When the Calgary Flames decided to trade stud defenceman Noah Hanifin at the deadline, the expectation was they would receive a first-round pick and a prospect. They got the first-rounder, but instead of a prospect, they got 26-year-old forward-turned-defenceman Daniil Miromanov.
Miromanov could never secure a spot on the Vegas Golden Knights’ loaded blueline, playing just 29 games with the club over three seasons. But Craig Conroy clearly saw something in his game because Miromanov has been brilliant with the Flames so far.
In his AHL career, Miromanov showed flashes of being an offensive force. In 89 games since 2021–22, he produced 68 points with 21 goals with the Henderson Silver Knights. It shouldn’t be a surprise he scored a lot for a defenceman—he came up as a forward—but the numbers never followed him to the NHL.
In Calgary, he’s scored two goals and three points in eight games, but his underlying numbers suggest he’s been playing better than his production. Let’s take a look.
Miromanov creates tons of scoring chances
While Miromanov is on the ice at 5v5, the Flames produce 13 high-danger chances per 60 minutes according to Natural Stat Trick. To put that into perspective, Cale Makar’s HDCF/60 is at 12.29 this season. Rasmus Andersson’s is 11.4.
Are these numbers sustainable? Probably not. But there’s no doubt Miromanov uses high-end offensive instincts to generate scoring chances. In his second last game as a Golden Knight, they had 10 high-danger chances while he was on the ice. The Hurricanes had 14 for the whole game.
In eight games as a Flame, Calgary has owned 57% of the high-danger chances while Miromanov has been on the ice at 5v5 according to Natural Stat Trick. They have just one goal on those said chances, but that will change.
With MacKenzie Weegar and Rasmus Andersson, a productive Miromanov could help create one of the best offensive blue lines in the league.
Can Miromanov’s defensive game keep up?
In two seasons before this one, Miromanov had trouble in his own zone. In his 14 games with Vegas last year, the Golden Knights gave up 3.1 goals against per 60 minutes at 5v5 with him on the ice. The year before that, it was 2.88.
For reference, Jaccob Slavin sits at 2.26 GA/60 this year, and hasn’t gone over 2.3 since 2018–19.
But since being acquired by the Flames, Miromanov has been on the ice for just five goals against at 5v5 in 143 minutes. That’s good for 2.1 GA/60. His expected goals against per 60 minutes is even better, too, at 2.02. This would put him at Chris Tanev‘s level of shutdown defence.
Not to mention those numbers were exactly the same in his four games in Vegas this year before the trade (except his expected goals against was a bit higher).
There has only been one game where the Flames have been out-chanced with Miromanov on the ice at 5v5: March 16 against the Canadiens. This was his worst game as a Flame based on expected goal percentage, and the only time it’s been below 50%.
Other than that one game, and a weird game against Carolina where Calgary lost Miromanov’s minutes 2–0 and were heavily outshot, but scoring chances were similar, he’s been an incredible find by Craig Conroy.
It sounds obvious, but if his offensive and defensive numbers can stay anywhere near where they are right now, Miromanov is going to be a very good player.
Trying to fix Calgary’s power play
As of writing this, the Flames have converted on 14.8% of their power plays this season. They are one of four teams sitting under 15%.
With Miromanov’s offensive skillset, it’s easy to figure out why they’ve been trying him on the top power play unit.
It’s no exaggeration to say the woeful man advantage is one of the biggest reasons Calgary will miss the playoffs this year. Improving the power play could alone get the Flames an extra 10 points next year.
The sample of Miromanov running the top unit is too small to jump to any conclusions, but the Flames should keep him there for the rest of the year. If his offensive game translates to the man advantage and the power play improves, he’ll be one of the Flames most valuable players in no time.
An ace of diamonds
Taking a player like Miromanov back may not initially be the most inspiring return. For a team that needs to rebuild, a 26-year-old doesn’t quite fit the mould the same way a younger prospect or a draft pick does. However, the Flames are continuing to give players with limited chances on their old teams much better chances with Calgary.
It looks like Calgary may have found yet another diamond in the rough with Miromanov.
