Call me stupidly optimistic, but nothing worries me about this team at all, other than absolutely horrible luck with injuries that you can't foresee.
Goaltending: Smith is going to be lights-out. Just manage his minutes. Let Rittich and Gillies compete for the backup spot. It doesn't make sense to me for the Flames to go out and get a more experienced backup. Both Gillies and Rittich showed last season that they are decent back-ups, and they are both young and getting better. I think Peters will have a better system in place and the D won't be so atrocious at times anyway.
Defence: I am convinced that Gulutzan's system was mostly to blame for Brodie looking terrible through stretches. People forget that he also looked dominating through stretches too. I think you will see Brodie rise to the occasion this season. There is a lot of depth there - Andersson is ready, and I am betting that Kylington is ready too, with Valimaki possibly being fit as well. Defence doesn't worry me - this is still one of the best defensive corps in the league. Hanifin might go up and down the lineup a bit as his defence still needs some work, but that's ok - Flames have that depth, and if needed, I think Kulak can fill-in on the top 4 in stretches if the LHS-RHS defence pairing is important.
Forwards: What's there to worry about? Try to make line combos. Then take out a couple of players, and throw Foo, Mangiapane, probably Klimchuk and even Brouwer back in. I wish Brouwer wasn't on the team, but he still contributes. He has stood up for guys physically on this team, and he does make surprisingly strong defensive plays. Maybe Peters even finds a way to properly utilize him and Brouwer is able to score more goals. Either way, the forward group is the most versatile that I can ever remember. You probably have to go all the way back to the 80's.
Things to watch:
- More offence from the defence. Gulutzan did not utilize the defence properly. Peters will.
- Bennett should have better linemates, and the system seems more conducive to his gamestyle (fast breaks)
- Guys in the bottom 6 in general had a tough time scoring because of the system. It was great for puck-possession, but not so much for actual scoring chances. Yeah yeah, I know the Flames routinely had more 'high danger chances' than the opposing teams, but if you break it down, most of those high danger chances didn't involve the goalie have to move to make a save. Ward has already touched on this, and I expect way better shooting percentages from the bottom of the roster... and we upgraded them a lot!
The only thing that concerns me a bit - and most will disagree - is the loss of Stajan. Why? Well, it wasn't his offence. It was his combination of leadership and defensive acumen. Seriously, when did Stajan suddenly become an important defensive player? Flames didn't backfill this at all - Ryan will improve on his offensive numbers, but there is nobody else now besides Backlund that you can count on to take the defensive zone draw and be counted on to do a good job defending. I think he will be missed.
This is a very deep team now. This is a very balanced and versatile team. Lots of players hungry to compete, and they will have to continually perform or find themselves lower in the roster. That makes a team really hungry.