Kraken vs Flames opens Calgary’s season, and it opens the last one the Saddledome will ever host. Two clubs that finished 27th and 29th last year, in a building on its farewell tour, with a fanbase that has been promised patience.
Puck drop is 9:00pm ET at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Here is the Kraken vs Flames team news and the form behind it.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Fixture | Seattle Kraken at Calgary Flames |
| Date | Thursday 1 October 2026 |
| Time | 9:00pm ET / 7:00pm MT |
| Venue | Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary |
| 2025-26 head to head | Seattle won the series 2-1 |
| 2025-26 finish | Seattle 27th, Calgary 29th |
This is Calgary’s home opener and the start of the Saddledome’s final season, covered in full on our Saddledome farewell piece.
Kraken vs Flames odds
The Canadian books had not posted a price for this one when we checked on 30 September. The feed prices the nearest games first and fills in the rest as they approach, so we will add the board once it lands. Live prices across the league are on our NHL odds page.
Calgary: a bad season, and not quite as bad as it looked
The Flames took 77 points and finished 29th with a goal difference of minus 47. The scoring was spread thin rather than absent.
Matt Coronato led them on 45 points. Mikael Backlund and Morgan Frost tied on 43, Joel Farabee added 38 and Nazem Kadri managed 41 in 61 games. Five forwards cleared 29.
The defence is where it went wrong. MacKenzie Weegar finished at minus 35 and Kadri at minus 27. Dustin Wolf went 23-29-3 behind that with a .899 save percentage, which is a respectable number on a team conceding this often, and the clearest reason to think Calgary are better than 29th.
Jonathan Huberdeau is on injured reserve with a hip problem and is not expected back until around 10 October. He missed the final 26 games of last season with the same issue. Defenceman Henry Mews is also out.
Seattle: two points better and a division tougher
Seattle finished 79 points and 27th, two ahead of Calgary in a Pacific Division that only two clubs escaped with a positive goal difference.
Jordan Eberle led them on 55 points at 36 years old. Matty Beniers reached 50 across all 82 games. Chandler Stephenson added 49 and Vince Dunn 44 from the blue line, though both finished at minus 24.
Kaapo Kakko was the one who stood out. Forty points in 65 games at plus 14, the only meaningful positive on the roster, on a team that conceded 37 more than it scored.
In goal, Joey Daccord took the bulk of the work at 20-20-6 and a .897 save percentage. Philipp Grubauer was the better of the two, 13-12-4 with a 2.65 average and a .909, and which of them starts here is worth checking before the puck drops.
Team news
| Player | Club | Status | Expected back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Huberdeau | Calgary | Injured reserve, hip | 10 October |
| Henry Mews | Calgary | Out, knee | 2 October |
| Mackie Samoskevich | Seattle | Injured reserve, upper body | 3 October |
| Jake O’Brien | Seattle | Injured reserve, lower body | 6 October |
Seattle carry the lighter Kraken vs Flames injury list. Jake O’Brien is the interesting name on it: 93 points in 53 games for Brantford in the OHL last season, and the Kraken have a decision to make about whether he opens the season in the NHL at all. Availability across the league is on our NHL injury report.
What happened last season
Three meetings, and Seattle took the last two comfortably.
| Date | Result | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 18 December 2025 | Calgary 4-2 Seattle | Calgary |
| 5 January 2026 | Seattle 5-1 Calgary | Calgary |
| 11 April 2026 | Seattle 4-1 Calgary | Seattle |
A combined 9-2 across those last two. Seattle won in Calgary in January by four, which is the result that makes a home-ice argument harder to lean on here.
The most Canadian team in the league is the visiting one
A quirk worth knowing before this one. Seattle carry 16 Canadian players, more than any club in the NHL, including every Canadian team. Calgary have 14.
Geography explains most of it. The Kraken draw from the same western junior systems as the Canadian clubs and sit a three-hour drive from Vancouver. Our full breakdown is on the Canadian NHL players page.
Players to watch
Dustin Wolf. The single best reason to think Calgary improve. He faced more rubber than almost any goaltender in the league last season and held a .899.
Matt Coronato. Forty-five points and minus 29, which tells you more about the team than the player.
Kaapo Kakko. Plus 14 on a minus 37 team. Whatever Seattle did with him, it worked.
Jordan Eberle. Fifty-five points at 36, and a former Oiler who has scored plenty in this province.
Kraken vs Flames prediction
Two clubs that finished within two points of each other, in a division where neither came close to a playoff place. Kraken vs Flames is a coin flip with a home-ice tilt.
The tilt is smaller than it looks. Seattle won in Calgary 5-1 in January and have taken the last two meetings by a combined seven goals. Calgary open without Huberdeau.
Our lean: Seattle, and the under if the total sits at 6.5. Wolf and whichever of Daccord or Grubauer starts are both better than their teams, and home openers tend to be tight rather than open. We will firm the Kraken vs Flames call up when the board is posted.
Where these two sit against the other 30 is on our NHL power rankings.
Puck drop is 9:00pm ET on Thursday 1 October 2026 at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, which is 7:00pm local time. It is Calgary’s home opener.
Seattle took the series 2-1. Calgary won 4-2 in December, then Seattle won 5-1 in Calgary in January and 4-1 at home in April.
No. Huberdeau is on injured reserve with a hip problem and is not expected back until around 10 October. He missed the last 26 games of the 2025-26 season with the same injury.
Seattle finished 27th on 79 points with a goal difference of minus 37. Calgary finished 29th on 77 points at minus 47.
Either Joey Daccord, who played 47 games last season at a .897 save percentage, or Philipp Grubauer, who was better across 32 at 2.65 and .909. Worth checking the morning skate.
19+ (18+ in AB, MB and QC). Odds are approximate at the time of writing and change constantly. Availability varies by province. Please play responsibly. ConnexOntario: 1-866-531-2600 for Ontario residents; see your province’s helpline for resources elsewhere.