1) One of the main reasons Calgary failed to live up to expectations last season was the play of their defense. Mark Giordano and Dougie Hamilton were fantastic together, however, T.J. Brodie and Travis Hamonic didn't exactly come as advertised. Many figured they'd be one of the better 2nd pairings in the league and that was far from the case. They were shockingly bad on many nights.
If the Flames were to take a step forward this season, they needed stable play from the 2nd pairing. Hamonic missed some time early in the year but, when in the lineup, they've certainly had that.
In nearly 90 minutes with Hamonic and Noah Hanifin on the ice, the Flames have controlled better than 62% of the attempts and 65% of the expected goals. That ranks them top-5 in both categories among 115 pairings to log at least 50 minutes.
Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie have posted similarly impressive numbers despite playing the toughs on a nightly basis. With two dominant pairings, you should win a lot of hockey games so it's not exactly surprising the Flames find themselves atop the Pacific Division right now.
2) I get not wanting to throw Mike Smith completely overboard – you need both goaltenders handling a decent amount of work in today's NHL – but I'd like to see Bill Peters go to David Rittich a little more moving forward.
Smith has started 10 of 16 games for the Flames (62.5%) despite posting horrific numbers almost nightly. He's looked awful, too. The rebounds are juicy, soft shots are trickling through, and he just seems...off. Rittich, meanwhile, has looked composed, confident, and has provided above average goaltending in almost every appearance. It's crazy how drastic the difference in performance has been thus far.
Rittich has legitimately been one of the league's better goaltenders in the early going. Smith has been one of the worst. Until that changes, I think it should be Rittich getting more work. Split things up at the very least.
3) I'd like to see Austin Czarnik get some reps sooner than later. I'd prefer he takes Garnet Hathaway's spot, although I'd be fine with giving Mark Jankowski a night off to watch from above with the way he's going right now (not good).
Among 20 Flames with 50+ minutes of 5v5 ice, Czarnik ranks 2nd in Corsi For% (60.57%), 1st in Scoring Chance For% (64.37%), and he leads the team in chances on a per 60-minute basis. I know actually converting is kind of important, however, I'm sure he won't continue shooting *checks notes* zero (0) percent in that game state. He's played really well, the production just hasn't been there. Why should he continue to sit in favor of guys who *aren't* playing well or producing?
Numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com and Corsica.Hockey. Recent posts: Five observations from a wild win over the Avalanche