let's get into the comment of the day to wrap up this video, as we love to do here on the channel. It comes from the most recent video, of course, about, you know, more trade rumors, Zeri trade rumors, Shane Wright trade rumors, and Anderson here says, Apparently Seattle's asking price for Wright is astronomical, even after just a 27-point season. So Zeri and the Vegas 2028 second probably wouldn't do it, probably have to add White Cloud or another prospect, and in no world do I want to do that. I have said it. I've been adamant about it. I don't want to acquire Shane Wright unless it's for literal pennies. Zeri, a second round pick, and White Cloud, we'd have to run Conray out of town. I gotta be quite honest about that one. Thank you so much for watching this video. Please subscribe to what you saw here today, and have a wonderful rest of your day.