Several players made their NHL debuts with the Flames in 2008–09. Adam Pardy began the season with the Flames, while Warren Peters, Brett Sutter, David Van der Gulik, Kris Chucko, John Negrin and Matt Pelech were each recalled from the Quad City Flames during the season. The latter two made their debuts on the same night, April 3, after the Flames lost three defencemen in previous games. 2007 first round pick Mikael Backlund played one game with the Flames after leaving his Swedish team before being sent to the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League.