Preseason Preview - Flames @ Kraken

The Flames hit the road for their penultimate exhibition contest, with a quick trip to the Emerald City on tap to visit the Kraken.

Puck drop is set for 7:40 p.m. MT. The game will be streamed on CalgaryFlames.com and the Flames App, though due to broadcast restrictions, the feed will only be available for viewers within the Flames broadcast region (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories and Nunavut).

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Flames Head Coach Ryan Huska is expecting a challenge tonight in Seattle.

Tuesday's victory at the Scotiabank Saddledome served as a nice tune-up for Calgary's vets - who outshot a young Canucks squad 30-9 en route to a 3-1 win - as well as a chance for everyone to touch up on details and puck touches in game action, before the regular season begins for real in one week's time. 

The Flames had a lot of offensive zone time against Vancouver and Huska is optimistic that kind of puck hungriness will carry over this evening against a Kraken squad likely to feature veterans much more prominently than the one that visited the 'Dome this past Sunday.

"I think we’re going to get a better indicator in our next couple of games, because we’re anticipating a full lineup from Seattle and full lineup from Edmonton in the last one," Huska said Wednesday. "That side of things, it is important and we have to do a better job playing in the offensive zone one, to score goals but two, the more you make teams play in their own zone, you wear them down and then as the game goes on, you’re more likely to get opportunities to win in third periods.

"That’s something that’s really important for our group to hang their hat on and they have to take a lot of pride in it."

The new preseason regulations mean veteran skaters with 100 or more NHL appearances are limited to two exhibition games, and it's not unreasonable to suggest many of those seasoned pros will want Saturday's preseason finale in Edmonton as one final dry run. Meaning for Huska's traveling group Thursday, there's likely to be opportunity abound.

Including for the lone 2026 draftee still with the squad. 

Huska confirmed forward Chase Harrington will make his NHL preseason debut Thursday in the Pacific Northwest, in a state that's served as his hockey home for the past three winters.

"We’re quite excited. I think he did a great job in the rookie camp when he was here, he was very noticeable in the game against Edmonton," Huska said of the young winger. "We stuck him in the main group on purpose, at the time was to give him experience, so he could see what certain players were like and what the pace was like. But he didn’t look out of place!

"He kept getting better and better. I think he’s earned an opportunity to get in the lineup, and we’re excited to have him there tomorrow."

The Other Side

Like the Flames, Seattle is expected to dress a much different lineup Thursday than the one that took the ice Sunday at the 'Dome. The Kraken (2-0-0) assigned several skaters from Sunday's 4-2 win in Calgary to AHL Coachella Valley earlier in the week including Logan Morrison, who scored the decider in that contest. With two exhibition games left on their slate, Head Coach Lane Lambert has a pared-down roster than the one that first coalesced a week ago for the start of camp.

But more importantly, the second-year Seattle bench boss is optimistic that picking up on systems work instilled a season ago will come quickly for the eventual opening-day roster, who face the Flames twice in a four-day span as part of the opening week of the regular season next week.

"I think it's been valuable for everybody," Lambert told Kraken Hockey Network analyst Alison Lukan recently. "With a short training camp, it helps for sure. There's an expectation that we have as a staff. We know what each other wants, and certainly the players know what that expectation is as well. 

"It’s nice to come in and have a little bit of comfortability having been here for a year."

Forward Jake O'Brien, the No. 8 pick in the Draft in 2025, did not practice for Seattle Wednesday. The Toronto product - who put up 93 points as captain of the OHL's Brantford Bulldogs last season - is listed as day-to-day.

After Thursday's game, the Kraken will close out the preseason Saturday evening in Vancouver before taking part in the final Scotiabank Saddledome Home Opener Oct. 1.

Player To Watch

Chase Harrington has spent the last month or so skating with Flames veterans and as Huska alluded to above, the bulk of his Training Camp ice-time has been with the big group, too.

On the first day of camp, the kid they call 'Harry' stripped his older opponent in a one-on-one drill, then - to raucous cheers from the Calgary vets - strode in alone on netminder Dustin Wolf and coolly snapped the puck into his net.

Hardly your prototypical Day One showing from a guy selected in the NHL Draft three months ago.

But tonight's game is bound to be a special one for the 18-year-old product of Prince George, B.C., whom Calgary selected in the second round this past June in Buffalo. Climate Pledge Arena is a hop, skip and a jump away from Spokane, the city where Harrington has played his entire WHL career, too.

Harrington skated Wednesday at the Scotiabank Saddledome on a line with Tyson Gross and Andrew Basha.