Calgary Flames: Summer To-Do List
It’s not an exaggeration to say to 2017/18 Calgary Flames season was an enormous disappointment.
The Calgary Flames had expectations of Stanley Cup contention from some people going into the season. They took those heightened hopes and instead fell flat, missing the playoffs for the 7th time in 9 years. That said, I don’t believe they’re too far off from being at that level as early as next year. Here are a few key steps I believe they need to take in order to accomplish that.
Complete the Bench
In a move many people expected following a season that saw the Flames miss the playoffs for the 7th time in 9 seasons, the team fired almost their entire coaching staff. The only exceptions were Martin Gelinas, Jamie Pringle, and Jordan Sigalet.
It didn’t take the team long to replace the departed Glen Gulutzan, with Brad Treliving turning to the former Carolina Hurricanes and Team Canada bench boss, Bill Peters, to take over. One man isn’t enough though. Equally important are the assistant coaches who help handle the powerplay/offense and penalty kill/defense.
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There is an easy option for defense in Stockton Heat head coach, Ryan Huska. He’s been with the organization for 4 years now and if ever there was a time to promote him, this would be it. Especially considering his reputation as a good defensive coach. However, more pressing is the powerplay coach; they need to bring in somebody that can run a more effective powerplay than the awful system Dave Cameron ran.
Make Room on the Blueline
While it may seem counter-intuitive to suggest this, the Calgary Flames really need to clear out 1-2 of their NHL level defenders. They can recoup draft picks and make room for the young talent that has excelled on the farm team.
Rasmus Andersson especially needs to be a full-time NHLer next season. The Flames can facilitate this by trading one of Michael Stone or Travis Hamonic. Stone is the player that should be moved. He isn’t good enough to justify his contract but carries value as a right-shot defenseman. While his return would be lower, it will be worth to allow the Andersson promotion. Moving TJ Brodie to potentially facilitate a potential Oliver Kylington promotion would also be good but more on that in the next section.
Add Offensive Talent
It’s no secret that the Flames are lacking the top six forward department, as much as I love Micheal Ferland, there’s just no way they succeed with him as their top right wing. He’s much more suited for a mid-6 role and the team would be better off with that too. What the team really needs to do add a top line player this summer. While not an easy task, there are a couple ways to do that.
First, a fun option is adding John Tavares in free agency. There have been rumblings that they could be in on him. If the Flames could make that work, it would immediately change their dynamic and make them a legit threat. Some shuffling would need to happen but it would obviously be worth it. Center depth featuring Tavares, Sean Monahan, and Mikael Backlund would be right up there with the best.
The other, more reasonable option, is to add a winger via trade. While they don’t have the picks to make a trade work, instead this is where the aforementioned TJ Brodie trade would happen. The team could trade him to a team that lacks defense for a forward. In the same fashion as the Seth Jones–Ryan Johansen trade.
One team that pops out in particular as a defense-needing team are the New York Rangers. Going into next season they only have a couple good defenders signed. Brodie would immediately help the Rangers and he could be had for impending RFA, Kevin Hayes. This would also allow the Rangers to sign Brady Skjei without having to worry about another big RFA.
Stabilize The Crease
The most pressing issue for the Flames now and in the future is the uncertainty in the crease. While Mike Smith wasn’t awful for the most part, his late-season struggles clearly illustrated the Flames need to find a new answer. While you hope this could come in the form of a prospect like Jon Gillies or Tyler Parsons. The truth is that the Calgary Flames can’t afford to wait for one of those two to be the answer. Not when the primes of players like Gaudreau and Sean Monahan are being wasted on non-playoff years.
Instead, what the Flames need to do is follow in the example of Edmonton, Arizona, and Buffalo and trade for a young-ish backup who looks ready to take on a bigger role on a team with an established starter. One place to looks is in Washington. Backup Philipp Grubauer has been an exceptional goalie for the Capitals for a few years now. However, with him being an RFA this summer and Washington needing to almost entirely rebuild their defensive core this summer, they most likely can’t afford to keep him.
Washington’s loss, however, can be the Flames gain. While the Calgary Flames don’t have the 1st round pick that most other goalies in Grubauer’s situation have been traded for, they do have a deep well of good prospects. They could move One of their big four defensive prospects and a future 1st or 2nd to get the deal done. That would be a deal that would work out great for the Flames.
Next: Former Flames Bench Boss Joins Provincial Rival
While the future of the Flames is a little uncertain right now, one thing will also stay the same, the Flames absolutely love to roast one another.