Ryan Huska lands on the Flames hot seat

Elliotte Friedman reportedly flagged Huska's job security, and the pushback was quick. Andrew Knoll did not hold back.

Andrew Knoll

@AndrewKnollNHL

This would be a laughable firing. You're gonna pay two coaches figuring someone else can draw blood from this stone? In a year where you have no shot at the playoffs? He always has prepared, industrious teams, regardless of talent level. Right now their talent level is very low.

The Win Column@wincolumnCGY

According to Elliotte Friedman, Ryan Huska may be on the hot seat! #Flames t.co/4pgYLqzO3U

Knoll's case is about money as much as hockey. Calgary signed Huska to a 2-year extension in October 2025 that runs through the 2027-28 season. Fire him now and the Flames are paying 2 coaches for most of 2 seasons, in what Knoll calls a year with no shot at the playoffs anyway. Calgary would be spending real money to change the guy behind the bench when the problem is the group in front of it.

Huska's pressure is real, though. He has missed the playoffs in all 3 of his seasons as the 24th head coach in Flames history. The 2024-25 team was supposed to be a lottery club and went 41-27-14 instead, missing the playoffs only on a tiebreaker with St. Louis. That season is the main reason he got the extension. The year after, Calgary finished near the bottom of the standings, which is roughly what everyone expected.

Then there's the stat nobody in Calgary wants to hear. Per The Win Column, Huska now ranks 5th all-time for most games coaching one team without a playoff appearance. Wayne Gretzky holds the record at 328 games in Phoenix. If the Flames miss again this spring, Huska passes him. An 0-3 start is not how you get off that list.

The roster backs up Knoll's 'stone' line. This is a rebuild built around young players like Matt Coronato, Zayne Parekh, Dustin Wolf and Connor Zary, and Friedman has also reported the Canucks are kicking the tires on Zary. A team shopping one of its young forwards is not a team expecting to win now. The common knock on Huska is that he leans on veterans and doesn't trust the kids enough. That matters a lot more in a rebuild than in a playoff push.

So far GM Craig Conroy has publicly backed his coach, and the contract makes a quick hook expensive. What to watch is how the young core looks over the first couple of months. If Coronato, Parekh, Wolf and company stall, Conroy may have to make a change. If they grow, Knoll's point holds: a coach whose teams always show up prepared isn't what's wrong with this team.