After a tough loss against the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday, Calgary Flames players seemed to have accepted the season’s fate in post-game interviews. They followed it up with a loss to the 31st place Chicago Blackhawks to further drop down the standings and increase their lottery odds.
The team hasn’t ever been mathematically favoured to make the playoffs all season. But they are 3–7–0 in their last 10 games and find themselves a whopping fifteen points out of a playoff spot. With eleven games remaining, it’s time to continue to trend towards youth and moving into the future.
Give young players like Connor Zary, Dustin Wolf, and Matt Coronato big opportunities down the stretch and see what you have in them.
After moving Elias Lindholm earlier this year, the centre position has become a focus for both the team and the fans. Yegor Sharangovich has slotted into Lindholm’s spot and has had some chemistry with Jonathan Huberdeau, but he’s definitely better suited on the wing. To date, Sharangovich has the lowest faceoff percentage on the Flames by far at 38.1%. Nazem Kadri and Mikael Backlund are ideal second and third line centres, but both aren’t getting any younger.
It is time to try Connor Zary at centre
The writing is on the wall: Now is the perfect time to try Zary at centre. He was drafted as a centre and has played at that position in both the WHL and AHL. It is a position of need for the Flames and they currently have a plethora of wingers. If you could move Zary to the middle and Sharangovich makes to the wing, the Flames immediately have a much deeper lineup:
I really like the idea of playing Zary with Huberdeau and Sharangovich. You have Sharangovich on the line to help with faceoffs when needed but it keeps him on the same line with Huberdeau. Add in Zary, who has been a great rush player this season and great at finding pockets of empty space, and you might have a recipe for success.
It is time for the Flames to experiment
By playing Zary at centre, you can see if you have a potential long-term solution there. If you do, there is no immediate need to go out and get somebody. You can then run the combination of Kadri, Zary, and Backlund during these rebuilding/re-tooling years (assuming Kadri isn’t moved/asks out).
These next eleven games provide an opportunity for the Flames to throw Zary into the fire and see if he can handle centre duties. I can kind of understand not wanting to try out a rookie while you are in “the playoff hunt,” but now it’s time to look toward the future.
Craig Conroy previously noted that both Zary and Martin Pospisil have indicated they want to play centre. So the desire is there for the player as well. Maybe you even throw Pospisil at centre as well and see if that works. These next eleven games should be all about experimentation and trying things. It’s not preseason, but it should pretty much be treated as such.
Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire
