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The NHL playoffs begin in just a few days and, for the seventh time in nine years, the Calgary Flames will not be participating.
Missing the playoffs any year is disappointing. This year it is borderline unacceptable.
Heading into the season, expectations were high – and rightfully so.
Headlined by Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, the 3M line, Dougie Hamilton, Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie, the Flames already had a strong core in place – one that led them to the playoffs a season ago.
Knowing that, GM Brad Treliving aggressively added in the off-season to try and improve.
He invested quality futures – including 1st and 2nd round picks – in order to acquire Travis Hamonic to try and solidify the defense. He traded for a 35-year-old goaltender in Mike Smith. He paid up to re-sign Michael Stone so the Flames had an experienced hand as injury insurance on the 3rd pairing. He brought in Jaromir Jagr.
All of these moves were made to help the team take the next step. And they went backwards.
I don't think many viewed the Flames as true Stanley Cup contenders but most – myself included – thought they'd comfortably make it as a playoff team. They missed out by 11 points.
There are a surprising amount of reasons for this.
The 3rd line was not good this season. The Flames didn't get nearly enough offense from them and it certainly wasn't consistent. The 4th line was a borderline wasteland. The 2nd pairing of Brodie and Hamonic didn't perform to expectations. The team didn't have reliable backup goaltending. The power play was an absolute disaster for almost the entirety of the year, which is hard to believe given the personnel.
The team was also fragile. I hate using vague terms like that, but so often they would fold when something bad happened. One goal would turn into two or three in quick succession and they just couldn't stop the bleeding. I don't know if that was luck driven, player driven, or coaching driven, but I have a feeling the latter will fall on the sword for it.
As bad as all of this sounds, there still is reason to be optimistic moving forward. The Flames have the same core that led them to the playoffs a year ago locked up for the foreseeable future. The high-end talent is there. They just have to improve around the edges.
Add a couple stable bottom-6 forwards, which aren't hard to come by, a reliable backup, tweak the defense, and suddenly the out-look for next season looks pretty good.
I think a lot of changes to the roster need to be made but not necessarily big ones. It'll be interesting to see if Treliving feels the same way.
Recent posts:
On the possibility of trading into the 1st round
Losing ways continue as Flames fall to Ducks
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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