Five Calgary Flames who caught the eye in Next Gen Showcase

On Monday night, the Calgary Flames ’ youngsters faced off with their Edmonton Oilers counterparts in a Next Gen Showcase at the Saddledome. The visitors from up the highway were the sharper of the squads, rolling to a 6-1 win that surely made their commute back to the provincial capital a little more cheerful.

The Flames had their chances and won’t lose too much sleep over what was ultimately a tune-up game intended to get their prospects sharp before main camp kicks off this week.

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“It was a good test for those guys,” said Calgary Wranglers head coach Brett Sutter, who has been in charge at rookie camp. “I thought all in all, it was a good building block for those kids. They saw some good pro competition and it’s a good way to measure themselves up.”

Here are five players from the home team who caught the eye on Monday night:

That doesn’t mean he isn’t one of the most intriguing prospects the Flames have in their system, though.

The towering blueliner — he’s 6-foot-6 and 228 lbs. — who was drafted in the third round in 2025 has the type of size and athleticism that makes it impossible to take your eyes off him when he’s out on the ice.

On Monday, he also earned the biggest roar of the night from the Flames faithful when he dropped the gloves and lay a beating on Oilers prospect Weston Cameron. In this same game a year ago, he’d managed something similar when he threw hands with Connor Clattenburg.

It won’t be his abilities as a pugilist that get him to the NHL, but Phillips is sneakily skilled and will benefit from a little patience as he develops. He’ll spend the upcoming season with the Medicine Hat Tigers in the WHL.

“It was great, he made some big hits, I thought he was ending plays hard,” Sutter said. “Obviously, the fight he was trying to get the guys back into it. Character kid … that’s what you like about him. He’s competitive and he’s physical and he cares.”

When he does arrive in Calgary, he looks like the type of player Flames fans are going to love.

It almost feels like a cheat including Gridin on this list, given that he played in 37 games for the Flames last season and is widely expected to spend the season alongside Morgan Frost and Matt Coronato on the team’s first line.

Obviously, he was going to be one of the standout players in the Next Gen game.