Darryl Sutter defends Ryan Huska amid Calgary Flames' ugly start

Whether fair or not, there has been plenty of speculation lately about Ryan Huska’s future as head coach of the Calgary Flames.

An ugly start to the season, highlighted by several lopsided losses, has resulted in plenty of fans questioning Huska, who is currently in his fourth season behind the Flames’ bench.

The good news for Huska is that, despite all the outside noise, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported Tuesday that the 51-year-old is not on the hot seat at this point in time. While that may frustrate some fans, it’s worth remembering just how difficult a situation Huska is in this season.

Entering the first true season of their rebuild, the Flames entered the 2026-27 campaign expected to be among the NHL’s worst teams. A big part of that has come due to the fact that GM Craig Conroy elected to trade several key veterans such as Rasmus Andersson, MacKenzie Weegar, Nazem Kadri, and Blake Coleman.

That has led some, including former Flames head coach Darryl Sutter, to suggest Huska shouldn’t shoulder the blame for Calgary’s struggles through the first eight games of the season.

“Ryan’s a really good coach for that group,” Sutter said during an appearance on The Raw Mike Richards Show. “He’s come up through the organization, he knows a lot of the guys […] I think he’s a really good coach. He’s fundamental with what he wants to get done, and he’s very clear in what he wants to get done.”

Sutter, who had Huska as an assistant coach during his most recent stint with the Flames, also explained why winning can be particularly difficult for coaches tasked with developing a young roster.

“[The] number one [priority] is the development of those young guys, and fortunately, unfortunately, whatever you want to call it, some of that’s got to happen at the NHL level. It’s hard to win when you’re developing, say, five, six, seven guys.”

That reality should give Huska some breathing room as the Flames navigate what is expected to be a difficult season. While the results haven’t been pretty, the main objective heading into the year was never to rack up wins.

With development taking priority over immediate results, Huska appears to be getting some time to work through the growing pains of a rebuilding roster. For now, at least, it appears the Flames aren’t considering making a change behind the bench.