This is probably the most interesting Calgary Flames training camp in recent memory. Entering a rebuilding year, the Flames have a number of open spots available in the lineup and question marks around line pairings and defence combos surround this team currently.
The top three lines have some fluidity right now, but they broadly shape out with some combination of Yegor Sharangovich, Nazem Kadri, and Andrei Kuzmenko to start as the top line. Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman are the second line with one of Anthony Mantha, Martin Pospisil, or most likely Connor Zary as the third player on that line. The other two, Mantha and Pospisil, will likely play with Jonathan Huberdeau on the third line.
This is where it gets interesting. You have Ryan Lomberg, who is basically assured a roster spot on day one, but then there are question marks on the other two spots. Smart money would suggest that Kevin Rooney probably has the fourth line centre spot penciled in to start the year. The team doesn’t have many natural centres, and unless a prospect really shocks in the middle, it’s probably going to be Rooney’s to lose.
Then there’s the final winger spot and the 13th forward role available. Here’s who is in the running for those two.
Walker Duehr
The former standout of Minnesota State-Mankato rotated in and out of the lineup last year, playing 40 games for the Flames and putting up seven points in that time. Not great. A natural right-shot right winger is exactly what the Flames need in the role on this line, but just playing the right position is not enough for him to earn the job.
Realistically, if he plays well, Walker Duehr probably can justify one of the two open positions, but realistically, he’s slowly getting passed in the depth chart. He does have a lot of the tools to be an NHLer, and he’s quite fast on his feet and uses his body to his advantage, but hasn’t really put it all together to this point to be more than a depth NHLer.
If he doesn’t get a spot, the Flames will need waivers to send him down.
Adam Klapka
The largest man in the organization, Adam Klapka showed that he could be a legit NHLer last season. He had just one assist in his six games in the big leagues, but was an instant fan favourite and was reasonably responsible in his first look in the league. He was also very good in the AHL, with seven points in six playoff games to go along with 46 points in 65 regular season games.
Another right shot winger, Klapka fels like a guy the Flames will want to have in their lineup. He showed how good he is offensively in the first pre-season game against the Seattle Kraken, where he had two goals and look dynamic all night long. Pre-season is what it is, but you’re starting to see why the Flames signed him from Czechia a few years back.
If he doesn’t make the team, he will not need to clear waivers to go back to the AHL.
Matt Coronato
The former first-round pick will be looking to make the jump to the NHL full-time after a stellar rookie campaign in the AHL. He was a point-per-game player in the league last year and had nine points in 34 games in the NHL between multiple stints. However, he has exploded since the summer, impressing in Penticton at the Young Stars Classic and at the Development Camp Scrimmage. Now, he has started the pre-season with five points in two games, and seems keen to force the Flames’ hand.
Matthew Coronato probably has the highest ceiling of any of the players vying for a roster spot, but also probably has the most room still the grow. He didn’t really cement himself effectively in the NHL last year, but the potential is very clearly there for him. Is the fourth line the best place for him to start the season or would he be better served as a call-up midway through the year after getting more games in the AHL still remains to be seen.
The Flames can also send him down without needing waivers, making the option of starting him in the AHL less risky. However, he is clearly showing that he deserves a look at the start of the year, and will make this choice much more challenging.
Jakob Pelletier
The Flames signed Jakob Pelletier to a one-year two-way deal, which can really only be seen as a show-me deal. This is the year that the Flames need to determine if Pelletier can be a legit NHLer, or if he ends up being more of an AHL guy. For the former first round pick, the expectations are that this is the year he shows himself to be the former.
However, he will have to pass a number of the players on this list to earn one of the two roles available on the roster, and has a very short window in which to prove that he belongs.
For the Flames, they may want to start him in the NHL to know what they have in him at this level, but also because the risk of him getting claimed on waivers is quite high. If they start him in the NHL and he isn’t very good, the odds of him being claimed on waivers are low, and the team can then look to trade him as a reclamation project to another team that may be interested in taking on that challenge.
Pelletier is the most interesting name to watch in this battle by some distance.
Cole Schwindt
Acquired as part of the Matthew Tkachuk trade, expectations were high that the second-round selection could develop into a reliable two-way centre at the NHL level. However, to this point those expectations haven’t really been met. Cole Schwindt has appeared in just seven NHL games in his career to this point and has been a half-point-per-game player in the AHL over the last three seasons.
Is it possible that he finds his way into the NHL simply because the Flames have very poor centre depth? yes absolutely, but it’s more realistic that he finds his way back to the AHL and spends the season down there barring an slew of injuries at the NHL level.
Sam Morton
Signed out of college last season, Sam Morton was excellent for the Wranglers at the end of the year, putting up seven points in 13 games then a further four points in six playoff games. He then impressed at both Development Camp and at the Penticton Young Stars Classic, although he was much older than many of the other players there.
The American centreman probably starts his season in the AHL, simply because he hasn’t played very much professional hockey to this point, but is almost certainly going to get games this season. He looked very poised with the puck last year in the AHL and has shown so much promise of late. The Flames may have something in him this season.
Dryden Hunt
Now 28, Dryden Hunt will almost certainly be challenging for one of the two open roles on the big club. He spent more of the season in the NHL than the AHL, putting up eight points in 28 games last year with the Flames, and 22 points in 23 AHL games with the Wranglers. He’s one of the guys on the cusp of being an NHLer.
A journeyman depth player, Hunt could go either way on this one, and whether he starts the year in Calgary or not, he will almost certainly get games this year, simply because he has proven himself to be reliable at the NHL level. He does require waivers to go down to the AHL, but will almost certainly clear.
Who should the final two roster spots go to?
Let’s knock out a few candidates to start. Barring an outstanding camp, Hunt, Schwindt, and Morton are probably not starting in the NHL this season. Not to say they don’t get a look later on this season, but they are likely all passed on the depth chart right now. All three are unlikely to be claimed on waivers, as basically every other team in the league has comparable players in their system.
Realistically, Klapka is probably getting one of the two spots, both because of experience and also size. The team clearly likes him a lot and he has shown already that he is ready for an NHL role.
Coronato is pushing hard for a roster spot to start the season. Five points in two games is insane no matter how you look at it. If he keeps producing through the next two games, the Flames may have no choice but to keep him.
This makes the Pelletier decision even harder. In one pre-season game, he looked fine, but that is simply a one-game trial and not nearly enough to base a decision on. As a former first round pick, another team may look at him as a reclamation project with a ton of potential, and if put on waivers, odds are a team will take a chance on him and claim him. If he develops into an NHLer, as was predicted when the Flames drafted him, it will go down as yet another former Flame who performed better when he left Calgary.
Do the Flames take the risk of losing him on waivers or give him an NHL look to start the year and then roll the dice down the line if he doesn’t perform? This is probably the prudent choice, but what does that say to Coronato who is playing his heart out and probably deserves the spot over Pelletier?
The Flames could keep all three up, and send someone like Rooney down, but that would mean someone would need to play centre, and none of the three have really shown themselves to be centremen at the AHL level, although Pelletier and Coronato have both played centre in the QMJHL and NCAA respectively. Sending Rooney down would mean moving around their top-nine, which has been clicking so far and seems to be the way the team wants to start the year.
However, if Coronato continues to force the Flames’ hand, they may need to make room for him in the top-nine on the wing, and move someone around to play centre on the bottom line. The easiest way to do this would be to move Connor Zary to the middle of the fourth line and have Coronato play on the wing with Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman. This would give Zary a chance to play in the centre, which is his natural position, in a low-impact role as he gets acclimatized to the new(ish) role in the NHL. He has played centre for just seven games at the NHL level, and those were the last seven games of the year.
Conversely, it gives Coronato a sheltered role to grow with Backlund, and also may be a natural spot for him to grow. He has always been a responsible two-way player and this may be a natural spot for him to start the year.
THis would then leave Pelletier as the 13th forward, rotating in and out of the lineup as Coach Ryan Huska sees fit. If he’s great, the Flames can send either Klapka or Coronato down without risk of losing either of them. If he isn’t good, it will be known league-wide, and they can send him down on waivers with a lesser risk of a team claiming him.
These next few games are going to be pivotal to see how well Coronato does, and this will likely dictate the Flames’ decisions going forward.
