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A few notes on the Calgary Flames on this off-day:
1) I know Matthew Tkachuk was sheltered a little bit early in the year but it's amazing the kind of numbers he is putting up right now. Over an 82 game span, Tkachuk is currently producing at a 47 point, 143 shot pace. Those are very good totals for any player, let alone a 19-year-old playing his first season of professional hockey.
As impressive as those numbers are, analytically he comes out looking even better. At 5v5, the Flames control a larger percentage of the shot attempts and scoring chances with Tkachuk on the ice than any other player.
The Flames currently get 10% more of the shot attempts with Tkachuk on the ice than without him, which ties him for 2nd(!) among forwards with at least 300 minutes of ice at 5v5.
A few of the names around Tkachuk in that category: Patrice Bergeron, Blake Wheeler, Artemi Panarin and Brad Marchand. That's pretty good company to be keeping.
I always expected Tkachuk would be able to drive play --
he was a 64% possession player in the 12 London games I tracked last season -- but I didn't know he'd be this good at it, this soon.
Playing primarily with Mikael Backlund and Michael Frolik helps his cause, obviously, but Tkachuk isn't just a passenger. Far from it.
He is going to be a beast when he fills out and puts on a few more pounds.
2) Dougie Hamilton was 4th among Flames defensemen in minutes vs Arizona on Monday night and was 6th against the Sharks on Tuesday night. We're not going down this path again, are we?
Hamilton is 2nd among all D in 5v5 shots per 60, 5v5 goals per 60 and 5v5 points per 60. He's also one of the league's best in terms of driving possession. Give the guy minutes.
3) The Flames have been up and down of late but their upcoming schedule is as soft as it could possibly be.
Their next eight games: vs VAN, @ COL, vs ANA, vs ARI, vs COL, @ VAN, vs VAN, @ WPG.
Seven of those eight are against non-playoff teams and five of the eight are on home soil. The Flames won't get an easier string of games than that. They need to make some noise and collect some points.
Recent posts:
Johnson struggles again in loss to Sharks
Lethal power play leads Flames to win over Coyotes
On the Flames' goaltending depth, trimming the fat and more
Predicting the Pacific Division standings
Pacific Division bold predictions
Pacific Division breakout players
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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