I don’t know about you, but a lighthearted, zero-playoff-implication game against the 22-42-16 San Jose Sharks sounds pretty good right about now.
No constant stringing-along of hope, no potential for a gut-punching loss. If the 37-27-17 Calgary Flames should lose their 82nd game of the season? Great. Maybe the Penguins, Islanders or Predators pass them in the standings.
If they win? Great too. Who doesn’t want to end on a win?
Another reason to watch tonight?
The rookies finally — finally get a look.
First Look With a 41-9-9 record with the Wranglers this season and a near certainty of winning his second Aldege ‘Baz’ Bastien Memorial Award in a row — that being the equivalent of the Vezina Trophy for best goaltender in the AHL — Dustin Wolf, 21, gets an early birthday present this year.
On Sunday he will turn 22 years old and will have played his first game in the NHL only four days prior.
41 wins, seven shutouts, a .931 save percentage and a sparkling 2.08 goals against average on the season. Given how many games poor goaltending has cost the big team — it’s hard to find a Flames fan this season that didn’t want to see this move much earlier.
Dustin grew up in Gilroy, California. A short drive from San Jose. He gets his first look against his (somewhat) hometown team.
Wolf won’t be alone for the rookie lap. 20-year-old Matthew Coronato is getting his first game at the pro level. The stocky, 5’10… sniper had 38 goals and 72 points with the Harvard Crimson of the NCAA. The 13th overall pick of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft will play on the right side of Jakob Pelletier and Nazem Kadri’s line.
On the other side of the hourglass is the reason Walker Duehr and Adam Ruzicka are sitting out tonight’s dance.
Last Look With free agency looming and the odometer getting questionably high for all three, you have to wonder what’s next for the likes of Milan Lucic, Trevor Lewis and Michael Stone.
Lucic, 34, has drawn much scrutiny this season for his deployment. A fourth-line unit has to be reliable in their own end. With seven goals, 12 assists and a -13 plus-minus rating at even strength — you could argue that the on-ice product wasn’t good enough for a fourth-liner who doesn’t kill penalties.
Despite averaging only 11:18 of ice time per game, Milan has the second-worst plus-minus on the team. He trails only — checks notes — Nazem Kadri who is -20 on the season.
Trevor Lewis has had a decent season, but it’s probably fair to say his return depends on the direction management and ownership chooses to go this summer. The now 36-year-old had been chipping in as a 13th forward in Winnipeg prior to signing with Darryl’s outfit in the summer of 2021.
Micheal Stone’s place on the team is also in question. On one hand, his six goals as a defenceman in a very limited role will be appealing to other teams in free agency. As will his 6’3… 210lb frame.
There are simply a lot of oopsie daisies in his game tape this year. He had four instances of being -2 over 47 games. If he’s willing to stay on a #7 on the depth chart, there are certainly worse options out there.
Also, unrestricted free agents this offseason are Arizona acquisitions Troy Stetcher and Nick Ritchie. Although the two are fairly certain to land jobs somewhere. If Darryl stays on — then let’s hope for a Ritchie brother fourth line to enjoy next year. Nick’s brother Brett will also be entering unrestricted free agency on July 1st.
Changes Looming The players mentioned above may not be the only ones facing the prospect of playing their last game as a Calgary Flame. Ryan Leslie claimed this week that he had heard rumblings of a Mikael Backlund trade request last summer.
The 34-year-old has put up a career high 55 points this season while continuing to post dominant advanced stats. The line of Mangiapane-Backlund-Coleman has been top five in expected goals percentage for virtually the entire season.
If you’re starting a rebuild — and maybe the Flames need to consider it —trading the 14-season Calgary Flame would guarantee you’re picking in the top ten at the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. Factor in what he brings back and we’re looking at a nice cast-off.
Noah Hanifin, Elias Lindholm and Tyler Toffoli have also been rumoured to being discussed as trade options.
Calgary Flames Projected Lineup Courtesy of Derek Wills. @Fan960Wills
Dube-Lindholm-Toffoli Huberdeau-Backlund-Mangiapane Pelletier-Kadri-Coronato Lucic-Lewis-Coleman Hanifin-Andersson Zadorov-Weegar Stecher-Stone
Wolf (Starter) Vladar
San Jose Sharks Projected Lineup Courtesy of dailyfaceoff.com.
Hertl – Couture – Peterson Bordeleau – Lorentz – Labanc Svechnikov – Sturm – Zetterlund Gregor – Robins – Veil
Thrun – Karlsson Ferraro – Benning MacDonald – Knyzhov
Reimer Kahkonen
Lots to Talk About It’s likely to be a dramatic offseason. There are a lot of directions this organization can turn. We’ll go through trade scenarios, UFA strategies, potential staff replacements and discuss roles on next year’s team among several subjects over the coming weeks. Now that the hockey is almost over — the real fun can begin. Stay tuned.
Who would you like to see running this team next season? Should Treliving stay? How about Darryl Sutter and the rest of the coaching staff? What would you do if you were freshly extended Brad Treliving with full authority to hire and fire as you see fit?
Game time is 8:00 pm MST. Catch it on Sportsnet West, Sportsnet One and TVAS in Canada. TNT is doing the broadcast in the States.
Trevor Neufeld
@Trevor_Neufeld
Stats via eliteprospects.com, naturalstattrick.com and nhl.com.