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The Calgary Flames open their season in just over a week. Today, I’m going to go player-by-player and share one thing I’d like to see from each forward in 2021.
Johnny Gaudreau - New breakaway moves. Gaudreau manages to sneak his way past defenders and make himself available for a breakaway situation seemingly every game. And he almost never scores. Seriously, his shooting percentage on breakaways over the last few years has to be well below his overall shooting percentage. It is so bad. Despite poor results, Gaudreau has been hellbent on going 5-hole over and over and over and over. It is almost infuriating at this point. The guy is so skilled and he does the most simplistic thing every time. Gaudreau has had a lengthy off-season to work on some new moves, and I’m hoping we see them early and often.
Sean Monahan - Some semblance of defensive play. For years he was regarded as a strong two-way player even though his defensive metrics have been consistently poor. I don’t think he can magically flip the switch and turn into a defensive stalwart, but I do think he can be better with more effort. Monahan does a lot of puck watching in the defensive zone. If he simply gets his feet moving, and puts in the effort to get more involved in the play, I think it could make a difference.
Elias Lindholm - More sharp shooting. Lindholm has netted 27 and 29 goals over the last two seasons while shooting 14.8% and 17.2%. He has quietly developed into one of the better goal scorers in the league since the trade to Calgary. The Flames need that to continue because they simply don’t have much finishing talent on their roster.
Matthew Tkachuk - A new level. Tkachuk is a fantastic penalty drawer; indisputably one of the best. This season, I want him to be *the* best. He has a head start over every other player in the league in that he gets 10 games – 10! – against Zack Kassian, who hates him more than maybe anybody on the planet. Tkachuk drives the guy absolutely bonkers playing a few times a year so I can only imagine what he’ll be able to do squaring off 10 times in the span of a few months.
Josh Leivo - Score some goals. Seriously, it is as simple as that. Leivo showed in Vancouver that, when given the opportunity, he can put a few in the back of the net and hold his own while playing with high-end players. That’s what the Flames need from him. They’re likely going to go with a more balanced approach this season in effort to have three lines that can score fairly consistently. If Leivo can find the back of the net with any sort of regularity, he’ll be able to carve out a real role for himself.
Dominik Simon - Get in Geoff Ward’s good books. I think Simon is a very solid bottom-6 player. He skates well, forechecks, and has a little more offensive pop than most probably realize. He kind of reminds me of a younger Frolik, although not as impactful. I just hope he can showcase those traits and make a good first impression. As we saw with Frolik, once you get pegged a certain way it is hard to change that outlook.
Mikael Backlund - Hold up without Matthew Tkachuk. Backlund has enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence in recent years, but a lot of his time has been spent with Tkachuk. His numbers, predictably, dropped at least a few percentage points across the board without Tkachuk. It is possible, if not likely, the two are separated this season to try and balance things out. The Flames need Backlund to hold his own.
Andrew Mangiapane - Power play time. Mangiapane is ultra-efficient at 5v5. I think some of his characteristics (retrieving pucks, winning battles, getting to high-danger areas, etc.) would make him an excellent complimentary piece on the power play. I’d like to see him get the opportunity to prove it. I mean, he finished 13th on the Flames in PP TOI last season.
Derek Ryan - Defensive specialist. Ryan is not flashy, however, he is a very good defensive center. According to PuckBase, he ranked 8th in defensive zone net shots last season; just below defensive aces like Nazem Kadri, Radek Faksa, Phillip Danault, and Alexander Wennberg. There is a lot of firepower in the Canadian division so, at times, he is going to be used against high-end talent. Ryan’s ability to win faceoffs, and limit the damage post-faceoff, could come quite handy.
Milan Lucic - No more PP time. Honestly, I think Lucic does contribute more than given credit for in some areas. The power play is absolutely not one of them. He played 108 minutes on the man advantage (the equivalent of 54 power plays) and he picked up five primary points. That...is not great! Despite his inefficient results, he ranked 6th on the Flames in PP ice last season. Give his minutes to Mangiapane, Josh Leivo, or one of the other more talented forwards on the roster. I don’t care; just no more Lucic.
Sam Bennett - Playoff enthusiasm. Every year Bennett disappoints in the regular season, and every year he looks like a different player in the playoffs. Sure, there tends to be more forechecking, physicality and board play during the playoffs but it is not like that doesn’t exist during the regular season. The Flames need Bennett to bring the same kind of juice throughout the year. His energy is easy to feed off of.
Dillon Dube - Keep building. During the regular season Dube’s microstats were quite good. That didn’t necessarily lead to results (he had six goals and 16 points in 45 games). Things changed in the playoffs, where Dube put up five points (four goals, one assist) in 10 games and looked even more impactful than his outputs suggested. The key now is to keep building on that. The Flames very much need some middle-6 wingers to step up and produce offense. With the balanced approach (running Lindholm, Monahan, and Backlund at center) there are opportunities for a few wingers to pick up important minutes. Dube could be one of them.
Joakim Nordstrom - Excel on the penalty kill. Nordstrom is not a good player. His offensive impact at 5v5 is very poor, and he’s middling when it comes to defense. He isn’t going to move the needle much at 5v5. If he does, it’s probably for the wrong reasons. That means he needs to do something well in order to hold a place in the lineup. I don’t think he should at all (the Flames have better options), but the one area he does have potential is on the PK. He needs to ace his test in that role.
Numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com and PuckBase.com
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