Andrew Basha will spend this season in Medicine Hat.
But he’s committed his future to Calgary.
On Sunday afternoon, the Flames announced that they’d signed the 18-year-old winger to a three-year, entry-level contract that will pay him US$897,500 per year.
The Flames are clearly high on Basha, whom they selected in the second round, 41st overall in the 2024 NHL Draft.
He was sent back to the WHL earlier this week to play with the powerhouse Medicine Hat Tigers, who are considered one of the frontrunners for this year’s Memorial Cup.
“With a good team our expectation is he’s going to be the guy who drives it,” Flames head coach Ryan Huska said earlier this week. “We want him to be the guy who is the hardest working guy, he’s setting the pace in practice. All the good teams, their top players are their hardest working, best players, and that’s what we want him to be.
“He has an opportunity to do that on a team that’s going to be very competitive. It’s a good program in Medicine Hat and we know he’s going to do some great things there.”
Basha is a born-and-raised Calgarian who scored 30 goals and added 55 assists in 63 games with the Tigers last year. He’s picked up right where he left off since returning to the WHL, collecting two points in two games.
At 5-foot-11 and weighing in at 185 lbs, Basha is comfortable doing the dirty work in the corners and playing with physicality, too.
He appeared in two pre-season games for the Flames while attending training camp, registering an assist.
“With Bash, right from development camp the puck seemed to follow him around a lot,” Huska said. “What I liked about his game was he didn’t shy away from anything, in the games he played at the NHL level he was as competitive on the puck as he was in Penticton and he played with confidence that I feel like was beyond his years right now.”