Calgary’s Calder Cup Playoff hopes may be gone, but laying down the work for next season has already started.

When the dust settles and the regular season ends, Wednesday’s 7-0 win – on the road, against a Coachella Valley team that had won nine of its previous 10 games – might be considered a turning point for the Ontario Reign.

NHL teams want their prospects in the American Hockey League playing meaningful games in March and April, and as the 2025-26 season reaches the home stretch, the AHL standings show tight races in all four divisions.

The NHL trade deadline came March 6. A week later brought the AHL’s own trade/loan deadline. But AHL teams continue to bulk up their rosters as the regular season ticks toward its final month and the Calder Cup Playoffs loom.

A pair of blue-chip NHL prospects, 19-year-old forwards Cole Eiserman and James Hagens, have joined AHL clubs in the past week after electing to turn pro.

That first game back on home ice after a long road swing can be a trap. So the Charlotte Checkers were ready when the schedule brought them back to Bojangles Coliseum after a 10-game, 18-day road swing.

Preparing to make their last stand, the Belleville Senators saw their roster fortified before Friday’s AHL trade/loan deadline.

The Silver Knights are looking to bring postseason hockey back to Henderson, and the pieces are in place for a run through the Pacific Division’s playoff gauntlet.

Here, there, and everywhere, several well-known names around the AHL found themselves on the move as the NHL trade deadline passed Friday afternoon.

The Coachella Valley Firebirds have undergone dramatic changes since back-to-back trips to the Calder Cup Finals in 2023 and 2024, and players like Jagger Firkus have taken control as they attempt to make the postseason once again.