Calgary Flames: Five Pairing Options for T.J. Brodie

This off-season, the Calgary Flames need three things: A solid goaltender, a couple of bottom-six wingers, and a defence pairing option for T.J. Brodie. Let’s look at some options for Brodie.

Like I said, the Calgary Flames have two major problems they need to address: a starting goaltender and a top-four defenceman to play alongside T.J. Brodie (The Flames also need a couple of bottom-six wingers, but that’s the least of their priorities right now). In the 2014-2015 season, Brodie and Mark Giordano were unstoppable and arguably one of the best defence duos in the league.

But it’s not 2015 anymore and things changed.

In the 2015-2016 season, people were hopeful for that pairing. But they somewhat fell apart. Along with the entire team basically. Then this season rolled around and the defence was a little better. I say that with a grain of salt because even though Giordano and Dougie Hamilton were a dynamic pairing, we all know how the season started out (cough cough Nicklas Grossmann cough cough).

But luckily for Brodie, who had Dennis Wideman basically bring him down most of the season, the Flames made a trade for Michael Stone and things drastically improved for not only Brodie but the entire team. However, we’re not quite sure yet if Stone is good enough to be and remain a top-four defenceman to be Brodie’s partner. On one hand, he was decent and good enough at the time for a top-four pairing, but on the other hand, basically anything at the time was better than Dennis Wideman (who Flames are finally free of).

That being said, let’s look at five defence options for the Flames to play alongside Brodie.

5. Kevin Shattenkirk

Right now, Kevin Shattenkirk is in his prime years as an NHL defenceman and he’ll be one of the biggest names on the market for unrestricted free agents. The only reason why I put him fifth on this list and not higher up is because of his price.

He’ll most likely be asking for at least a $5-million salary and I’m not sure if the Calgary Flames can quite afford that right now if they’re looking for a legitimate starting goaltender. And if Troy Brouwer doesn’t get picked up by Vegas in the expansion draft or they can’t trade him, then they’re stuck with that bad contract and they’re probably wary of getting stuck in another bad contract with a defenceman (cough cough Dennis Wideman cough cough).

Shattenkirk last season played with the St. Louis Blues until being traded to the Washington Capitals in February for some draft picks and prospects.

That ended up being quite costly for the Capitals though because now, again, they lost in the second round of the playoffs. And they don’t have a draft selection at this year’s NHL draft until the fourth round from all the trades they’ve made.

Via NHL.com:

“We felt it was important to acquire another defenseman to strengthen and add depth to our blue line,” Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said in a statement. “Kevin is a skilled, puck moving defenseman who we think will help our team at even strength and on the power play.”

But moving on to his stats, last season in his 61 games with the Blues, he had 11 goals and 42 points, but a mere -11 on his +/-. After being traded to the Caps, in his 19 regular season games with them, he had two goals and 14 points and +4. In the playoffs with the Caps, he had one goal, six points in 13 playoff games, but -4. His one goal was a game-winner in overtime against the champs, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

He’s always gotten a decent amount of points in the playoffs with the Blues, of course they’ve never made it that far except for last season. He shoots right and is quite a speedy defenceman. Putting him with Brodie on that second pairing, or maybe even moving Giordano to the second pairing with Brodie and putting Shattenkirk on that pairing with Dougie Hamilton could both be options.

Calgary Flames

However, there are two problems the Flames face, one of which I’ve talked about already.

1. He will be expensive and after the signings of Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan, and with Giordano’s expensive contract as well, if the Flames want to sign a legitimately great starting goaltender, that’s some more money on their cap. They may not be able to afford a player like Shattenkirk. And also if they’ll still be stuck in this bad contract with Troy Brouwer.
2. The second problem is that the Flames may need to wait until after the expansion draft to try and make a trade for him. If they trade for him ahead of time (aka in a mere hours since trade deadline is tomorrow at 3pm est or teams have to wait until draft day), then they run the risk of which three defencemen they’re going to protect between Giordano, Dougie, Brodie, and Shattenkirk.

Via the Bleacher Report:

Rental player Kevin Shattenkirk, who came to the Caps from the St. Louis Blues at midseason, is among those most likely to leave via free agency. Stephen Whyno of the Washington Post has reported that the expansion Vegas Golden Knights hold some interest for Shattenkirk, and he tweeted that the defenseman’s departure would be good for the team since it would allow them to keep defenseman Nate Schmidt and possibly sign or trade backup goalie Philip Grubauer.

If Shattenkirk is a legitimate option for the Flames and they don’t mind spending that money on a top-four defenceman, then they’ll have to do it after the expansion draft, but at that point, it may be too late. If Shattenkirk is re-signed and left exposed, Vegas may not want to give him up.

But if everything goes right and if Vegas is looking to add some more draft picks this year and put Shattenkirk on the market, then he’s a great option to really solidify the blue line for the Flames and they have a real shot at the playoffs. But the reason that he’s fifth and not ahead on this list is because of the two reasons I mentioned.

Next player.

4. Cody Franson

Like Shattenkirk, Cody Franson is also in his prime years. Also like Shattenkirk, he’s set to become a free agent at free agency on July 1st. Franson is a top-four defenceman, but he’s also somewhat declined in the last couple of seasons. I mean, it doesn’t help what teams he’s played for.

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His size, height, and right-handed shot would be perfect alongside Brodie. Now, let me get something straight: I’m not super keen on Franson (so please don’t come for me in the comments telling me how terrible of an idea this is). But we’ve seen under-utilized guys on some teams blossom on other teams.

I’m not saying Franson would be the best idea for the Calgary Flames, but it’s definitely an option and a big possibility. Seeing how his past two seasons have gone, he may only be asking for around $3-4 million, which the Flames can definitely do for a top-four defenceman.

The last couple of seasons haven’t been the best for Franson. He had just 19 points in 68 games and the season before, had just 17 points in 59 games, both with the Buffalo Sabres. Given his size, he hasn’t quite been blocking and hitting as much as I’m sure teams would like, but like I said, he’s been under-utilized in Buffalo. And like I said, sometimes players go on other teams and just gel much better and blossom.

Under Glen Gulutzan’s fast-paced style and if he’s given that ice-time, he could very well prove to be a solid top-four defenceman and a solid option alongside T.J. Brodie.

3. Michael Stone

This one is a bit of an obvious choice. The Calgary Flames traded for Michael Stone from the Arizona Coyotes back in February and boy was that some sort of good luck charm for the Flames. The Flames got Stone in return for some draft picks, and Arizona also retained half of his $4 million salary. Good work Brad Treliving.

This ended up being somewhat of a good luck charm for the Flames. Not only did they get someone to play alongside T.J. Brodie, but this meant that anchor Dennis Wideman is out of the lineup. And that sparked a ten-game win streak for the Flames, the longest in Calgary Flames history and also a tie with an ultimate franchise record, back when they were the Atlanta Flames, and back in 1979. Good work guys.

But like I mentioned earlier, I’m not exactly sure if Stone is going to be top-four quality with the Flames. Is he really a solid top-four defenceman, or was just anything better than Wideman? However, that being said, not only did the Flames have their win-streak, but T.J. Brodie’s stats drastically improved too. I talked about this earlier in March and that can be found here.

But again, is he good enough? We here at Flame for Thought had a virtual Monday roundtable discussion all about the Flames blue-line, and the general consensus seemed to be that Stone should stay and be given a shot.

The only thing is I’m not sure how much he would be asking for. He was under-performing quite a bit with the Yotes, and it’s not like he was incredible with the Flames. But he was a solid top-four option. If the Flames can manage to re-sign him for $4 million or less salary, then I’d say he’s an awesome choice and a safe pick. Him and Brodie seemed to gel together quite well and if we really look at it, him being in the lineup and Wideman out was really a big reason why the Calgary Flames ended up making the playoffs.

1. Tyson Barrie

Tyson Barrie would be my ultimate ideal defender. With him on that top-four pairing, that would really be the final missing piece of the Calgary Flames defence puzzle. The one problem is that he’s somewhat expensive (avg. salary of $5.5 million until 2021), but I truly think that this will completely solidify this team.

I would be willing for the Flames to trade their first round pick for Barrie. He has incredible puck movement, speed, he’s an awesome skater (like Brodie), and he’s a great offensive defenceman. He’s quite young too (25 years old) and is starting to get into his prime. Last season, he had seven goals and 38 points in 74 games with the Colorado Avalanche. Keep in mind, he did play with the Colorado Avalanche. The worst team in the NHL with the lowest amount of goals for (165) and the worst goal differential in the league (-111).

He’s another solid powerplay option and given that he played on the worst NHL team and still managed to put up respectable numbers (tied for third in points on the Avalanche), if gone to a better team, he can really shine. And I would definitely be on board of the Flames trading their first round pick at the 16th overall pick if it meant getting Barrie. That would be a fun draft day, hey?

Related Story: Flames Should Trade their First Round Pick

The only thing is, like I mentioned, he’s an incredible skater. But so is T.J. Brodie. So having that second pairing be fast and good skating defencemen while the first pairing are a little slower and not as good skaters isn’t ideal. A couple options would be to put Barrie with Dougie on that first pairing. They would be dangerous, especially on the powerplay. Something the Flames struggled with early on in the season. Then put Gio with Brodie on that second pairing.

Another option would be to keep Barrie and Brodie together but move them to that first unit. However, I’d much prefer the first option. Then you have two great skaters on both first and second unit and it will really solidify the blue-line and give the Flames one of the best top-four in the league.

Getting Barrie would be a steal, almost like getting Dougie back in 2015 was a steal for the Flames.

Next: 2017 NHL Draft Profile: D Timothy Liljegren

There you have it! Top five defence options for the Calgary Flames right now. Wow, I guess this turned more into a “top-five defence options for the Flames” over top five for Brodie. But you get it. Is there any one of these options you’d like to see, or if you could have any defenceman in the league come to the Flames, who would it be? Let us know in the comments below!