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Comparing Narratives to Last Year’s Camp — Flames/Canucks Game Day |
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What a difference a year makes.
The Calgary Flames finally return to the ice after what was, well, an excruciating offseason for fans. The amount of will they, won’t they drama hadn’t been this high since 2013 when it finally came to pass that Jarome Iginla would be leaving Calgary.
The same conversations over and over.
Will Noah Hanifin stay in Calgary?
Will Mikael Backlund stick around if he is named Captain?
Will Elias Lindholm sign an extension and at what dollar value and term?
Will Tyler Toffoli be on the Flames at the start of next season?
Sprinkle in a bit of Will the Flames get pushed around without a designated tough guy?
And How will Dustin Wolf get starts in the NHL?
And Which younger players will seize a lineup spot?, rinse and repeat.
Not ideal, but let’s look at some of the questions fans were asking last season.
Well, there was a decent amount of discussion on why Cody Eakin was getting so long of a look. Likewise, fans were debating whether Sonny Milano was the guy to catalyze Jonathan Huberdeau over the next 82 regular season games.
Two questions that almost every follower had was:
Will this new lineup work? Are the Flames in a competitive window without Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk?
One year later, we still don’t have an answer to those two questions.
The team has once again shed their most recent top scorer. This time shipping Tyler Toffoli to New Jersey for Yegor Sharangovich and a 2023 third round pick.
They have a rookie head coach in Ryan Huska to manage strategy and game approach this season. There is plenty of room for optimism, but there is also some reason supporting a skeptical stance.
Let’s get to Calgary’s lineup tonight courtesy of Pat Steinberg. @Fan960Steinberg
Calgary Projected Lineup
Huberdeau-Lindholm-Sharangovich
Ruzicka-Kadri-Dube
Hunt-Jones-Coronato
Pospisil-Zary-Klapka
Hanifin-Andersson
Oesterle-Tanev
Solovyov-Gilbert
Markstrom
Line One
The prototype “first line” that Huska has been rolling out in practice has had some solid feedback. A high pace to drills, Huberdeau is landing the majority of his high-danger passes according to the new head coach, and the freshly acquired Yegor Sharangovich is fitting well into the up-tempo pace after being brought in from New Jersey where they expect very intense practice pacing.
Tonight the public gets a look.
Is Jonathan Huberdeau’s 115-point swagger starting to reform? How does the on-ice chemistry look with these three players? Is this a trio that will last through the majority of 82 games?
Fun to keep an eye on.
Non-Young Star Prospects
Tonight will also be an interesting checkup on Connor Zary and Martin Pospisil.
Connor Zary, 21, could have participated at the Young Stars Classic in Penticton, but after attending the last two was informed that he had more or less graduated out of it. The 24th overall selection in 2020 approached the point-per-game mark with 21 goals and 58 points in 71 games last season with the Wranglers.
The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan native is a deceptive triggerman — a role needed to be filled on the Flames powerplay this season. His sharp passing on the Wranglers 5v4 units last season looked quicker and more precise than what several players on the Flames could muster as the season carried on.
The 23 year old Martin Pospisil is in a different boat.
On one hand, he has all the tools to fill a much needed role on the Flames. That being a physical winger that takes pressure off the top six by putting pressure on the opposition. The other hand holds a tough set of cards. It appears Martin was rushed into the AHL and injuries have taken their toll. Pospisil only dressed for 20 games last season and 47 the season prior.
Martin has been eligible for waivers since last season, but cleared when sent down last October. If he surprises in camp but can’t make the team, he may get lucky and get claimed.
A Quiet Competition
With the news that Oliver Kylington may be unavailable to play this season, Dennis Gilbert and Jordan Oesterle have to be chomping at the bit to prove they are the worthy successor to the sixth and final spot on the blue line. A spot that may be on a pairing with defensive stalwart Chris Tanev. Suffice it to say that a season with Chris looks pretty good on paper by game 82.
Gilbert proved a lot last season. Fights in four consecutive games. A crisp passing game to go with it and even a goal against his hometown Sabres. Oesterle comes into camp as the more seasoned veteran, but has a bit of a history of below-average defensive play.
One of the more underrated battles this preseason.
The Canucks
Vancouver is sending a younger lineup with much to prove tonight.
Ryan Pike took a solid swing at what their lines will look like. His guess is as good as mine. Here is the projection courtesy of flamesnation.com.
Vancouver Projected Lineup
Vasily Podkolzin – Pius Suter – Nils Höglander
Sheldon Dries – Aatu Räty – Jack Studnicka
Aidan McDonough – Max Sasson – Danila Klimovich
Dakota Joshua – Nils Åman – Linus Karlsson
Jack Rathbone – Filip Johansson
Akito Hirose – Noah Juulsen
Matt Irwin – Jett Woo
Some combination of:
Arturs Silovs
Zach Sawchenko
Jonathan Lemieux
Winging It
The two big names are Nils Hoglander and Vasily Poskolzin. The two former first round picks have flirted with permanent NHL roles, but spent much of their time in the AHL last season with now Wranglers head coach Trent Cull, who is not known for relying on younger players in key situations.
The two have a major opportunity to impress. Let’s see what they do with it.
By Any Other Name
24 year old Akito Hirose has a big camp ahead of him. The former Edge School product put up three assists in seven games last season after concluding his fourth NCAA season. The 6’0”, 170lb left defenceman has to prove he is not only a sound pick for a roster spot — he has to prove that he won’t be a physical liability on a blue line already featuring the undersized Quinn Hughes and the easily-abused Filip Hronek.
The game will be broadcasted on Sportsnet. Puck drop is at 6:10pm MT.
Trevor Neufeld
@Trevor_Neufeld
Stats via eliteprospects.com.
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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