Gaudreau: A+. Challenged for the Art Ross for most of the year. The only reason to watch the team down the stretch. Star players under contract for 4 more years at under $7M have a ton of value now that McDavid, Eichel (And soon Matthews) will be making $12M+. Rather than trade Johnny, I think the Flames should take advantage of Monahan and Gaudreau combining to make less than $14M to get another star player, by either trade or Tavares.
Tkachuk: A+. Future captain. The team wasn't the same when he wasn't on the ice. Does so many little things that impress. No team can win the Stanley Cup with a dud wearing #19 - the Flames have an elite 19 on their hands, and he's gonna get paid.
Monahan: A-. Played through four major injuries. Was on Pace to be a 40G PPG player at one point in the year. Dude is inarguably a #1C in the NHL. Don't give me nonsense about how he's only a product of Gaudreau. Show me another elite player that plays with nobodies and still puts up numbers, and I'll show you Sid. Monahan thinks the game nearly as well as Gaudreau does - That's why they work well together. All Monahan has done as a pro is be better every year. As long as he stays healthy, he is going to be a monster for at least the next five years.
Giordano: B+. Gio is not the reason this team didn't make the playoffs. His numbers are right in line with the year before, and if we get this type of play out of Gio for three of the next five years, I think we'll all be very happy with that contract. He is the best defenseman on this team until someone proves otherwise.
Hamilton: B+. If only our idiot head coach had considered putting Dougie on the first PP before January. 17 goals, 44 points, playing in all situations. Every season in Calgary has been better than his career best in Boston. Oh and he's 24. Let's trade him.
Backlund: B-. Backlund started strong. It seemed as though his contract discussions weighed on him, and he didn't get the second wind I thought he would after his extension. But I'm not stressing about Backlund - why bother, he's here another 5 years, so I've gotta believe the last three months are not as indicative as the last three years. He's still on the right side of 30, and I don't think he's going to be the whipping boy of anyone with a brain. Certainly not the reason we're not in the playoffs.
Ferland: C+. A 20/20 season for Ferly, playing mostly with the top line. It's tough, because a 16-point improvement over a career year is impressive, but Ferland should've finished the year with 30 goals. He had 21. February 1, Ferland scored his 20th goal. He scored 21 on March 16. I said before the season, Ferland is a complimentary piece. He is not the straw that stirs the drink. What makes him effective is, unfortunately, what makes him inconsistent - nobody can sustain Ferland v Vancouver levels over an 82 game schedule, and when he's not being carried by Johnny and Sean, he's a 20-30 point physical forward. Sell high.
Brodie: C-. So glad we gave up a 1st, a 2nd, and another 2nd for someone to play with Brodie, only to watch the guy have an even worse year than 2017. It's frustrating, because when Brodie is on, he can completely control the game from the back end. Whoever coaches this team next needs to understand that Brodie needs to be leading the rush every shift. He needs to be jumping into the play and creating odd man rushes. He has been Bouwmeester'd by Gulutzan since Glen's arrival, and I hope it stops.
Bennett: D-. Not an NHL centre. Anyone who mentions using Sam Bennett as a centre during their interview process should be disqualified. He's not even that good a winger. I would've been certain, prior to this year, that if you simply announced in July Bennett was going to be the #1RW, that would've solved a great many problems. Now, I will happily trade him to recoup a 2nd round pick. I do not see what he brings to the table that makes him worth keeping around. He never stops on pucks, he does these lazy fly-bys and reaches back to try and corral pucks that would be on his tape if he stopped where he was. Sam, if your favorite player growing up was Doug Gilmour, and you get drafted by the Flames, you pick 39.
Jankowski: C. I have been a fan of Janko since the day we picked him. After waiting five years, I'm still a fan. He's got the frame and reach you love in a centre, he's got good vision, good hands, you can see the defensive awareness. But he's also a rookie, who spent 4 years in college. Clearly hit a wall, and will need a good summer of training. I recommend he binge Dragon Ball Super for motivation. Time will tell if he is able to supplant Backlund as the #2C - I don't think it's out of the question in the next three years. Thanks, Feaster.
Frolik: C-. Really disappointing season from Frolik. Thought he'd be energized playing with Jagr - wasn't. Wasn't nearly as effective as the year before. One thing that's concerning about Frolik, when he gets injured mid-season, he has trouble getting his year back on track. He got hurt year 1 and wasn't great, and wasn't the same after his injury this year. He's only under contract for 2 more years, and I do view Frolik as the ideal sort of free agent acquisition - a 2nd/3rd line guy who could play on the top line in a pinch, but is generally just a solid pro hockey player. Get it together, Fro.
Brouwer: D-. To the sun with you. A Brouwer buyout comes with a cap hit of $1.5 for 4 years. Either trade him with 50% retained or buy him out. He's a waste of a roster spot, and his intangibles are VASTLY overrated. Nobody in that room cares what ol' Birdcage Brouwer has to say. He was invisible against a physical Anaheim team last year, and now that his jaw has been Emelin'd, surely the days of him playing rough and tumble in the corners are over. He's got a ring and $8M more coming his way, why mess that up with an injury. GTFO.
Hathaway: C. Garnett Hathaway appeared in 59 games, registering 4 goals, 9 assists, and accruing 88 minutes in penalties. He finishes 2017-18 with a laudable +3 rating.
Matt Stajan: D. Matt Stajan has received in excess of $26.5M from the Calgary Flames since 2010. That money has purchased one 10+ goal season, and 56 goals total. You may be thinking "Well, Staj is a playmaker more than a shooter..." - wrong. $26.5M has purchased one 20+ assist season. 118 total. But he did score that goal against the Canucks. So there's that.
Curtiz Lazar: D-. Curtis Lazar wishes he could produce like Matt Stajan. But everyone in the media tells me he's a nice guy.
Hamonic: B-. He is what he is. I don't think he's a useless player, but he ain't exactly Vlasic. He's a black hole offensively, and I eagerly await AC's highlight package of bone crushing hits that don't exist.
Stone: B-. I actually really like Stone. I know I'm in the minority, but Stone is a big guy who can break up the cycle down low. He seals guys up against the boards and that's it. He's an excellent PK guy, and I don't see why we didn't just roll with Brodie/Stone on the 2nd pair. I think having Stone and Hamonic does allow you to trade Brodie for scoring help, but in an ideal world, I would trade those two and keep Brodie. Brodie can control the game - Stone and Hamonic can't.
Versteeg: D+. Versteeg wasn't in the lineup much, and when he was, he wasn't very impactful. But he did rent a place in my neighborhood last year, and he played his junior in Lethbridge where I went to school. Still, D+ and thanks for all the fish.
Nick Shore: Letter. A man named Nick Shore played hockey games for the Flames this year. He was on pace to outproduce Curtis Lazar.
Bartkowski: Lol.
Kulak: C+. He's the 6th defenseman on the 18th best team in the NHL. Good for him. Don't see the Brodie qualities some have alluded to for years.
Foo: C. Got into a couple games late, scored a few goals. Skating isn't NHL level, and will need to see a lot of improvement before I start to view this player as a legit threat to stick.
Glass: B-. Glad he fought Lucic. Otherwise, why do we not have a player in the farm system who can do Tanner Glass things?
Andersson: Letter. I'll refrain from commenting much on Andersson since I didn't watch the majority of games he got into. But his skating is a concern; he doesn't seem fast enough to handle top-6 forwards.
Hrivik: More like Marek Whorivik, amirite?
Smith: B+. For 50 games, I remembered what it was like to have Kipper in the cage every night. Smith made all the saves he should've made, plus four or five he shouldn't. That's a goalie. His puckhandling was a revelation; I've wanted a goalie on my team like that since I was seven. He never recovered from his injury, and by the time he came back, things had spiralled out of control. If you're blaming this season on Smith, give your head a shake.
Rittich: B. Didn't grab the mail when Smith got hurt, but prior to that was showing a lot of good things. His rebound control is excellent, he tracks the puck well, and we'll see how he responds next year. But there's a lot to like in this player - Kipper was 27 when he got to Calgary. Smith himself didn't become a starter until he was 29, three years after he was traded for Brad Richards, on another team. Goalies are weird.
Gillies: B. Same as Rittich, I saw a lot I liked, but this is a young goalie and they take time. Keep at it.
Coaches: F. No vision, no ability to adapt, poor gameplans, ridiculous adherence to systems, and were consistently embarrassed by Connor McDavid. Never once tried Tkachuk with Monahan and Gaudreau, and took until Christmas to use their most offensively talented defenseman on the 1st PP. Alain Vingeault ASAFP, please.