The Calgary Flames kick off a back-to-back today in Columbus, Ohio with a game that will feature a fair amount of drama.

The elephant in the room being Johnny Gaudreau. We can wax about the sequence of events that unfolded in the days leading to the 5th highest scorer in franchise history deciding to sign elsewhere, but really, haven’t we done enough of that?

While entertaining “what ifs” is one of the more enjoyable activities on this platform, the “what if?” of Gaudreau re-signing in Calgary is a bit much. The Flames probably wouldn’t have the luxury of signing Nazem Kadri. There would likely be further cap casualties if both Gaudreau and Huberdeau signed 10.5x8 deals. It’s likely the Flames’ record would be much better as well, although that is debatable.

In any case, he’s a Blue Jacket now — and despite Johnny’s efforts, his team is a bit of an ongoing tire fire at the moment.

Tough Times in Ohio
Things aren’t good on Johnny’s new team. Columbus has lost six of their last seven, being outscored 30-13 over that time. Their only win since November 23 was more of a vengeance tour for Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic as they put up two goals and an assist together against the Jets in Winnipeg.

Rough record. Things aren’t great at practice either. Hockeybuzz alumni and current Blue Jackets insider Aaron Portzline stated yesterday in a conversation for the Athletic that the team doesn’t know their drills for practice beforehand. Erik Gudbranson commented yesterday that practices aren’t going well.

One final one, the Blue Jackets held a “players only” meeting yesterday after losing 9-4 to Buffalo. That game featured a five-goal performance by Tage Thompson. The towering center had six points in a surprisingly low 13:56 of ice time.

OK, one more. Sorry about lying. Elliott Friedman pointed out on the 32 Thoughts podcast that it’s unlikely that 27-year-old, 6’3”, 225lb defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov re-signs in Columbus following season’s end. Gavrikov is the only player on the team with a +/- above 0. He’s +1.

Should we keep piling on Columbus?

They have the worst defence in the league at 4.16 goals against per game. Despite Gaudreau and Laine’s best efforts the team has the seventh-worst offence – 2.88 goals against per game. Their power play sucks. A 13.9 conversion rate ranks them 32nd, which doesn’t matter much because they rank 29th in net penalties. In other words, they’ve taken 96 penalties and drawn 80.

Despite receiving so many minors, they’re not all that physical. They throw about 21 hits per game. That puts them bottom 10 in that category. Calgary ranks 7th with 27.02 per game.

Ok. Point made. Columbus isn’t doing well. Despite an overwhelming list of negatives, Johnny Gaudreau still has two goals and six assists in his last five games. Patrik Laine has four goals over that time. The Jackets have only scored two goals without Gaudreau in that span. If it’s an emotional night for Johnny and it’s not a given that he runs the offence, maybe the Flames are in more trouble than most expect.

Projected Flames Lineup
Markstrom starts. Phillips draws in and Ritchie draws out. Today’s forward practice lines courtesy of Wes Gilbertson. @WesGilbertson

Huberdeau-Lindholm-Toffoli
Dube-Kadri-Mangiapane
Ruzicka-Backlund-Coleman
Lucic-Lewis-Phillips

Projected Flames Defence Lines

Hanifin-Andersson
Weegar-Tanev
Zadorov-Stone

Markstrom
Vladar


Blue Jackets Projected Lineup
Sean Kuraly is a game-time decision.
Courtesy of Coby Maeir. @CobyMaeir

Gaudreau-Jenner-Nyquist
Chinakov-Roslovic-Laine
Johnson-Sillinger-Marchenko
Robinson-Foudy-Olivier

Gavrikov-Bjork
Berni-Gudbranson
Christiansen-Peeke

Korpisalo
Merzlikins


An Opportunity
Matthew Phillips starts the game on the fourth line with Lewis and Lucic. Not exactly ideal. Lucic has been held off the scoresheet in eight games and is likely waiting on his shoulder to get better. Pat Steinberg confirmed yesterday that Trevor Lewis is playing through something as well. He has one point in those same eight games.

Maybe Phillips gets a shift here or there with more healthy linemates. Certainly, something to keep an eye on.


The Flames are at it again tomorrow against the Leafs, so be sure to stop in for a pre-game/post-game run down.

Game time is 5:00 pm MST. Catch it on Sportsnet West and TVA Sports in Canada and Bally Sports Ohio in the States.


Trevor Neufeld


@Trevor_Neufeld


Stats via nhl.com, naturalstattrick.com and capfriendly.com.

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