Training camp is not too far away, and with that, many are speculating on lineup combinations for the Calgary Flames. The blue line for Calgary has changed drastically over the past couple of years, as all of Hanifin, Kylington, Zadorov, and Tanev are not with the team anymore. With these departures and the revolving door we saw at the end of last season, who will be the next quarterback on the Flames power play?
We asked, you answered.
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Quarterback Options
We presented the below poll to our readers.
Rasmus Andersson
Rasmus Andersson was once the obvious go-to answer for the Flames power play, as he seemed to be a staple on the first power play unit. However, ever since MacKenzie Weegar’s arrival on the Flames, the team has had more flexibility on who should run it. The Flames may run with Andersson to see if he can get back to being the go-to defenceman on the power play like he was in 2021–22.
However, Andersson had a very rough time last year, especially on the PP, and wasn’t nearly as effective as a PP1 quarterback should be. He had just eight power play points last season despite playing by far the most minutes among defenders, and those were all assists. He did have the most shot attempts and shots on goal, but about a third of his shot attempts were blocked.
MacKenzie Weegar
Weegar is probably the Flames’ best defenceman on both ends of the ice. He also put up a solid offensive season last year, putting up a career-high in goals with 20, and career-high in points with 52. Weegar also produced 15 power play points for the team. It’s clear that Weegar was very reliable last year, and he might just be the best option for the power play if he continues an offensive performance like last year.
He had the second most power play minutes out of all defenders and was the only blueliner still on the team that scored a power play goal.
Daniil Miromanov
Daniil Miromanov was acquired by the Flames in the Hanifin trade. Once he arrived in Calgary, he started to show that he could produce some offence. In 20 games for the Flames, Miromanov put up three goals and seven points, with two of those being power play points. Miromanov started to get power play minutes on the second unit with Andersson.
Do the Flames decide to start off the season with Miromanov on the first unit to see what he is capable of? It might make sense as he produced power play points at the second-highest rate on the team, ahead of Andersson albeit in limited minutes. Perhaps there is something there with Miromanov. A residual benefit of having Miromanov run the power play is a boost in his trade value which the Flames might explore at the trade deadline.
Jeremie Poirier
It would be very surprising if rookie Jeremie Poirier makes the team out of camp, let alone gets the top power play role over the other three. However, he definitely is a talented offensive defenceman. Poirier only played 23 games last year due to a brutal injury he faced very early in the season. In those 23 games though, he produced 13 points. The year prior, he produced nine goals and 41 points in 69 games for the Wranglers.
Poirier has been on the Wranglers’ power play for the past two years, and he has been very reliable. Do the Flames fully commit to the youth movement and have a rookie defenceman take on this role if he makes the team? It’s not a terrible idea as it helps the other seasoned defenders play more 5v5 minutes and help Dustin Wolf in the crease. And, if it works, what a boon that would be.
The Flames have options
The Flames are in a position where they aren’t necessarily trying to win every game they play, instead they are trying to develop their players and see who fits on the team not only right now, but in the future. It is likely that the Flames may have a combination of defencemen take on the quarterback role to asses who can run it best.
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