A few thoughts on last night’s game before we look at some trade scenarios.
The Dread A 2-0 lead that early in the game can be a death sentence for any team. Players get confused in their roles.
For the Calgary Flames, it was more like clockwork. If you’ve tuned into enough games this season, you know what’s coming. That lead never had a chance.
What was surprising was the result in overtime. The officials really didn’t want to call a penalty. Adam Fox and Artemi Panarin gave them zero choice. The crowd was losing their minds with each ignored infraction.
X’s and O’s Did we actually see a set play rolled out on the Flames’ second goal? Last season we got a look at some interesting maneuvers the Flames had drawn up and practiced.
Obviously, the pass to the net-side Tkachuk who in turn fed a pass to Lindholm was a staple. There was a play where both Hanifin and Andersson drove to the net off the faceoff while the center dropped back. We got to see some cool plays start to get integrated around the 30-game mark. You wonder if that’s Kirk Muller’s doing as the offensive coach.
Last night’s second goal was an elusive passing pattern designed to make the goalie track Pelletier as the shooter. Whether it was planned or simply jazz on ice is unknown.
Dead Tired The Rangers looked like a beer league team with only seven skaters in the first period. Too tired to separate from the checker, too tired to win an even puck race, too tired to stop Andrew Mangiapane from running roughshod over K’Andre Miller and the rest of the Rangers blue line.
A Bird in Hand Scouts refer to various points in each draft where the perceived talent drops off to a lower tier. Particularly around the top 7-12.
The 2020 NHL Entry Draft had a perceived drop after #13, Seth Jarvis, and after pick number #19, Braden Schneider.
The Flames were picking at 19 that draft, but elected to pick up an extra couple of third-round picks to move down twice. In the end, they drafted Connor Zary with the 24th overall pick, Jeremie Poirier with the first 3rd round pick and Jake Boltmann with the second.
They passed on first Braden Schneider, currently a top-four defenceman on the Rangers — and then Hendrix Lapierre, who is at a similar career spot as Connor Zary, but entered his draft year in the discussion as a top-ten pick. A mysterious neck issue (that he has corrected) was what made him slide to the early 20s.
It’s annoying watching Rangers highlights. The Flames could solve a lot of problems right now with a top-four, right-shot defenceman on an entry level contract. With that said, Jeremie Poirier might just have the highest ceiling between him, Zary, Schneider and Lapierre.
Poirier sits in second place among rookie defencemen in scoring behind only 27-year-old Christian Wolanin. The left shot, offensive defenceman turns 21 on June 2, 2023.
Improving the Team Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving is in a tough spot regarding making his team better via trade. The first issue is that the team has plenty of good pieces that simply don’t add up to the sum of their parts.
The other issue is that with 7.4 million being added to Huberdeau and Weegar’s salaries this offseason, the Flames will have under a million in spending money for potential additions. For the sake of discussion, let’s look at potential uses for the $4,436,269 in free space by the deadline and leave the contingency plans to Brad.
Jack Roslovic The 26-year-old RW/C can’t be thrilled about his place in the lineup.
With 30 points on the season, he nearly doubles the production of his current linemates, Liam Foudy and Emil Bemstrom. He has 30 points to their combined 17. The Columbus-born speedster is a UFA after next year and needs production if he wants a better contract.
Elliotte Friedman pointed out recently that the Flames are still looking for a forward that can open up space for Jonathan Huberdeau with their speed. Roslovic can certainly do that.
The right shot forward carries a $4,000,000 annual average value until next year and would necessitate a cap-clearing move during the offseason.
The Trade
To Calgary RW/C Jack Roslovic
To Columbus 2023 2nd round draft pick LW Luca Ciona
Ciona is on pace to over double his production season over season. 35 points last season vs. an 83-point pace this season. The 6’3… 210 pound left winger is set to begin his professional career next year with the AHL Calgary Wranglers.
He has a big shot, decent speed, underrated playmaking skills and a respectable resume on hockeyfights.com — ten fights over three seasons of junior.
Colton Parayko Rumours have been swirling around the Blues since their eight-game losing streak in October. Those rumours have only intensified after the shipping of two core players — Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko.
Parayko’s name has popped up here and there and you have to wonder if there’s any truth to the speculation surrounding the big defenseman from St. Albert. The biggest hurdle would be that he’s freshly committed to the Blues organization. The 6’6… 230lb blueliner is in year one of an eight-year, $6,500,000 AAV contract that will pay him until he’s 37. That rings a bell or two for Flames fans.
To Calgary D Colton Parayko
To St. Louis D MacKenzie Weegar
This would be a straight-up hockey trade. The Blues need a bit more minute-munching finesse on the blue line. Weegar can certainly do that, but he’s not exactly the intimidating presence that Colton Parayko is.
Under Sutter, Colton would have a more defined role in the top four. Be mean, move the puck, use your shot when you can and don’t let anyone touch the goaltender. The Flames are missing that presence since losing Gudbranson.
Weegar starts an 8x6.25 contract next season, so the money works out. Same age, almost the same contract, and potentially a better fit for both teams.
The Flames have a matinee game tomorrow at 2:00 pm against the Flyers. Stop in for a game-day briefing.
Trevor Neufeld
@Trevor_Neufeld
Stats via naturalstattrick.com, eliteprospects.com, nhl.com, and hockeyfights.com.