Ahead of NHL 27’s September 11 release, EA Sports has been unveiling its player ratings, and the numbers reflect the Calgary Flames‘ rebuilding status. In the forward rankings, only three Calgary players earned ratings of 84 or higher.
Unless the Flames place a few defensemen or goaltenders among the top 299, Matt Coronato, Morgan Frost, and captain Mikael Backlund are Calgary’s only representatives on the list so far.
Advertisement
Coronato leads Calgary’s forwards at No. 206 with an 85 rating, followed closely by Frost at No. 212, also at 85. Backlund rounds out the trio at No. 298 with an 84 rating.
Last year, Nazem Kadri led Calgary’s forwards with an 87 rating, followed by Jonathan Huberdeau at 86. Kadri has since been traded, while Huberdeau underwent surgery after missing a significant portion of last season. His production dipped enough that he failed to crack EA Sports’ top 299 players this time around despite carrying one of the NHL’s largest contracts.
Meanwhile, Coronato got a bump from 84 to 85, with Forst doing the same, going from 84 to 85, while Backlund stayed the same at 84.
Advertisement
Based on last year’s ratings, the Flames were led on the back end by MacKenzie Weegar (88) and Rasmus Andersson (88), both players who are no longer with the club. After them, Kevin Bahl (84) had the highest rating among defenders still in Calgary for this season.
It will be interesting to see where Simon Nemec and Zach Whitecloud rank, since the latter arrived via the Anderson trade with the Vegas Golden Knights and Nemec joined the Flames from the New Jersey Devils in the spring.
Ultimately, the game’s highest-rated player from Calgary should be goalie Dustin Wolf, but he held an 87 rating last year and had a subpar campaign while the team tumbled down the standings.
Advertisement
Whether NHL 27 players love or hate Calgary’s ratings, the Flames should make for an intriguing franchise-mode project. With general manager Craig Conroy already emphasizing youth in real life, virtual GMs can accelerate the rebuild, reshape the roster, and chase a Stanley Cup while playing through the Saddledome’s final season.
