We are ten games into the regular season for the Calgary Flames. They’ve gone from being 5-0-1 and the best story in the NHL to losing four games in a row in ugly fashion and being regarded as one of the worst teams in the league.

It’s been a crazy three weeks. Here are ten thoughts on the start of the season.

Kadri has done one thing really well this season. And that’s shoot the puck. He leads the Flames in shots on goal, shot attempts, scoring chances, and high danger scoring chances. He is leading all those statistical categories by a considerable margin. Some other Flames forwards should have a similar shot first mindset.

But there are some question marks about his defensive results. The Flames have been outscored 9-2 and have been out chanced 35-22 when Kadri is on the ice at 5-on-5. His expected goals percentage is 44.69%. On top of all that he is a team worst -9, the next closest player is Yegor Sharangovich at -3.

The Flames are 1-4-1 in their last 6 games. With that record, you’d think goaltending was a major issue. But I don’t think it has been. Both Dan Vladar and Dustin Wolf are giving the Flames a chance to win on most nights. And the last two losses, 5-0 to Vegas and 5-1 to Utah, was the fault of the entire team, not just the goaltenders.

Who would have thought Justin Kirkland would be one of the more effective forwards on the Flames? But he has been just that. He’s put up 5 points in 9 games, good for a 46-point pace over 82 games. The Flames have outscored their opposition 6-2 and high danger chances are 19-14 with Kirkland on the ice at 5-on-5.

There is no denying that Zary has been the Flames best and most consistent forward this season. He’s tied for first in points among forwards with 7. But it’s not the numbers that makes him so impressive. It’s the eye test. Night in, night out, Zary is the Flames most dangerous and creative forward on the ice. The puck follows him around ice in a similar manner to Johnny Gaudreau during his time with the Flames. It’s fun to watch.

Rasmus Andersson and Kevin Bahl have established themselves as the first pair. But the Flames haven’t found a consistent second pair. We know MacKenzie Weegar is going to be there. But we don’t know who he’s going to play with.

The Flames need to figure that out. Daniil Miromanov is not the guy. He does not look like a top four defenseman. Tyson Barrie certainly isn’t that guy.

It’s good to see Brayden Pachal get a chance. And I wouldn’t mind seeing Jake Bean get a look on the left side. But the answer is most likely going to come outside the Flames locker room in the AHL or somewhere else in the NHL.

(I wrote this before yesterday’s news but it remains relevant)

Honzek put on a show in training camp. He deserved to make the NHL roster. But it’s time to send him to the AHL where he can properly develop as a player. He’s only 19 years old and is coming off an injury riddled season in the WHL.

Honzek does not look ready for full time duty in the NHL. He is the only Flames player to have played at least five games and not record a point. Send him down and let him play a ton of high leverage minutes with the Wranglers.

I don’t like making declarations about a player after 7 or 8 games. But it looks like center is not the position where Martin Pospisil should be playing long term.

What does Pospisil do best on the ice? It’s forechecking, physicality, getting under opponents skin, and taking the puck to the net. The best place for Pospisil to take advantage of his skillset is on the wing.

The lack of success on the power play and penalty kill is a major reason why the Flames are struggling so much.

The penalty kill has been one of the best elements of the Flames over the last three seasons. From 2021-22 – 2023-24 the Flames had the 4th best PK in the NHL. This season it’s 27th. It has to get better.

The power play was running at 28.6% in the first four games of the season. It’s gone 1-17 since. If the Flames are going to succeed, special teams are going to have to play a massive part of that.