CALGARY — Looking for a spark, the winless Calgary Flames turned to 21-year-old centre Jonathan Castagna on Thursday night.
While the result was the same, a 7-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche dropping the Flames to a league-worst 0-4-0, Castagna picked up an assist in his NHL debut.
A native of Toronto who was a third-round draft pick in 2023, Castagna was acquired at last year’s trade deadline from the Utah Mammoth as part of the return for MacKenzie Weegar.
Joined on a line by fellow rookie Aydar Suniev, who was making his season debut, that line alongside Adam Klapka tied the game 1-1 in the first period.
After Castagna won a battle for a puck along the sideboards in the neutral zone, Klapka and his six-foot-eight frame swooped into the Avs’ end, neatly toe-dragged around Josh Manson, and whipped a shot into the top corner.
“That was crazy,” Castagna said. “To get that (first point) off my back is really cool. But you know, kudos to him, that was unbelievable.”
While Castagna shrugged off his role on the goal, “I didn’t have to do much for it,” he said, head coach Ryan Huska viewed it differently.
“He did a really nice job on Adam Klapka’s goal, winning a wall battle,” Huska said. “He worked really hard when he was on the ice. I thought he handled himself well.”
Tied 1-1 after the first, Colorado scored the next five goals to blow the game open, but for Calgary, the positive was the play from its young centre.
In a rebuilding year for the Flames ahead of their move next season into a new arena, there are going to be opportunities throughout the campaign for young players to make an impression.
Reinforcing that was the club’s decision on Monday to put left-winger Connor Zary, the club’s 2020 first-round pick, and veteran defenceman Brayden Pachal on waivers. After passing through, they were sent down to the AHL with Castagna and Suniev getting call-ups.
“Before the game, everyone was telling me to soak it in. You can only do it once, and I tried to do that as much as possible,” said Castagna. “I can look back on it and say I’m really grateful for it, and yeah, just looking forward to what’s next.”
The wow factor set in early.
“Warm-ups is the first time where you look across from you and you see these guys, and it could get a little intimidating,” said Castagna. “But I feel like I did a pretty good job handling that stress because at the end of the day, I want to win, and that’s what I tried to contribute out there tonight.”
With his teary-eyed mom, dad, and girlfriend in attendance, Castagana won all three faceoffs and had three hits and a blocked shot in over nine minutes of ice time.
“Really, really grateful they could make it out,” he said of his supporters.
Flames captain Mikael Backlund, 37, playing career game No. 1,152, liked what he saw from the young centre.
“He played well, brought some energy,” said Backlund. “You can tell he had some jump today, and he’s a mature kid. I’m excited to see more of him and get to know him even more.”
Colorado improved to 3-1-0. Playing the best of the best like that, right out of the gate, can be a good thing, said Huska.
“It gives you an idea of the standard and where it is,” he said.
“The way they play the game, that’s what you aspire to be. And if you want to be a winning team, you have to get yourself there. So I think it’s a great thing for a young guy to be able to witness it first-hand. It’s a challenge for sure that he would have faced in his first game, but it’s also something that should be cemented in his brain.”
The Flames, who have been outscored 23-6, will try again for their first win on Saturday when they begin a home-and-home showdown with the Anaheim Ducks (2-1-0).
“It’s obviously really tough and hard and frustrating to lose again,” Backlund said. “But we’ve got to learn from it. Find a way to play really solid 60. We haven’t done that yet, and it’s time we do it on Saturday.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 9, 2026.
Darren Haynes, The Canadian Press