[Nehkara]

OFF-SEASON GAME PLAN: CALGARY FLAMES

Effort is admirable, character and grit are admirable. But if the Flames are going to climb the ladder in the Western Conference, they are ultimately going to need more talent, no matter the size.

25-year-old centre Mikael Backlund could be the top returning forward on the Flames' roster and he's coming off a season in which he scored a career-high 39 points. But Backlund also been the Flames' best possession forward over the past five seasons and, over the past three seasons, he's been doing it while not getting the easy work, starting shifts in the defensive zone and facing quality opposition. He's widely underrated because he doesn't have big point totals, but is a quality player at a bargain price.

For as impressive as a 22-goal rookie season was for 19-year-old Sean Monahan, he naturally has much room to improve and, to his credit, there was progression in his game as the year went on. For example, prior to Christmas, he was on the ice for 40.7% of 5-on-5 shot attempts and 45.9% after. That's progress and Monahan's emergence is a big part of the Flames' future.

If not for a broken ankle suffered in October, Mark Giordano would be front-and-centre in the Norris Trophy discussion. Even after missing 18 games, Giordano justifiably received lots of praise at season's end, putting up out-of-this-world possession stats, while playing the hardest minutes for a generally poor team. This was the best year of Giordano's career and it would be great for the Flames if this is his new standard level of play going forward, but there is some risk that he's not going to be able to duplicate such an impressive campaign.

It's a good article overall and long with far more interesting bits than the ones I've quoted.

This is Scott Cullen's projected roster for the Flames for next season: