[News] NHL 31 in 31: Calgary Flames 2018-19 season preview

[direwolf]

This team will make the playoffs, but just getting in and losing in the 1st round won't cut it. They need to win at least a round or two to prove that they've taken a real step forward.

On paper they're much improved from last year. I think if everything falls into place and they gel like I think they can, this team can definitely battle it out for the division crown.

[dash_pinched]

Originally Posted by Duffalufagus

Elliott Friedman has put on at least 75lbs. Good gravy!

Likely the main culprit in the weight gain.

[Calgary4LIfe]

I think that coaching will be the most important aspect of the Flames. Does Peters' system mirror too closely what Gulutzan tried to accomplish? Will the Flames REALLY be a much more up-tempo team that will be more creative 5v5 and on the PP, and will the defence really be given the green light to be much more aggressive? Time will tell. I am hopeful. Apprehensive? For sure, but also hopeful that the new incoming system will actually utilize the strengths of this franchise. Would I be much more relaxed and confident had Darryl Sutter been the one hired to steer this team? Yes, without question I would be more confident. With that being said, we don't really know what Peters will do here. He has only been a coach in Carolina at the NHL level. He should realistically be an upgrade over Gulutzan, and maybe he will even be better than Sutter. We just have to see this play out.


As for the roster, I still say that last year's team was a playoff caliber roster. It got hit with injuries to too many important players, but the real issue I feel was the coaching staff. Terrible on the PP even though they had the talent to be effective there. Should have been better defensively, should have generated more goals from the defence and the bottom 9. To have practically the entire bottom 9 forwards crater in production leads me to believe it had more to do with systems/coaching than the talent level of the organization.


Now it is improved. To me, that's just gravy. If Peters is half the coach that Treliving thinks he is, this team will be in the playoffs.

[Cantrader]

If Mike Smith & Brodie stay healthy and play well, we will be the surprise team and be second in our division/ not even a bubble team.

[Hackey]

I'm cautiously optimistic. On paper I think the team is quite deep now. Hopefully the roster changes have an impact on the overall compete level. Hopefully Peters helps with that as well. Special teams should be improved. Scoring should be improved. I think the team is deep enough where if Bennett or Jankowski or Czarnik can break out that's just a bonus. If a young guy or two can make the squad and have an impact that's just a bonus. I think that is what I'm most optimistic about. The fact that I think we have enough talent to be good even if a bunch of guys play at an average level. There are a lot of guys with the potential to do more though and hopefully with less pressure and better talent around them they are able to do that. Peters is a big one. If he can get this team playing to their potential that alone should make a major difference. Smith hopefully can stay healthy. There is potential for this to go south but I think with the depth the team has now they should at minimum be a bubble team and if things go right they could definitely compete for the division.

[AustinL_NHL]

Originally Posted by mrdonkey

I can definitely see how one might be unconvinced of the Flames' playoff chances. On paper this is a bubble team if everything goes right, but this fanbase should know better than most how quickly a team can unravel with poor goaltending and/or coaching. And on both of those fronts there are question marks.

Talk about selling the Flames short

[mrdonkey]

Originally Posted by AustinL_NHL

Talk about selling the Flames short

It’s nothing against the Flames. Winnipeg, St Louis, Nashville, and San Jose are probably safe bets to be better teams than Calgary. Vancouver and Phoenix are the only ones I’d say you can count out. The rest of the teams in the west are more or less on the same plane and that’s a lot of competition for a small number of spots.

What I believe is that with good goaltending and solid coaching the Flames are set, but as I’ve said before I’m not convinced either of those positions have been adequately addressed. And those are the two positions on a team where a single person can tank an entire season. We’ve seen it happen here numerous times. Just my opinion, and I would love to be wrong.

[djsFlames]

Skeptics really think a healthy Smith won't manage a .915% with what he showed us until he wasn't healthy last season (probably close to .924 tending)?
And has Giordano's pairing been a liability in any season since he's become elite? - I'll answer that one, no. He'll elevate whoever he's with and that's why it's the best place for Brodie.
That also means no more of that second pairing that didn't work. Is it possible Hanifin compliments Hamonic better?
Last point is the Flames added more scoring up and down the lineup. So does that not alleviate some pressure on the defense to play shut down as much as they needed to with 27th placed scoring last season?
It's fine to look at how they've underperformed in years past as an indication of missing again but this team underwent quite an overhaul and in the process players that remained have also shifted to more favorable positions. Also an entirely new coaching staff with new strategies and some addition by subtraction with Stajan and Brouwer gone in favor of young talent.
It's the sheer difference in the makeup of the roster that leads me to believe that there's a better chance of similar results not repeating. Too many look to the past to predict the future and that would only be fair if we were going in with largely the same group and same depth but things have changed rather drastically.

[Rick M.]

I’m cautiously optimistic about the changes the Flames have made. It’s impossible to predict in advance the chemistry the new players will find with teammates.

[ricardodw]

This team is a lot better than last year's team.


Last year team was a bubble team at the trade deadline with Smith playing fantastic and absolutely the lowest lost player games to injuries in the league.

The top 6 is a lot more competitive than it used to be ... now it is on par with the top-6 of the Pacific division that made the playoffs last season. Is the Flames #6 forward Backlund going to be better than the other teams #6 Thornton, Tatar and Jeff Carter? There is a chance that he will but it won't be a surprise if he isn't.


On defense the #1 pair has 34 year old Gio and Brodie who was reaching Brouwer status for his play last season. Could be great or good.

I like the trade with Carolina but Hanifin, Lindholm and Ryan (and Peters) but none were in the top-5 players on a team that was 1 pt worse than the Flames last season.

Mike Smith was 29 year old the last time he carried a team into the playoffs. He is 36.

1) Injuries
2) Goalie
3) Backlund/Brodie Rebound
4) Gio not declining
5) Carolina influx
6) New Coach

There is a lot of room for optimism and if all the breaks go the Flames way to the same degree everything worked out for Vegas last year then the Flames might win the division.

One of the 6 risks breaks bad they should make the playoffs with a margin of error at the end of the season

They win 4 out of 6 on the risk factors and they are a bubble team.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

I like the trade with Carolina but Hanifin, Lindholm and Ryan (and Peters) but none were in the top-5 players on a team that was 1 pt worse than the Flames last season...

How convenient of you to set your cut-off at “top-5.” No doubt you noticed that #6-8 in scoring for Carolina were Lindholm, Ryan and Hanifin—who also happened to be the Hurricanes top-scoring defenseman, and he played in the All Star Game.

[Yrebmi]

When ricardodw says there is room for Flames optimism that alone is saying a lot.

The Flames are difficult to predict. There has been too much overhaul. Sure looks promising though.

[Zulu29]

Jeez, seems like a lot of Debbie downers here. Maybe I’m optimistic but I fully expect the Flames to make the playoffs and win a round at least.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

This team is a lot better than last year's team.


Last year team was a bubble team at the trade deadline with Smith playing fantastic and absolutely the lowest lost player games to injuries in the league.

Actually last year at the trade deadline Mike Smith had already gone 15 days without a start because he got hurt.

So sure they had some injury luck, but losing their starting goalie on February 11th certainly isn't a team that was riding a wave of nothing but good luck.

[Bingo]

The Flames on paper last season were a division loser, but not a wild card team. They didn't get it done.

On paper this year I think they're slightly better, not division winner necessarily but by roster they should be battling for home ice in the first round.

I concur on Smith concerns as they don't have a developed backup plan, but I'm good with the experiments on the blueline given how much they've bolstered their forward group.

In a salary cap world you can't fix everything, his transfer of balance to the forward group was pretty astute in adding Hanifin while getting a forward and not just gutting the blueline out right.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Jeff Carter is LA’s #6 forward? Did I read that correctly?

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Actually last year at the trade deadline Mike Smith had already gone 15 days without a start because he got hurt.

So sure they had some injury luck, but losing their starting goalie on February 11th certainly isn't a team that was riding a wave of nothing but good luck.

The Flames were not more than a few pts above the make the playoff line last year when Smith was far exceeding expectations.

On Feb 11 56 games in the standings were:

Vegas 76
Nashville 75
Winnipeg 73
St Louis 71
Dallas 70
San Jose 68
Minnesota 66
Calgary 66
Los Angeles 65
Anaheim 65
Colorado 64
Chicago 56
Edmonton 50
Vancouver 50
Arizona 36

The Flames were in 8th spot and 3 pts ahead of being in 11th.

The Flames at that point had lost 2.36M cap to injury
Anaheim 12.5
Vancouver 7.83
LA 5.8
Edmonton 5.03
Colorado 4.75
San Jose 4.15


The very best with Smith, Gaudreau, Monahan, Tkachuk, Gio, Hamilton,Ferland, Jankowski exceeding expectations the Flames were a bubble team.

That is basically the guys that you would want to carry the team doing well.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by Bingo

The Flames on paper last season were a division loser, but not a wild card team. They didn't get it done.

On paper this year I think they're slightly better, not division winner necessarily but by roster they should be battling for home ice in the first round.

I concur on Smith concerns as they don't have a developed backup plan, but I'm good with the experiments on the blueline given how much they've bolstered their forward group.

In a salary cap world you can't fix everything, his transfer of balance to the forward group was pretty astute in adding Hanifin while getting a forward and not just gutting the blueline out right.

I agree that the defense might be better than last year. But it is 1 of 6 risks.

If Brodie is a -16 d-man for real then what?

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

The very best with Smith, Gaudreau, Monahan, Tkachuk, Gio, Hamilton,Ferland, Jankowski exceeding expectations the Flames were a bubble team.

That is basically the guys that you would want to carry the team doing well.

I don't know if this is all true

Monahan had a great first half but in the second half clearly was plagued by injuries. Ferland's final numbers look great but also wasn't much in the second half. Gio played to expectations. Hamilton played to expectations.

Backlund, who for some reason you don't include, played below expectations, as did Frolik

Brodie also played below expectations.

And then you throw in basically the worst 4th line in the league and you get a real mixed back of performances

It isn't a team where "everything went right" and they were still just barely in a playoff spot.

[Bingo]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

The Flames were not more than a few pts above the make the playoff line last year when Smith was far exceeding expectations.

On Feb 11 56 games in the standings were:

Vegas 76
Nashville 75
Winnipeg 73
St Louis 71
Dallas 70
San Jose 68
Minnesota 66
Calgary 66
Los Angeles 65
Anaheim 65
Colorado 64
Chicago 56
Edmonton 50
Vancouver 50
Arizona 36

The Flames were in 8th spot and 3 pts ahead of being in 11th.

The Flames at that point had lost 2.36M cap to injury
Anaheim 12.5
Vancouver 7.83
LA 5.8
Edmonton 5.03
Colorado 4.75
San Jose 4.15


The very best with Smith, Gaudreau, Monahan, Tkachuk, Gio, Hamilton,Ferland, Jankowski exceeding expectations the Flames were a bubble team.

That is basically the guys that you would want to carry the team doing well.

How does this response have anything to do with what I said?

You said they were a bubble team at the deadline riding a hot goaltender. I pointed out said hot goaltender was already sidelined for 2+ weeks.

I wasn't debating they were bubble. I wasn't debating they had some good seasons from their great players.

However I would take a bit of issue with the notion that Giordano, Gaudreau, Monahan, Tkachuk and Hamilton were exceeding expectations. They were kind of what they were supposed to be in my mind.