Welcome back once again to our annual Calgary Flames expectations. A few days ago, I went over my expectations for the Flames’ forwards and now it is time for the defencemen. The defensive corps is the weakest it has looked in years with many crucial departures. At the start of a rebuild, the Flames are not set to be good and expectations shouldn’t be high.
MacKenzie Weegar
Coming off a career season, Mackenzie Weegar was one of the few highlights from the Flames last season. His offence took a huge step with his game on the defensive side of the puck not taking a huge waiver. Weegar put up 52 points and 20 goals which is very impressive for a defenceman. What makes it more impressive is the fact that Weegar had never scored more than eight goals in a season until last year.
Being the Flames’ #1 defenceman, I still want to set higher expectations for Weegar. I don’t think he’ll repeat last season and we’ll see his goal totals drop back down. Due to the quality of the team, I’m expecting Weegar to get 35–40 points while continuing to be good at both ends of the ice.
Rasmus Andersson
This past season was a pretty big year in Rasmus Andersson showing what he could do. He was coming off near-identical strong seasons in 2021–22 and 2022–23, so we needed to see that next step if we wanted to see him become a future #1. Unfortunately, Andersson had a down year for his standards. His goal, assist, and point totals all dropped. In 78 games, he scored nine goals and 39 points. That’s not bad for a defenceman, but for a guy who scored basically 50 points in back-to-back seasons, it’s underwhelming. It didn’t help that Andersson struggled in the defensive end and clearly so to a solid degree.
I think Andersson will bounce back in a pretty good way this season. Even with the decline of the team, Andersson should be able to get 40–45 points while recovering his defensive play.
Daniil Miromanov
Daniil Miromanov joined the Flames as a part of the Noah Hanifin trade last year. Miromanov at that point had been a career AHLer since coming over to North America. However, he did put up solid numbers in the AHL and the Golden Knights didn’t want to risk putting him on waivers before the trade. Miromanov surprisingly impressed with the Flames. He had seven points in 20 games but he displayed a good set of offensive traits. His underlying numbers were also great.
When it comes to surprises for the Flames this upcoming year, Miromanov could be one of the biggest. I think that realistically we could expect him put up 25–30 points while having some decent results.
Kevin Bahl
One of the couple of defencemen not to play a game for the Flames yet, Kevin Bahl was also acquired in a trade. This time in the trade that saw Jacob Markstrom become a New Jersey Devil. Bahl has solidified himself in the league as a decent shutdown defenceman so far. One of the bigger complaints I remember seeing from Devil fans about him was he didn’t use his massive 6’6″ 230lbs frame properly. Leaning into that could do wonders for his career. Offensively he doesn’t do much, only putting up 11 points in 82 games last season.
Bahl will have a similar season to last year. He’ll continue to play well on the defensive side of things while putting up minimal offence. Think only about 10–15 points. In a new system and team, I think we’ll see Bahl also start to use his size in a more effective manner.
Brayden Pachal
Another defenceman acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights last year, Brayden Pachal was claimed off waivers by the Flames. Pachal also had some pretty surprising results. In the handful of games he played with the Golden Knights this past season, he struggled badly and was terrible. Upon joining the Flames, it was like something clicked and his results completely flipped. Pachal was a sturdy stay-at-home defenceman down the stretch with alright offensive output.
For Pachal, I would expect similar for him this season. I don’t think we’ll see much offence from him, maybe 10 points max—but his defensive and physical performance should be what keeps him in the lineup for the majority of the year.
Jake Bean
Former CEO of CSEC John Bean’s son, Jake Bean was signed by the Flames as a free agent this offseason. Bean had promise heading into the league but he was unable to stick with the Carolina Hurricanes. He was then shipped to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a second-round pick where he has spent the last three years. In Columbus, he didn’t reach his potential and continued to struggle. Now he joins the Flames coming off 13 points in 72 games last season.
I don’t expect Bean to play much differently in Calgary. With the Flames, I can see him being given a more fully offensive-focused role, allowing him to produce more points. Somewhere around 15–20 points seems like a good range for Bean.
Joel Hanley
Joel Hanley joins Pachal as another defenceman claimed off of waivers by the Flames last year. Hanley was the seventh defenceman for the Dallas Stars before joining Calgary and continued with that role for the Flames. In the 10 games he played for the Flames last season, he only scored two points.
Hanley’s role shouldn’t be much different for the Flames this year. With injuries and all, Hanley should suit up for about 40 games in 2024–25. With that in mind, I’m expecting about five to seven points in those games.
Ilya Solovyov
The only player I would consider a full question mark for this season. Ilya Solovyov made his NHL debut in 2023–24 and played 10 total games scoring three points. He spent the majority of the year in the AHL where he continued to standout defensively with the Wranglers. Solovyov is currently without a contract and it wouldn’t be surprising if the dispute was between a one-way or two-way contract.
I’m expecting Solovyov to take a step this season. He needs to show that he isn’t destined to be the sixth/seventh defenceman at the NHL level despite showing some promise. This had happened before with someone like Connor Mackey. Solovyov should at least play 40 games this year to show that the next steps were taken.
Not too many big expectations
With the state of the Flames, it’s hard to expect crazy seasons out of most of their defencemen. This will likely be a year for many to take some steps forward or bounce back and that’s exactly what I’m expecting.
Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire
