The Calgary Flames have been an intriguing team to start the season. With lots of doubt heading into the year, the Flames currently have a record of 5–1–1 in the first seven games of the season. That loss came to the Carolina Hurricanes just last night.
The Flames definitely have had their fair share of showings on why the preseason predictions were so low on them. But one thing for certain that’s different than prior years is that this group seems tight. And when this tight group is fully healthy, how do they line up?
Forwards
The Flames forward group has some pretty good depth to it. What’s missing is the star power to truly put it over the top. A winger-heavy group, the Flames could be set for some interesting line combinations when fully healthy.
There are some duos that seem to be set among this group for now, such as Nazem Kadri with Andrei Kuzmenko, Mikael Backlund with Blake Coleman, and Jonathan Huberdeau with Anthony Mantha. When the Flames reach full health, I don’t see these pairs breaking apart.
Centres
Looking at the group by position, we’ll start with the centres. Down the middle, the Flames have Nazem Kadri, Mikael Backlund, Justin Kirkland, and a recently recovered Kevin Rooney. They’ve also played Martin Pospisil at centre, and Connor Zary seems destined for a run at centre this season, too.
The centre group is not very deep. Kadri brings some very good value, but he’s more suited as a 2C than a 1C. Backlund has also served his years as an awesome middle-six forward, but once again is a line too high. A feel-good story is what the Flames currently have with Kirkland, and we hope that continues. Lastly, Rooney is a fourth-line centre.
When the Flames are completely healthy, I think these four will continue to be the four down the middle for now. Pospisil was just moved back to the wing after being benched in the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, so I don’t know if we’ll see him back at the position in the near future. With Pospisil looking set to be on the wing, this would be a great time to test Zary at the centre position, but I just don’t see it happening.
Wingers
Unlike the centres, the Flames have an abundance of options at the wing. Andrei Kuzmenko, Jonathan Huberdeau, Anthony Mantha, Connor Zary, Matt Coronato, Blake Coleman, Martin Pospisil, Ryan Lomberg, Adam Klapka, and, of course, injured Yegor Sharangovich, and Sam Honzek.
These wingers have a mix of everything. There are players trying to prove themselves, players trying to re-find themselves, and players who are just playing their role. There’s lots of promise in Zary, Coronato, Honzek, and Pospisil combined. Kuzmenko, Huberdeau, Sharangovich, and Mantha bring the offence to the flank, while Coleman, Lomberg, and Klapka continue to do their jobs at an efficient rate.
You can see wingers move to centre, as I mentioned already with Pospisil and Zary, but you can also see centres move to the wing. However, I feel as if the Flames’ current centres are all natural. When Sharangovich and Honzek return to health, they’ll likely face very different fates. Sharangovich will probably reclaim his spot next to Kadri and Kuzmenko, while Honzek is destined for a send-down.
Defencemen
Another position where the Flames find themselves with lots of options to play. Eight defencemen can call themselves a Calgary Flame right now, and that’s not common for an NHL team. Leading at the top are MacKenzie Weegar and Rasmus Andersson. Weegar brings great play at both ends of the ice, while Andersson is off to a hot start and can provide value in all aspects of the game.
Then comes Kevin Bahl, Jake Bean, Brayden Pachal, and Daniil Miromanov. These four round out the remaining regulars for the Flames. However, Bean and Miromanov have both received healthy scratches so far this year. Pachal and Bahl, especially, have both been quite solid to begin the season.
Tyson Barrie and Joel Hanley typically sit out for the Flames. Hanley has not played a game yet, while Barrie has played two, being the defenceman both Bean and Miromanov drew out for.
Currently, the only set-in-stone things about the defence core are the Bahl and Andersson pairing, and Weegar will receive top pair minutes regardless of his partner. The rest of the Flames’ defence is truly a battle of who plays the best from game to game.
Goalies
The simplest options out of every single position are the goalies. There are no more than three guys who could draw in for the Flames right now. The first is Dan Vladar. Vladar has currently started the most games with four, but that will soon change as the Flames will likely continue their rotation method. Looking solid—despite what some scores might say—is kind of the jist of how Vladar’s season has gone so far.
Dustin Wolf is the next option. Wolf has suited up for three games so far, picking up wins in each game. He hasn’t had an easy workload, facing 32+ shots in each game. But, despite his short stature, he has stood tall to the task and has looked like that elite goalie Flames fans are hoping for.
The final option is Devin Cooley. Cooley hasn’t been up with the NHL yet this year, and even when the Flames are fully healthy, he likely won’t be.
What does the lineup look like?
When the Flames are fully healthy, I am expecting the lineup to look something like this:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
| Kuzmenko | Kadri | Sharangovich |
| Huberdeau | Kirkland | Mantha |
| Zary | Backlund | Coleman |
| Lomberg | Pospisil | Coronato |
| N/A | Rooney | N/A |
| LD | RD |
|---|---|
| Weegar | Miromanov |
| Bahl | Andersson |
| Bean | Pachal |
| Hanley | Barrie |
| G |
|---|
| Wolf |
| Vladar |
Honestly, not much is changing. The defence and goalie see absolutely zero changes, and I don’t see any coming soon. The forwards, on the other hand, have a few. When Sharangovich comes back, I think we’ll see Pospisil return to centre but in a limited role on the fourth line until he finds his groove again. Sharangovich would then take his usual spot from Pospisil on the first line.
What I have listed as the second line sees no change to what it currently is. Huberdeau–Kirkland–Mantha probably won’t be split up until the offence runs dry, and it has been only one game. If it does, I would not be surprised to see Pospisil—or maybe Zary—take Kirkland’s spot.
The third line also sees no changes, and I honestly don’t see them breaking it up any time soon. Rooney sits as a scratch, as I believe he is the odd man out until someone has an off-game or if Kirkland’s hot cools. Klapka is missing, and I believe he will be sent down over Hanley to meet the roster requirement. This is because he is waiver-exempt, and the Flames seem to have an odd love for Hanley.
Honzek is also not on the roster as he hasn’t shown a whole lot to prove himself a full-time NHLer, and the AHL is best for his development, anyway.
