We are now past the halfway point of the Calgary Flames season, and just like when the season started, the Flames’ #1 centre, Elias Lindholm still remains unsigned beyond this year. We all know the Flames would like to keep him rather than move him, but with the trade deadline now under two months away, Craig Conroy will have to make a decision on moving Lindholm if they cannot agree to a contract.
Teams are already inquiring, with one team reportedly looking to acquire Lindholm’s services being the Vancouver Canucks. Surely they aren’t the only team looking now, as Lindholm’s cap hit makes it easier to work with the salary cap for contending teams looking to add a middle-six centre.
If a move ultimately comes to light, that is going to beg the question, what will a Flames lineup look like if Lindholm is no longer on the team and who will be the team’s new #1 centre? Well today, that is exactly what we are going to look at.
Filling the centre void that Lindholm would leave
Replacing a centre in the NHL is often difficult to do, trying to replace a team’s #1 centre is even tougher, and that is what the Flames might be faced with if Lindholm is traded at some point this year. While he may not exactly be a #1 centre in the NHL, he has been the Flames’ go-to centre for almost four years now. He plays in every situation, and while even having a pretty rough year for his standards, it will not be easy to just plug someone in and hope it works.
The Flames have some guys on the current roster who might be able to fill in the gap, along with someone who may be there a few years from now in Sam Honzek. So, let’s take a look at possible lineup combinations without the services of Lindholm and some other players assuming the role of the #1 centre, particularly Nazem Kadri, Connor Zary, and Mikael Backlund.
Nazem Kadri taking the reins
| Zary | Kadri | Pospisil |
| Mangiapane | Backlund | Coleman |
| Huberdeau | Ruzicka | Sharongovich |
| Greer | Dube | Duehr/Pelletier |
The Zary-Kadri-Pospisil line has arguably been the Flames’ best line since being put together back in November. They have played with pace and have been great offensively. In this scenario, the Kadri line takes the role of the Flames top line and Adam Ruzicka slides into Lindholm’s spot with Jonathan Huberdeau and Yegor Sharongovich.
There can also be a scenario in which the Flames swap out Pospisil for Huberdeau and Pelletier for Zary, re-uniting the Huberdeau-Kadri-Pelletier line that was quite solid last season.
| Huberdeau | Kadri | Pelletier |
| Mangiapane | Backlund | Coleman |
| Zary | Ruzicka | Sharongovich |
| Greer/Deuhr | Dube | Pospisil |
Connor Zary earns a bigger role
| Huberdeau | Zary | Sharongovich |
| Pospisil | Kadri | Coronato |
| Mangiapane | Backlund | Coleman |
| Greer | Ruzicka | Dube/Pelletier |
The Flames’ rookie sensation, Connor Zary has played on the wing to begin his NHL career, but he is a centre by trade. He played centre while he was in junior and he played down the middle when he was with the Calgary Wranglers in the AHL. So, Zary is not unfamiliar with the position, and his first shot playing in the middle would come with Huberdeau and Sharongovich on his flanks. The Flames would then slot in Matthew Coronato to fill Zary’s spot on the Kadri line, and the rest of the lineup stays relatively the same.
Zary being able to become a centre for the Flames would be massive, and if he is able to transition his game from the wing to the middle and play as dominant as he has been, the Flames may just fill Lindholm’s void pretty easily, but that still may be a little while away.
Mikael Backlund takes on the tougher deployment
This one is pretty straightforward, but this would keep one of the same lineups as I listed down before, it would just mean the Mangiapane-Backlund-Coleman line would be deployed as the team’s top line instead.
Backlund can hang against the league’s top lines any time, anywhere, and having the Flames use this line as the top line gives the team confidence to try other combinations in the other three lines while giving deserved ice time to their captain, their leading scorer in Coleman, and they can also hope to get Mangiapane going again altogether.
Calgary doesn’t have their number one centre
No matter which way you put it, even with Lindholm on the roster there is no clear-cut top line centre on this team. Kadri and Lindholm would be very strong #2 options on a contender and Backlund would be a very strong #3 on a contender. So, unless the Flames are getting a young, up-and-coming centre through a trade, the Flames would still be in search of that elusive centre.
Obviously, those players are incredibly tough to find, but it will be Conroy’s job from here on out to do his best to either trade for one or draft and develop one. It is a lot easier said than done, but that will have to be the top priority for the Flames moving forward.
Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire
