[stemit14]

Best case aside from a miraculous run to win the cup would be the following:

1. Flames have at least one of their young defencemen solidify themselves as a #4/5/6 in the NHL.
2. Zary makes the transition to center while still producing points (difficult for young players to do) while also avoiding the soft-more slump.
3. Vladar gets the toughest starts for the first quarter of the season while Wolf never goes more than a week without starting. Hopefully they protect Wolf as much as possible while giving him regular starts through the first half. Transition to a 50/50 split through the middle of the season and then have Wolf getting the majority of starts to finish the season. Wolf ends up with a save percentage above 91% to finish the year.
4. Utah surprises everyone this year and is poised to make the playoffs with home ice advantage but need defence at the trade deadline. The flames trade Andersson + Mantha (who has a resurgent season) + 2nd round pick to Utah in exchange for Tij Iginla.
5. Coronato and Pelletier both make the team out of camp and establish themselves as top six (Coronato) and middle six (Pelletier) forwards. Coronato gets some time on the top powerplay unit after the trade deadline and hopefully finishes the season with 20+ goals. Pelletier becomes a regular on the penalty kill.
6. Kuzmenko plays at a near ppg rate and is traded at the deadline for a couple of 2nd round picks.
7. Klapka plays his way onto the roster either out of camp or during the season and becomes an impactful fourth line player.
8. Huberdeau becomes a ppg player again. Gets confidence and finds some chemistry within the system.
9. Flames play a physical and hard-working brand of hockey. They may lose games but are rarely an easy out. The flames finish 24th in the league but win the draft lottery anyways and jump up to the #1 pick.
10. Similar to the Vancouver line brawl in 2014, the flames pull the same thing on the oilers in the flames home game this year… with Lomberg, Klapka, and Posposil leading the charge on the opening face off. Flames win that game in a blowout.
11. Through injuries and/or trades, lots of guys like Stromgren and Brz get good looks in the NHL and don’t look out of place… even becoming NHL regulars once the trade deadline is over.
12. Oilers finish just outside the playoffs. Draisaitl walks to free agency. McDavid follows the next year after missing the playoffs again.