[News] TSN.ca's 2014-15 NHL Season Preview: Calgary Flames

[trackercowe]

TSN just put up their preview for this season preview for The Flames.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=461269

Some interesting quotes/observations:

In December, Brian Burke - brought in at the start of the season as president of hockey operations - started putting his plan into motion for the front office and fired GM Jay Feaster and assistant GM John Weisbrod. Burke took over for the duration of the season.

The home losses then piled up and the Flames set a new record for consecutive home defeats with seven between Dec. 27 and Jan. 16. Despite Giordano receiving some Norris Trophy votes and Jiri Hudler putting up solid numbers (54, his second-highest single-season point total), Calgary finished with the fourth-worst record in the league.

This Is Now: The rebuilding continues, but now it's Brad Treliving's job after Burke selected the former Coyotes' assistant to be the eighth GM in club history.

Cammalleri's second tenure with the Flames came to an end, as the 32-year-old opted to sign with the New Jersey Devils in unrestricted free agency. The Flames hope that new additions Mason Raymond - who enjoyed a renaissance campaign with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season - and Devin Setoguchi are able to pick up the scoring slack on the wing.
The good news up the middle is that the future may be set. It just might take a couple years still to fully reap the rewards of two high-end young centres.

Monahan had a good rookie season, logging in 15:59 in average ice-time and scoring 22 goals in 75 games. The Flames need him to build on that if they hope to move up the standings.

TSN Calgary reporter Jermain Franklin's Five Key Storylines heading into training camp:

1. What impact will Johnny Gaudreau (a.k.a. 'Johnny Hockey') have in his rookie NHL season?
The 21-year-old Boston College standout and 2014 Hobey Baker Award winner, who scored a goal in his only NHL game last season, has dominated at every level on his path to the NHL. Size - Gaudreau is just five-foot-nine and 150 pounds - has not held him back so far, but will it in the world's biggest and best league? Bennett is looking to force his way into the lineup as Monahan did last season.

2. Is Jonas Hiller still a No. 1 NHL goalie?
The Flames signed Hiller to a two-year deal that pays him $1.75 million more than Karri Ramo this season, yet they insist it will be a full competition for the top goaltending position. Hiller is motivated to prove he's still a starter after losing the No. 1 position in Anaheim first to Frederik Andersen during the regular season and again to rookie John Gibson in the playoffs.

3. Will Bob Hartley continue to have his players focused?
Despite finishing 27th in the league last season, the Flames earned a reputation for being a tough team to play against. The Flames were competitive because they gave their maximum effort every night. Can Bob Hartley continue to motivate this team or will the message get stale if the losses pile up for another season?

4. How will the new acquisitions fit in?
Forwards Mason Raymond, Devin Setoguchi and Brandon Bollig, defenceman Deryk Engelland and goaltender Jonas Hiller are Calgary's key summer additions. Bollig and Engelland add size and toughness while Raymond is being counted on to supply speed and offence to soften the blow of losing top goal producer Mike Cammalleri.

5. How will new GM Brad Treliving put his stamp on the team?
Treliving faces a huge challenge in his first job at the helm of an NHL team after seven seasons with the Phoenix Coyotes. Calgary has missed the playoffs for five straight years, the third-longest such streak in the league (tied with Carolina and Columbus and behind only Edmonton's eight and the Jets' franchise's seven).

DEPTH CHART
Forwards
Left Wing Centre Right Wing
Curtis Glencross Mikael Backlund Jiri Hudler
Mason Raymond Sean Monahan Joe Colborne
Johnny Gaudreau Matt Stajan David Jones
Brandon Bollig Lance Bouma Brian McGrattan
Paul Byron Markus Granlund Devin Setoguchi
Sven Baertschi Sam Bennett Ben Hanowski

Defence
Left Right
Mark Giordano T.J. Brodie
Kris Russell Dennis Wideman
Ladislav Smid Deryk Engelland
Tyler Wotherspoon John Ramage
Mark Cundari Keegan Kanzig
Patrick Sieloff Sena Acolatse

Goaltenders
Jonas Hiller
Karri Ramo
Joni Ortio

Craig's List
A list of the Flames' top prospects as ranked by TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button.
A-Level Prospects

No.Name Pos. 2013-14 Club
1 Johnny Gaudreau LW Boston College (HE)
2 Sam Bennett C Kingston (OHL)
3 Markus Granlund C Abbotsford (AHL)
4 Mark Jankowski C Providence (HE)
5 Mason McDonald G Charlottetown (QMJHL)

B-Level Prospects
No.NamePos.2013-14 Club
6 Morgan Klimchuk LW Regina (WHL)
7 Emile Poirier RW Gatineau (QMJHL)
8 Tyler Wotherspoon D Abbotsford (AHL)
9 Max Reinhart CA bbotsford (AHL)
10 Joni Ortio G Abbotsford (AHL)

Fantasy - Cullen's Player to Watch
Johnny Gaudreau
Any rookie forward that is poised to get regular playing time can be interesting from a fantasy perspective, but Gaudreau is no ordinary rookie. The Hobey Baker Award winner as the best player in college hockey last year, Gaudreau scored 80 points in 40 games as a junior for Boston College.

Using typical league equivalency calculations, 21-year-old Gaudreau should be projected for 50-plus points as a rookie, this on a team that returns one player (Hudler) that scored more than 50 points last season. There are concerns about Gaudreau's size and whether that will hinder his adjustment to the pro game, but if he has an adequate supporting cast to help generate offence, Gaudreau is one of the few Flames with high-end offensive potential.

[trackercowe]

The most surprising thing I find is the prospect rankings. Granlund, Jankowski, and McDonald are much higher than what we listed (and many other sites); meanwhile Klimchuk, Porier, and Orito are in the spots we had assigned for the other three.

[AC]

It'll be interesting to see how the team is constructed.

Glencross - Backlund - Hudler
Raymond - Monahan - Colborne
Setoguchi - Stajan - Jones
Bollig - Bouma - McGrattan

No room for Baertschi or Gaudreau unless they use Bollig or McGrattan as the 13th F, but I kinda doubt it.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by AC

It'll be interesting to see how the team is constructed.

Glencross - Backlund - Hudler
Raymond - Monahan - Colborne
Setoguchi - Stajan - Jones
Bollig - Bouma - McGrattan

No room for Baertschi or Gaudreau unless they use Bollig or McGrattan as the 13th F, but I kinda doubt it.

Jones will get hurt in preseason, Seto move to right side and bam JG or Sven can slot in.

You're right though that top 9 looks pretty set. According to capgeek the only player in that lineup who can avoid going on waivers to get sent down is Monahan and that's very unlikely to happen. So we'll likely be waiting on injuries. One thing though is that lots of those players can either play both wings or C/Wing, so there's a lot of versatility when injuries do happen to make sure young guys can play their natural position.

[AC]

Yeah, I'd be more than happy if we dumped Jones to make room for a rookie in the top 9.

[djsFlames]

Johnny will play/look better than all of our LWs in camp. It won't matter.

Can't speak for Sven, though. It'll be a tall order for him to crack the lineup.

[MisterJoji]

If Burke/Treliving are true to their word, Johnny should be given ample opportunity to outperform a vet. Honestly, I can't imagine it would be that hard to outperform Jones, and if he doesn't, then he deserves time in Adirondack. Setoguchi also has loooooow expectations and is on a dirt cheap deal and Backund (knock on wood) has had a history of frequent injuries so any of Sven, Granlund, Reinhart, Knight or Bennett could play there way onto the roster (with some line shuffling) if they have a strong camp. I wonder if Bennett will still get 9 games even if he's not lights out in training camp?

[kehatch]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

The most surprising thing I find is the prospect rankings. Granlund, Jankowski, and McDonald are much higher than what we listed (and many other sites); meanwhile Klimchuk, Porier, and Orito are in the spots we had assigned for the other three.

I agree. But Button always seems to have some controversial picks in his rankings.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by AC

It'll be interesting to see how the team is constructed.

Glencross - Backlund - Hudler
Raymond - Monahan - Colborne
Setoguchi - Stajan - Jones
Bollig - Bouma - McGrattan

No room for Baertschi or Gaudreau unless they use Bollig or McGrattan as the 13th F, but I kinda doubt it.

Bollig did not come from the Hawks to play 4th line minutes on the Flames. He was playing over 10 minutes a game with the Hawks and had the 10th most ice time of all the Chicago forwards over the regular season.

Bouma did not do anything to get demoted to the 4th line.


A 3rd line of Bollig Bouma Setoguchi/Jones seems reasonable and serves a purpose. or killer B line of Bollig, Byron (+6) and Bouma (-4)

Byron and Stajan as 4th line guys who kill penalties might be how it ends up.

Colborne (-17) and Monahan (-20) might have to earn some of their ice-time that they were given last year and be better than the players they go up against. Could see them on the 4th line and/or in the stands for a few games.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Bollig did not come from the Hawks to play 4th line minutes on the Flames. He was playing over 10 minutes a game with the Hawks and had the 10th most ice time of all the Chicago forwards over the regular season.

Bouma did not do anything to get demoted to the 4th line.


A 3rd line of Bollig Bouma Setoguchi/Jones seems reasonable and serves a purpose.

Byron and Stajan as 4th line guys who kill penalties might be how it ends up.

Colborne (-17) and Monahan (-20) might have to earn some of their ice-time that they were given last year and be better than the players they go up against. Could see them on the 4th line and/or in the stands for a few games.

I doubt Monahan sits much. Nor Colborne

[Stupid]

Sort of surprised to see him rank Jankowski as an A-level prospect, while guys like Poirier and Klimchuck are ranked as B-Level.

[Madman]

Mason McDonald is our #1 goalie prospect?

Interesting.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

I doubt Monahan sits much. Nor Colborne

You probably doubted that Baertschi would have to earn his ice time.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Bollig did not come from the Hawks to play 4th line minutes on the Flames. He was playing over 10 minutes a game with the Hawks and had the 10th most ice time of all the Chicago forwards over the regular season.

Bouma did not do anything to get demoted to the 4th line.


A 3rd line of Bollig Bouma Setoguchi/Jones seems reasonable and serves a purpose. or killer B line of Bollig, Byron (+6) and Bouma (-4)

Byron and Stajan as 4th line guys who kill penalties might be how it ends up.

Colborne (-17) and Monahan (-20) might have to earn some of their ice-time that they were given last year and be better than the players they go up against. Could see them on the 4th line and/or in the stands for a few games.

I'm sorry, but some of your opinions are absolutely ridiculous. I've never seen anyone cherry pick stats as much as you do.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by kehatch

I agree. But Button always seems to have some controversial picks in his rankings.

Craig Button had Jankowski high on his draft list when nobody else did so it's not surprising he's keeping him as an "A" prospect.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by codynw

I'm sorry, but some of your opinions are absolutely ridiculous. I've never seen anyone cherry pick stats as much as you do.

It's easier when you look at his posts and realize the guys he likes are all GRITty and the ones he doesn't aren't.

[MisterJoji]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Bollig did not come from the Hawks to play 4th line minutes on the Flames. He was playing over 10 minutes a game with the Hawks and had the 10th most ice time of all the Chicago forwards over the regular season.

Bouma did not do anything to get demoted to the 4th line.


A 3rd line of Bollig Bouma Setoguchi/Jones seems reasonable and serves a purpose. or killer B line of Bollig, Byron (+6) and Bouma (-4)

Byron and Stajan as 4th line guys who kill penalties might be how it ends up.

Colborne (-17) and Monahan (-20) might have to earn some of their ice-time that they were given last year and be better than the players they go up against. Could see them on the 4th line and/or in the stands for a few games.

Bollig didn't sign here, he was traded, therefore it doesn't matter what his expectation of TOI is. And the fact that Chicago was a legit contender meant they could roll 4 lines a lot of games. 10 minutes of ice time on a team like Chicago are 4th line minutes. As for Bouma, he is a perfect 4th line hitting, shot blocking, penalty killing #%*+ disturber who has shown he has enough offense to be bumped up to the 3rd line when needed (similar to Byron, though Byron he has more offense and less grit). Stajan on the 4th line is not going to happen unless Bennett forces his way into the lineup.

[Vulcan]

Bollig on the 4th line, whatever. He'll get his minutes as he and Boumo will be able to take a regular shift. Bollig will also be a good fill in for any line that needs a little more grit.

[GreenLantern]

Jankowski rated as 4th best prospect, atta boy Button!

[CliffFletcher]

More interesting that Granlund is ranked 3rd. The coaching staff was very impressed with his all-around game during his call-up. I think he'll surprise some people.