Friday night was a celebration of Mikael Backlund’s 1000th career NHL game. The team rallied around their captain on the night and beat former Flame Jacob Markstrom and the New Jersey Devils to break a three-game losing streak.
After a hot 5–0–1 start, the Calgary Flames went on a 0–4–0 stretch, getting outscored 19–9. Although the win column was getting filled early in the season, they weren’t necessarily greatly executed wins, and now it seems the team is getting dragged back down to earth.
There have been some great success stories this season, but the recent slide in performance across the team prompted us to see who fans are most disappointed in to start the season.
We asked, you answered.
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Who’s been the most disappointing for the Flames to start the season?
We presented the below poll to our readers on Twitter/X.
Anthony Mantha
Anthony Mantha collected 29% of the votes this week, taking second place in the poll. The winger signed this offseason and was discussed as a potential key to unlocking Jonathan Huberdeau. Mantha has tallied three, one of which was shorthanded, and six points in 11 games.
The 30-year-old has scored two of his goals in a high-danger area, but those are his only high-danger shots on goal of the season, putting him below the 50 percentile amongst league-wide forwards.
Furthermore, his offensive zone time, skating distance, and whopping 10 shots on goal are all below the league average amongst his forward colleagues. Not exactly the player people were expecting after being signed in the offseason. For example, his 80-shot pace would be the lowest shot total of his career.
Thus far, it seems Mantha hasn’t been performing up to fans’ expectations. It’s early still, and there’s plenty of time for him to find his place with a new team, but the clock is ticking on his prove-it contract.
Daniil Miromanov
Daniil Miromanov was the majority winner of this week’s poll, collecting 52% of votes. Miromanov was acquired in the Noah Hanifin trade with the Vegas Golden Knights last season. Signed in the offseason to a two-year deal with an AAV of 1.25 million dollars, it looked like Daniil would bring an offensive spark to the back end and pair nicely with MacKenzie Weegar. It has been quite the opposite, in fact.
Miromanov has only recorded one assist in nine games and has an individual Corsi For of 29%, second last amongst Flames defencemen playing at least seven games. There hasn’t been any of that spark that Flames fans saw last season. He could slot in as a bottom pairing guy, but right now, he doesn’t look like a long-term fit alongside MacKenzie Weegar.
Jonathan Huberdeau
Huberdeau collected 14% of the vote this week to finish third. That might be a record low when mentioned in polls related to, well, anything negative, really. There have been glimpses of hope from Jonathan Huberdeau this season! It hasn’t been sustained, and there are still moments where you scratch your head watching him. But he’s really just playing up to his new standards over the last few seasons.
Huberdeau has tallied a team-leading five goals and eight points but hasn’t recorded an assist at even strength yet. Maybe some of the frustration associated with Huberdeau this season has been the lack of chemistry between him and Anthony Mantha. It was apparent the Flames went out and pursued him with the goal of trying to ignite Huberdeau.
Despite their lack of success as a pair, I do think Huberdeau has the potential to have his best season as a Flame to date.
Ryan Huska
Ryan Huska collected 7% of the vote in this week’s poll. In all honesty, I didn’t expect Huska to collect a ton of votes in this poll, and it was presented much more out of curiosity than criticism. If the Flames struggle for the majority of the season, it could bring into question Huska’s job security as a first-time head coach.
Wins and losses might not mean a ton, but if he fails to bring success out of the players like Huberdeau, or more importantly, doesn’t develop the team’s young talent at the NHL level, he could have a short leash. I don’t think he has been a bad coach.
If he can continue to grow the culture of the team and get the players to buy in, wins will come. It takes time, and the team is still in a period of transition. I don’t see the Flames making any decision about their head coach for the foreseeable future.
Who was left out?
The most commented response was by far Andrei Kuzmenko. Despite his endearing personality, giggling and selfies with Kangaroos aren’t going to get the guy a contract. We’ve all seen his potential, and it’s amazing to watch, but his biggest flaws are consistency and effort.
It was a negative poll this week I want to do a little self reflection and be honest with you all to finish off with. The only games I’ve been able to watch live this season have been losses. So maybe Flames fans should be most disappointed in me. Maybe I shouldn’t watch tonight’s second edition of the Battle of Alberta.
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