With six-year deal in hand, Flames D Bahl 'really excited' for future in Calgary

Fresh off a season in which he set new career highs in goals and points, Flames defenceman Kevin Bahl was awarded a six-year extension to keep him in Calgary.

With the team coming off an impressive season that ended with an unlikely spot outside the playoff picture, Bahl is excited for the future in Calgary.

Bahl joined Mornings on TSN 1200 on Thursday to discuss the new contract, his first season in Calgary and the outlook for the Flames moving forward.

"I wanted to just stay in Calgary, you know," Bahl said. "We have a young family right now, we like Calgary and we want to stay there for a bit and just set up our family for success."

The 25-year-old Bahl and his wife welcomed a second son into the family over the summer, which increased the need for him to find a long-term contract. 

"I'm really excited about the next six years, it gives us an opportunity to keep our stuff in the same house for a while instead of one year. Really excited about that and think we're gonna have some of the best times of our lives in Calgary."

After spending the first four seasons of his NHL career with the New Jersey Devils, Bahl was acquired as part of the deal that sent goaltender Jacob Markstrom to New Jersey in June of 2024.

Bahl's three goals, 17 assists and 20 points were all career highs, and he credited some of his success to his defensive partner Rasmus Andersson.

"I got the opportunity to start with [Andersson], I know I could be a good defensive counterpart to his offence," Bahl said. "He could just jump up and do his thing, I could defend really well and I knew we could be a good set of partners so I thought it was a good match and I was able to have success right off the bat and carry it through the whole season.

"A cherry on top would have been us making the playoffs, but it is what it is. I think we tied the record for most points for a team that did not make the playoffs."

Calgary finished the season 41-27-14, tied with the St. Louis Blues for the eighth spot in the Western Conference. The Blues qualified for the playoffs behind their 44 regulation wins over Calgary's 41.

The Flames' 96 points tied the 2014-15 Boston Bruins, 2017-18 Florida Panthers and 2018-19 Montreal Canadiens for most points by a team that missed the playoffs in NHL history.

Bahl feels that the team has set a solid foundation in contract extensions handed to multiple veterans over the summer, including fellow defenceman Joel Hanley and centre Martin Pospisil.

"I think moving forward, the veteran presence on the team has done a very good job of setting the culture for the young guys coming onto the team," Bahl said. "Teaching the young guys about preparation, how to take care of your body, but also the expectation coming into every game and especially certain games - divisional, rivalry, whatever it is - so I think the veteran presence has done a great job and I feel like the team's really set up for success.

"I'm really excited - down the stretch we were playing with a lot of injuries, it'll be cool to see what we can do when we're fully healthy."

The Flames established an identity late in the season that Bahl felt can continue to harbour success moving forward.

That identity helped the Flames surge to a 15-6-6 record after the 4 Nations Face-Off break in February.

"Just watching from my end - I can't speak for other teams - but we were the team that nobody wanted to play against," said Bahl. "We're willing to just grind out for 60 minutes every night. We won a lot of games just getting into that third period and other teams going 'I don't want to play this type of hockey for 60 minutes.'"

Parekh a potential addition to Flames 2025-26 bluline

Bahl and Andersson played the third-most minutes in the NHL as a defensive pairing last season, but in the final game of the year, Bahl was paired with the potential defenceman of the future in Calgary in 19-year-old Zayne Parekh.

Parekh scored a goal in his NHL debut in the season finale, and Bahl was very excited about what he saw.

"He looked tremendous, he's got a tremendous amount of confidence, which you love to see, and in terms of puck movement, his head's always up, hands are good, shot's elite," said Bahl. 

"He's an absolute horse, he's getting up to the play, he's getting back for the puck, he wasn't shying away from physicality in that game, so I think he's going to be a really good player, so it's up to him to show up to camp and be ready to roll."

After a 15-point improvement last season, the sky is the limit for the Flames moving forward, according to Bahl.

"I was really happy for how the team was, where we were and I'm really excited for next year," Bahl said.