Calgary Flames Season Preview

The Flames may have had the best off season of any NHL team acquiring a new goalie tandem while adding Travis Hamonic to make one of the league's best defensive cores. The biggest questions still remain in net with new additions Mike Smith and Eddie Lack taking over for Brian Elliott and Chad Johnson. With plenty of young talent and an elite defensive core, you could argue the Flames are cup contenders entering the season in a stacked Pacific Division.

Arrivals/Departures

Arrivals: Travis Hamonic, Mike Smith, Eddie Lack, Spencer Foo, Luke Gazdic, Marek Hrivik
Departures: Brian Elliott, Deryk Engelland, Chad Johnson, Alex Chiasson, Dennis Wideman, Lance Bouma



Forwards:

Johnny Gaudreau took a step back last year taking a drop in points partly due to a hand injury but his play faltered a bit too. Gaudreau is still one of the best young players in the NHL though and expect him to once again reach his point-per-game pace. Centering Gaudreau is another great young player in Sean Monahan who was the Flames' best player during their short playoff run scoring in all four games. The last member of the top line will be hard-hitter Micheal Ferland who helped spark a win streak to propel the Flames to the playoffs while put alongside Gaudreau and Monahan. The first line is flashy but the second line is one of the best shutdown lines in the NHL with Mikael Backlund, Michael Frolik and Matthew Tkachuk. Backlund has quietly became one of the league's most underrated players putting up 53 points while playing a two-way game. Michael Frolik is also a very good two-way player who average between 40 and 50 points a season. Tkachuk was one of the better rookies last season getting under the skin of some of the game's best players as well as scoring and playing effective hockey. Sam Bennett will be the third-line center after another disappointing season for the youngster, and if he does not improve his days in Calgary may be limited. Kris Versteeg was a good-value signing last year contributing on the first power play unit so the Alberta native returned for another season in his home province. Spencer Foo was this year's most-coveted college free agent coming out of Union College and he chose to sign in Calgary so expect him to make an impact as a rookie this upcoming season. Troy Brouwer disappointed in his first season with the Flames getting to demoted to the third line; with young players stepping up, he could be a fourth-line player in the upcoming season. Matt Stajan is a good fourth-line center who can help mentor the young players and provide leadership in the dressing room. Garnet Hathaway played good in his call up last season so he will have a good shot in training camp to secure a roster spot to replace the toughness that left with Deryk Engelland's departure. Curtis Lazar will also have a chance to make the roster and probably will but as a depth forward. The other depth forward will probably be Freddie Hamilton as the Flames don't want their prospects sitting in the press box. Mark Jankowski also has a good shot to make the jump to the NHL after playing one game last year but a deep-forward core may make him wait another year. Hunter Shinkaruk and Emile Poirier will be also given a chance to make the roster but they are both doubtful to secure a spot.



Defenceman:

With the addition of Travis Hamonic, the Flames have bolstered their already good defence into one of the league's best as they take a run at the cup next season. Mark Giordano is still the captain and leader of this team as he remains one of the best defenceman in the game. Giordano is good in all aspects of the game as he shuts down the opposing teams' best players and puts up lots of points. Dougie Hamilton will once again be paired with Giordano as last season they combined for one of the best advanced statistics season ever by a defensive pair. Hamilton set career highs in almost all major statistical catergories after a bad first year in Calgary. Smooth-skating TJ Brodie will be the staple point of the second pair as he moves the puck well and contributes offensively giving the Flames three very good defenceman. New addition Travis Hamonic will team up with Brodie to give the Flames a great top-four defence. Hamonic is more a shutdown defenceman than the other three so he will provide something the Flames didn't have last season. Brad Treliving also resigned Michael Stone who played very well in the last quarter of the season after he was traded to the Flames giving them depth at the position. Last year's late-signing Matt Bartkowski will be the last defenceman in the top six. Brett Kulak and Tyler Wotherspoon will likely compete for the seventh spot to fill in when injuries occur. Prospects Oliver Kylington and Rasmus Andersson may also compete for Bartkowski's spot but they would probably do better on the first pair in the AHL.



Goaltending:

After a disastrous season in net where both Brian Elliott and Chad Johnson were weak, the Flames addressed the goaltending need by trading for Mike Smith and Eddie Lack. Smith is getting up there in age but he should be able to provide a stabling presence in net especially with such a good defensive core in front of him. Lack struggled last season on a bad Hurricanes team and is the backup because he comes at little cost.

Projected Lineup:

Johnny Gaudreau	Sean Monahan	Micheal Ferland
Matthew Tkachuk	Mikael Backlund	Michael Frolik
Kris Versteeg	Sam Bennett	Spencer Foo
Garnet Hathaway	Matt Stajan	Troy Brouwer
Freddie Hamilton	Mark Jankowski	Curtis Lazar

Mark Giordano	Dougie Hamilton
TJ Brodie	Travis Hamonic
Matt Bartkowski	Michael Stone
Brett Kulak	Tyler Wotherspoon

Mike Smith

Eddie Lack

Jon Gillies

Top 10 Players:

10. Mike Smith

9. Matthew Tkachuk

8. Travis Hamonic

7. Michael Frolik
.

6. Mikael Backlund

5. TJ Brodie

4. Dougie Hamilton

3. Sean Monahan

2. Mark Giordano

1. Johnny Gaudreau

Projected Finish: 104 Points (2nd in Pacific)
Last Year: 94 Points (4th in Pacific) 

Photo credit for Travis Hamonic goes to http://www.tsn.ca/. Johnny Gaudreau goes to https://www.cbssports.com/. Mark Giordano and Sean Monahan goes to https://www.nhl.com/. 

Calgary Flames Expansion Draft Preview

The first NHL expansion draft in the salary cap era is coming up this week and teams will need to submit their protected players list tomorrow on Saturday. The Vegas Golden Knights will then have three days to pick and submit their roster to be announced on Wednesday night during the NHL awards ceremony. I will make predictions for the NHL team I am most familiar with, the Calgary Flames. I think the Flames will take the 7/3/1 route instead of the 8/1 route because they have more than four forwards to protect and only three defenseman signed worth protecting. The Flames have no trade clauses that will get in the way and future stars such as Matthew Tkachuk will not need protection.



Forwards:

The Flames have some forward locks who will be protected for sure and some question marks for who the last forwards will be. Johnny Gaudreau is coming off an off year but he is still the Flames best player and has the upside to get point per game seasons and be among the league's top scorers. Having only played one year out of his six-year contract he will remain a Flame for a long time to come. Another guarantee will be their number one centre Sean Monahan who started the year off weak but was their best player in their four game series vs the Ducks scoring a goal in every game. Monahan could be a 40 goal scorer in the near future with Johnny Hockey on his line. Mikael Backlund was probably the Flames best forward all season and was even considered to possibly be nominated for the Selke trophy. With a very reasonable $3.575-million cap hit will definitely mean protection for this underrated two-way centre. Backlund's right-wing Michael Frolik will also be a no brainer due to his two-way game and the possibility of 20-goal, 40-point campaigns. Gritty Micheal Ferland looked great on the top line in the final stretch and his physical get-in-your-face game makes it a easy decision to keep him. He is still a young player who will continue to improve. Trade rumors have swirled around former fourth overall pick Sam Bennett but he will be protected because of his potential and young age or even just for the possibility of a trade. Bennett has been a disappointment since being drafted except for the playoffs vs the Canucks but to remain on this team much longer he will need to step up his underachieving play. The last forward spot could be any one of Troy Brouwer, Alex Chiasson, Matt Stajan, Lance Bouma, Curtis Lazar, Hunter Shinkaruk, or Emile Poirier. I think because of Stajan's and Bouma's contract/age they will go unprotected. Brouwer was brought in for leadership but underachieved.With three years left on this contract, he might be the one Treliving wants to get picked for Las Vegas. Shinkaruk and Poirier spent last year in the AHL so it most likely won't be them which would leave Lazar or Chiasson. Chiasson is a better player now but may have reached his full potential. Lazar was just traded for at the deadline and is much younger so I think he may be the chosen player. Kris Versteeg played well in his first season with the Flames but is a UFA and will remain that until after the draft.



Defenseman:

This is the easiest decision for the Flames as they have three very good defenseman who are locks to be protected. Their captain and one of the best defenceman in the NHL, Mark Giordano is up there in age but still plays exceptional so he will be back to anchor the defence for another year. Dougie Hamilton broke out last season after a disappointing first year in Calgary and along side Giordano posted some of the best stats ever by a defence pairing. The last one will be TJ Brodie who is a great skater and passer but lacks some of the offensive flair the other two have. That leaves UFA's Michael Stone, Dennis Wideman and enforcer Deryk Engelland as well as late season addition Matt Bartkowski unprotected.

Goalies:

The Flames don't want either Brian Elliott or Chad Johnson to return but they will have to sign one tomorrow or trade for a goalie to meet the expansion requirements. They signed Tom McCollum to a contract to meet the requirements but will need to choose one of the other two to protect. I think it will be Johnson because he is a decent backup and they won't need to pay him over $2 million to stay in his hometown. The Flames will explore other options over Brian Elliott such as Marc-Andre Fleury or Mike Smith. The Flames might just go with goalie-of-the-future Jon Gillies as the starter next year after a great first game vs the Kings this year.

Who Will Vegas Pick?

Michael Stone is the best unprotected player but is a UFA so most likely it won't be him unless they know he will sign with them. Troy Brouwer has connections to GM George McPhee but he carries a large cap. I think the most likely options will either be Shinkaruk or Chiasson but I would bet on Chiasson. He brings size, is only 26 years old and could possibly play anywhere on the depth chart. Shinkaruk and Poirier are young but have yet to prove themselves enough to make a NHL roster. Watch for Engelland to be a free agent target of Vegas as in 2004 he played for Vegas's ECHL team and his wife currently lives there. Either way Calgary is likely not to lose a big part of their team.

Photo credit goes to https://www.nhl.com/flames/ for both photos