I don’t think it can be overstated that the Calgary Flames have major scoring issues this season. The Flames have scored just 120 goals this year—the second-fewest league-wide. Goals have not been easy to come by thus far. Despite that, the Flames have been lurking around this playoffs and sit in the second wild card spot and they can thank Dustin Wolf for that.
The top of the lineup has been okay this year, Jonathan Huberdeau is in the midst of his best season as a Flame, but that isn’t saying much as he is on pace for only 59 points—a far cry from his days as a Florida Panther. Nazem Kadri has been fine as well, but it would be nice if the Flames got a little more out of their highest-paid players.
However, even with the “top” guys not scoring at a rapid pace, the bottom half of the lineup has not been pulling their weight at all this season. An overhaul is certainly needed, to not only give them a better chance at scoring more goals but to avoid getting killed at even-strength like they have been all year.
Calgary’s underperforming scorers
I think the scoring issues wouldn’t be so big if two guys would get their scoring touch back at some point. Yegor Sharangovich and Andrei Kuzmenko have probably been the team’s two most disappointing players this season. Sharangovich has been non-existent on a night-to-night basis, disappearing when the team needs him most. Kuzmenko has been in Ryan Huska’s dog house this year as he has been in and out of the lineup. He did however break out of a scoring drought that dated all the way back to the second week of the season.
They have both been awful all season long, they haven’t given any of the top-of-the-line help in the scoring department and have been negative assets on the ice as opposed to a positive value. Kuzmenko, as I mentioned above, has been seeing the press box a lot as of late. It has been warranted for sure with the way he has played; however, he has been a little bit better as of late when put in a position to succeed, but Huska hasn’t necessarily given him that much rope.
In my opinion, the easy fix would be to put him with Huberdeau and Kadri to help get his game going—he isn’t a fit in the bottom-six and has always produced when placed higher in the lineup. It’s not like Martin Pospisil has been lighting the world on fire as of late.
When it comes to Sharangovich, I have no idea what to do with him. He has not earned any of the ice time that he has gotten, he really shouldn’t even be on the power play at this point, that is how bad he has been. The first thing they need to do is put him back on the wing and out of the centre position, he is not a centre, let’s stop pretending like he can play the position.
At this point, I think he needs some time watching from up above. He is not helping the team, he is only hurting them right now with his play. He is getting caved in on every shift and he is not even shooting the puck like he was a year ago. A scratch should be coming sooner rather than later.
What to do with the fourth line?
The fourth line is what needs the most work on this team. They have not been good all year, no matter who has been on that line. For the majority of the year, Ryan Lomberg and Kevin Rooney have played on the fourth line with a rotating door of different wingers. Between Adam Klapka, Justin Kirkland, and Walker Duehr—who was claimed on waivers, they have been caved in consistently.
The first order of business would be waiving Kevin Rooney. Unfortunately, he is just not an NHL player, he is relied on to be a defence first centre. However, he does anything but that. He has been outscored, out-chanced, and has been getting demolished in the face-off dot, he just is not a fit for that role anymore. There are deserving players with the Wranglers who deserve a chance at an NHL job, and quite frankly it cannot get worse than Rooney at this point.
Ryan Lomberg, even with his infectious energy, should not be an everyday player. I am not saying to send him to the Wranglers or sit him for games on end, but he just does not do enough to warrant playing every single night. Outside of Rooney, there has not been a player on the roster who has done less than Lomberg on a night-to-night basis. Once again, I think there are some deserving Wranglers who can do a better job than Lomberg or Rooney.
At some point, I think you need to see what you have in Sam Morton or William Stromgren and they can have those auditions playing on either the third or fourth line. Morton could potentially be a solid fourth line centre and maybe Stromgren can play some minutes higher up in the lineup. Regardless, I think there is more upside in those two than Rooney or Lomberg at the moment.
A new philosophy is needed
I have had my critiques and issues with Huska, I think that has been well documented, but I really do think he needs to figure out something new for his bottom-six. Jakob Pelletier should not be playing on the fourth line, Kuzmenko needs to be put in a better position (to up his trade value) and Pospisil has to be out of the top-six as he is a far more effective bottom-six player.
I would like to see Huska adopt a new system and give some of the kids on the farm a chance to succeed over the older players at the bottom of the lineup. I doubt it will happen because he is as stubborn as anyone can be, but only time will tell if he adapts to get the Flames closer to the playoffs.
