Too bad for Tyler on his rough start.
Regardless, the Top 5 players from the Heat are now on the Flames.
One of them may go back when Frolik returns.
Gillies & Parsons will just have to get used to seeing lots of rubber for the foreseeable future.
With the lack of offence, defence-men Andersson, Wotherspoon, Kylington, et al have their work cut out of them.
Next season, Foo should be better, and Dube, Fisher, Gawdwin, Joly, & Phillips could all graduate to the AHL.
Gillies will be re-signed.
Klimchuk, Poirier, Shinkaruk, & Wotherspoon most likely receive new contract offers.
Carroll, Gadzic, Glass, & H. Smith will probably not be re-signed.
Wait... what?
Stockton is missing some of their top players because of recalls, yes, but it isn't their top 5 players. Jankowski only played 6 games for Stockton, so while he was great in those 6 games, calling him one of their top players 35 games into the season is pretty disingenuous. I assume Rittich is also one of these "top 5 players", but again, just 6 games. Rittich has been very good for Calgary, but he was not the starter in Stockton, so again, calling him one of their top players is being pretty disingenuous.
If we're being generous and considering Hathaway one of their top players (he's only been there half the year), then at worst they have lost their top 3 forwards and even that is debatable as I would argue Klimchuk is one of their 2 or 3 most valuable forwards because he is essentially the Heat's version of Backlund (except as a winger).
I'm not exactly sure why you are bringing up the defense, the only defenseman they are missing is Goloubef (I would consider him a top 5 Heat player before Hathaway for the record) who went to the Spengler Cup and now will be heading to the Olympics. Which is a blow, but adding Prout certainly softens that blow. Their defense is the best it has been in a very long time, the best since I have been watching them anyways and that dates back to them moving to Abbotsford.
Also it is IMO very unlikely Poirier and Shinkaruk will get qualifying offers from the Flames, although Shinkaruk is more likely than Poirier. Poirier just has not been good again this year. He had a good few games where he racked up almost half of his points on the year, otherwise he's been a non-factor. Shinkaruk started fairly slow but has been better since early December, with almost 2/3 of his production being in the last 15 games.
Wotherspoon returning, is very debatable due to his age, I would say the odds are close to 50-50, but I would like to see him return. He is easily having his best season as a pro and has emerged as a legitimate top pairing defenseman for the Heat, he also seems to mesh well with Andersson. Tspoon is going to shatter his personal high for points at his current pace (he's 2 points from matching) and he's playing the most physical he's ever played. He's more engaged in both ends of the rink and I think that if we suffer another injury he deserves a look with the big club, so they can better gauge his progression (this is not a slight to Andersson). But, I think if the Flames do move a defensive prospect such as Andersson, Kylington, Fox or even Valimaki in a deadline type deal, I think it increases the odds of Wotherspoon returning.
I agree on the guys you suggest will not receive new contracts, however Glass or Gadzic returning on an AHL deal would not shock me.