Real talk right now?
Flames fans probably aren’t going to see a tactical trading of assets meant to restock a contending team on the fly. It’s more likely they go in the direction of adding some depth in the fashion of the 2012 LA Kings — who brought in five players before squeezing into the 8th seed in the West.
Something interesting about the Kings that season?
They finished with 95 points. They had three different head coaches throughout the season. Terry Murray (13-12-4), John Stevens (2-2-0), and Darryl Sutter (25-13-11).
Their 40-27-15 and 95 points in 82 games that season put them at a .579 points percentage.
The Flames that year finished 17th. One spot out of 8th. 37–29-16 put them at a .549 points percentage. 90 points in total.
Yes, you in the back. You asked for a soul-crushing stat? Well, the Flames have a .549 points percentage this season through 61 games too. Is that soul-crushing enough?
No? Well, I guess we could look at who they drafted that year. Originally picking 14th, they received an extra second for trading down to pick number 21. While Tom Wilson, Tomas Hertl, Tuevo Teravainen, Scott Laughton and future Hall of Fame goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy were still on the board — Jay Feaster traded down to pick up Mark Jankowski and an extra second-round pick that resulted in Patrick Sieloff.
How about a stat to pick you up?
On March 2, 2012, the Kings had a .547 winning percentage. An 11-4-3 run took them back into contention. From there they went on to lose only four games on their way to a Stanley Cup victory.
Maybe there is hope.
On that note, let’s assume Darryl is expecting to repeat history. Let’s look at some possible pickups.
Potential Adds With $3,411,748 in projected cap at the deadline, there are plenty of options. Let’s start with one that will likely be off the board by the time this is published.
Update: Quick has been traded to Vegas. The return is G Michael Hutchinson, 2025 7th-round pick. Columbus retains 50% of Quick’s cap hit. There are still some mind-blowing Calgary Flames goalie stats in the section below, so it stays in.
Jonathan Quick Along with the news of the future Hall of Fame goaltender being included in the Gavrikov, Korpisalo trade came reports that the team, and more intensely Jonathan, were outraged at the transactional nature to which the organization dropped him.
Quick reportedly hasn’t left LA yet. Rumours of a trade to Vegas keep swirling. It is likely that it gets done today or tomorrow.
But what if Darryl asked Treliving to get on it?
Two Flames Goalies The Flames and their netminders have a bit of a confidence problem. By a bit, I mean “very big….
Reddit user, Nexroth88, did some digging and it’s just too good not to bring up.
Over 188 goals against this season, 8 have been goals scored on the first shot, 25 have been scored in the first three shots, and in 49.18% of their games, the Flames have been scored on in their first five shots against.
Yowza.
With that said, how cool would a Jonathan Quick Vengeance Tour be? Imagine going on a run and eventually playing the Kings in a series.
The reality is that Jonathan isn’t having a great season. His 11-13-4 record, .876 save percentage, and .350 goals-against average would have him fitting right in with the Flames goaltending platoon.
With that said, motivation is a hell of a drug.
Lawson Crouse Let’s turn this ship a little closer to Earth.
The Coyotes acquired Jacob Voracek today in another LTIR deal with the focus on taking cap while not spending real dollars.
Crouse, 25, has the size and speed to make a difference throughout the Flames lineup. His production, 19 goals and 12 assists, would likely go down next season with fewer offensive opportunities, but he uses his 6’4…, 215lbs frame well. That kind of size is useful down the stretch and into the playoffs.
Lawson’s contract is problematic for a team with under a million in cap space next season. $4,300,000 for four more seasons after this one. He’s also a left-shot winger, but can play both sides.
Vladislav Namestnikov Namestnikov was dealt to the San Jose Sharks yesterday in return for Michael Eyssimont and a 50% retention of Vladislav’s contract. He now has a cap hit of 1.25 million for the rest of the season.
Per Sheng Peng of sanjosehockeynow (and former HockeyBuzz writer):
Namestnikov is a three-position forward who runs very hot and cold. He only has six goals and nine assists in 57 games this season, but occasionally will put up a couple of points in a night with minimal deployment. He also follows the Sutter mantra of having Stanley Cup winners on the roster.
If They Sell
Real talk right now?
The Flames have put up a miserable season.
We can compare the team to the 2012 LA Kings all we like. I think you could count the amount of believers in this team with one hand.
They haven’t been able to win three in a row since their first three games. Their goalies are trending downward. The apex media insider, Elliotte Friedman, keeps mentioning that trade talks are going on involving Flames core players. Today on The Jeff Marek Show he pointed out that the Hurricanes are making a hard push for Mikael Backlund or Elias Lindholm.
You have to wonder what kind of Brinks truck the Hurricanes are willing to back up for arguably the Flames’ best player in Lindholm. Do they even have the assets to get that done?
It was confirmed in the late offseason that Martin Necas was the centrepiece of a potential return for Matthew Tkachuk during those tension-filled days between the star letting his intentions be known to the Flames organization and his rights being dealt.
It’s possible we see Necas in a Flames sweater to go with a first-round pick or two. After all, the Hurricanes are in second place in the standings at the moment. That first doesn’t swing as hard as one in the early 20s range.
The Hurricanes have an extra second-round pick next year — Philidelphia’s. That may be included.
What Friedman finished with was that the Flames haven’t decided their course of action yet. It feels odd to hear that. The team has lost three games in a row. With that said, the Flames looked pretty good in their game against the Bruins.
Would a stinker tonight lead to a minor exodus of Swedish centers?
The Toronto Maple Leafs With so much going on this week, it’s easy to forget that there are games being played.
The Leafs flew in from Edmonton last night after losing decisively to the Oilers. 3-1 by the end of the first. 5-1 by the end of the second. The Oilers look good after the addition of Mathias Ekholm with 2022 first-round pick Reid Schaefer, a 2023 first-round pick, and top-four defenceman Tyson Barrie headed to Nashville in return.
As we learned on Tuesday, it doesn’t really matter how rested the opposition is, how well they’re playing headed into the game, or who is injured on the roster. Whether it’s the 1st-place Bruins or the 32nd-place Blue Jackets — Calgary will play tight-to-the-belt hockey in order to give themselves a chance to lose in overtime.
The Matchup The Sutter Era has featured some glorious games against the Leafs. They generally finish within a goal.
November 12, 2021, was a nail-biting 2-1 overtime loss where Daniel Vladar stood on his head to keep the Flames in it.
February 10, 2022, was a closer-than-it-looks 5-2 win for the Flames.
December 10 this season was a 5-4 overtime loss for Vladar and the Flames.
These two teams tend to bring their “A game… when playing each other. We’re likely in for a treat tonight.
Calgary Flames Projected Lineup Courtesy of Pat Steinberg. @Fan960Steinberg
Dube-Lindholm-Toffoli Pelletier-Kadri-Huberdeau Mangiapane-Backlund-Coleman Lucic-Lewis-Duehr Weegar-Andersson Hanifin-Tanev Zadorov-Gilbert
Markstrom Vladar
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lineup Courtesy of dailyfaceoff.com.
Bunting – Matthews – Marner Tavares – O’Reilly – Nylander Kerfoot – Kampf – Jarnkrok Aston-Reese – Acciari – Lafferty
Rielly – Holl McCabe – Brodie Giordano – Liljegren
Woll Samsonov
Game time is 7:00 pm MST. Catch the broadcast on Sportsnet West, TVAS, and Sportsnet Ontario.
Trevor Neufeld
@Trevor_Neufeld
Stats via naturalstattrick.com, nhl.com and capfriendly.com.