It has been no secret that the Calgary Flames have had lots of trouble scoring goals this year. With former Flames having some really great offensive seasons, I wanted to put together a roster of current and former Flames to create a lineup that would hopefully score more than three goals a game.
The parameters are very simple: the players had to have played for the Flames at one point in their career, and they must be active today in the NHL. A shoutout to Jaromir Jagr, as he is still playing in his home country of Czechia, and to Johnny Gaudreau, who should still be playing.
Forward line #1:
Sam Bennett – Sean Monahan – Matthew Tkachuk
The top line will consist of three former Flames that are universally loved by the fanbase. Down the middle, a revived Sean Monahan, playing with the power of Johnny Hockey this season, has dominated with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Playing at a point-per-game for the first time since 2019, Monahan has been a big part of the Jackets’ offence and is seemingly playing the best hockey of his career.
On his wings will be the two Stanley Cup champions—Sam Bennett and Matthew Tkachuk—who will both be at the Four-Nations Faceoff for their respective countries next month. Bringing a combination of tenacity and skill, they would be a tough duo to go up against with the shooting prowess of Monahan down the middle.
Forward line #2
Jonathan Huberdeau – Elias Lindholm – Tyler Toffoli
A line that had a ton of reps together back in the 2022–23 season includes a current Flame and two former ones. Jonathan Huberdeau is playing the best hockey he has played since becoming a Flame this season and is finally showing some signs of the player he was when he was with the Florida Panthers.
Elias Lindholm plays down the middle even though he has been a non-factor thus far with the Boston Bruins this season. However, he and Tyler Toffoli created a nice duo back in 2023, which led to a career season from Toffoli with the Flames. Toffoli has been a fantastic add for the San Jose Sharks this season with their young core, and he always had a knack for scoring goals with the Flames.
Forward line #3
Andrew Mangiapane – Nazem Kadri – Connor Zary
A bit of a spark-plug line here with the two dogs on a leash in Andrew Mangiapane and Connor Zary, with Nazem Kadri bringing tenacity and bite down the middle. Kadri has shown in the past to have nice chemistry with both Zary and Mangiapane, and those two have shown that they can handle themselves when not being the main driver of the line.
This line should be able to score but also be trusted defensively. They would also be a massive pain to play against with how ‘in your face’ both Mangiapane and Zary can be.
Forward line #4
Blake Coleman – Mikael Backlund – Matt Coronato
The only line here that is currently intact with the Flames is the old, reliable Blake Coleman and Mikael Backlund pair alongside youngster Matt Coronato.
Since being put together, these three have dominated. Coronato has really begun to find his scoring touch at the NHL level while becoming more confident with each game that passes. Coleman and Backlund have been the same old same old for the team, trusted against the opposing team’s top players and played a ton of minutes. This line has been dynamite to watch on a nightly basis.
Defence pair #1
MacKenzie Weegar – Dougie Hamilton
This team’s top pair would be an absolute world-beater. MacKenzie Weegar and Dougie Hamilton together would potentially make one of the league’s top pairs. Between Hamilton’s elite offensive play and Weegar outstanding two-way prowess, this pair would be extremely difficult to both score on and defend, they would be a treat to watch.
Hamilton would get the chance to push the pace as much as he wants offensively, and Weegar would be the defensive backbone of the pair but also able to bring the offence when he wants to. Oh, how I would love to see this for real.
Defence pair #2
Noah Hanifin – Rasmus Andersson
The old reliable pair from 2022 and 2023, Rasmus Andersson and Noah Hanifin were a very nice pair for the Flames for a few years before Hanifin was shipped off to the Vegas Golden Knights. They complimented one another’s game very well, and they became extremely reliable for the Flames to play in every situation, especially back in the 2021–22 season under Darryl Sutter.
Defence pair #3
Juuso Valimaki – Chris Tanev
The third pair would be the team’s premier shutdown pair with a pair of former Flames. Juuso Valimaki was never given a fair shake by former General Manager Brad Treliving and was lost back in 2022 after a mind-boggling decision to place him on waivers as opposed to Connor Mackey. Valimaki has gone on to the Utah Hockey Club to become a pretty good top-four guy. Chris Tanev was a rock for almost every game that he played for the Flames, and he is still doing the same for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
These two together would be extremely tough to get by as they are defence first players, but that is what you need on a team. These two would probably be the best at that aspect of the game.
Goaltenders:
Starter: Dustin Wolf / Backup: Jacob Markstrom / Third string: Cam Talbot
The goaltending is quite simple as the Flames have had a hard time finding a true number one, well, that is until this season.
Dustin Wolf would be this team’s undisputed starting goalie. Not only has he been by far and away the Flames’ best goalie, but he has been one of the league’s best goalies this season. He is the only reason the Flames are where they are in the standings, and he has been the Flames’ most impactful player by a country mile this season.
Jacob Markstrom would be backing up as he is a good goalie but extremely volatile. He is either fantastic or unusable; that is the best way to describe his time as a Flame. He has been better this year for the New Jersey Devils but still inconsistent, which is why he would be Wolf’s backup.
The third-stringer would be Cam Talbot. He was fantastic to start this season with the Detroit Red Wings, but he has tailed off a bit since November. Still a reliable goalie—even at age 37—he was very good in his one season as a Flame, and he would make a nice cushion to have.
Healthy scratches:
Jakob Pelletier, Yegor Sharangovich, T.J. Brodie
Jakob Pelletier, Yegor Sharangovich, and T.J. Brodie will be the extras. Reliable, but not enough to be in the lineup on a nightly basis. In Pelletier’s case, he is young, still with upside, and could potentially break through with more experience. Sharangovich has been horrendous this season and would be a safety blanket, as would Brodie.
Would this squad be a playoff team?
From top to bottom, this team should definitely be a playoff team. They have the star power up front in Tkachuk, studs on the backend, and a bonafide number-one goalie. Now, would they be able to win a Stanley Cup? Maybe not, but I can only imagine what kind of damage this team may be able to do.
Photo by Gerry Thomas/NHLI via Getty Images
