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Troy Brouwer did not perform like a $4.5 million player last season. Not even close.
Whether you like his game or not, I feel like we can all agree he will almost certainly never live up to his contract. It was a highly questionable deal to begin with and it's not going to get better with age.
Still, the reality is he's not going anywhere so the coaching staff has to try and find a spot for him in the lineup where he can contribute *and* make more of an impact than someone else on the team could in the same slot.
I've spent a lot of time thinking about the best fit and I'm not entirely sure there is such thing.
Brouwer on the top line is a horrible plan. Sure, he'd produce more than he did a season ago but other players (Micheal Ferland, Kris Versteeg, etc.) have proven to be more effective in that role. Brouwer still wouldn't be efficient playing alongside Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan and it'd be a waste of their talents to put him there.
Breaking up the 3M line to put Brouwer in Michael Frolik's spot would be nothing short of a catastrophe. They were one of the NHL's best lines last season and, even if Brouwer held his own there, the much better player (Frolik) would end up playing lower in the lineup.
Sam Bennett spent a good chunk of time with Brouwer last season and took a step back. That's not exactly coincidental, either, as Bennett's underlying numbers were much better away from Brouwer.
Placing the $4.5 million winger on the 4th line seems like the best option but even that's not a good one.
In ~160 minutes Brouwer played on a line with Matt Stajan, the Flames controlled ~39% of the shot attempts and ~37% of the goals. The sample size isn't that big but I think it's fair to say the results would have been a lot better if it was a match made in heaven.
In short, I don't think there is really a spot that makes sense for Brouwer. The best option is probably to minimize his ice and hope he can accomplish something against opposing team's worst players.
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On Valimaki and his lofty goal of making the Flames out of camp
The Flames shouldn't bring back Iginla
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Breaking down the Travis Hamonic trade
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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