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Calgary Flames: On Jackman, Nakladal & Depth On Defense

August 28, 2016, 1:16 PM ET [20 Comments]
Todd Cordell
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With Mark Giordano, T.J. Brodie and Dougie Hamilton in the fold the top half of Calgary's defense is essentially as good as anyone's.

The bottom half of their defense, however, could use some work.

Dennis Wideman's offensive game is starting to regress and he struggled mightily away from the puck last season. Deryk Engelland is paid like a mid-pairing guy but his on-ice performance suggests he should probably be nothing more than a No. 7 defensemen. Jyrki Jokipakka is nothing special and at 25 that's probably not going to change.

Brett Kulak, Tyler Wotherspoon and some of the team's other prospects will get long looks but if the Flames want to have a really competitive camp there are still some free agents they could bring in who could potentially improve the defense.

Jakub Nakladal is still without a contract and could be brought back on the cheap. I think the Flames would be smart to do that as he showed well down the stretch and posted solid underlying numbers.

His offensive game in particular was surprisingly good as he helped generate a lot of good looks for teammates.



I think Nakladal is a better option than everyone on the Flames' defense beyond the big three.

Barret Jackman is another guy I'd seriously consider signing and/or inviting to camp. He doesn't create anything offensively but that's not a problem as Giordano, Brodie and Hamilton can definitely carry the load in that regard. That said Jackman is excellent defensively. He has posted very good shot suppression numbers in recent years and could be a key cog on the penalty kill as well.

There are a lot of blue liners with NHL experience still looking for work but Nakladal and Jackman would definitely be tops on my list. Most of the other guys would be very marginal upgrades, if at all, and the Flames would probably be better served just giving a spot to one of the young stop gaps (Kulak or Wotherspoon).

Training camps are just around the corner so we won't have to wait too much longer to find out if Brad Treliving and co. feel the same way.

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