Did the Flames need to address secondary scoring at the deadline?

Although Twitter feeds were flooded with reports of the Calgary Flames fishing for top-six forwards for weeks, they landed zilch by the time the trade deadline passed. Aside from shuffling the defense corps, the Flames made no splashes where everybody thought they might. Rumours and suggestions swirled about seeking Ilya Kovalchuk, Kyle Palmieri, Kasperi Kapanen, Chris Kreider, Wayne Simmonds, Vincent Trochek and so on, but nothing materialized.

In Calgary, responses to general manager Brad Treliving’s inertia up front were decidedly mixed; some were appalled, some were relieved, some were surprised, some were unfazed. Now, the Flames definitely pursued some of these assets, maybe missing some by mere hairs, but Treliving made it glassy clear that he would not stoop to the wrong price for any of them. As a result, while there were no whopping additions for the Flames, there were no sizeable losses either. The question for staff and fans alike to ask themselves, however, is whether the lack of risk was worth it.

There’s no airtight answer to this question. Obviously, the pedigree (and right-handedness) of someone like Kovalchuk, Simmonds, Palmieri, or Trochek would have been useful for a Flames lineup starved for scoring. Add the dangerous wheels on Kreider or Kapanen to the fantasy, and the boost in production that any of these forwards could have brought to the Flames is undeniable.

But did the Flames necessarily need to shave their roster, dump their picks or part with prospects for the secondary scoring they covet? A month ago, the answer to that was a resounding yes. At the mid-season mark, nobody not named Elias was consistently impressing with their output. As of late, however, the tide has possibly shifted, and glimmers of sufficient secondary scoring have stemmed from within the current core.

In recent games, the Flames’ second line of Matthew Tkachuk, Mikael Backlund, and Andrew Mangiapane has outshone the first unit. The latter two players especially are absolutely ablaze, respectively playing their best hockey of the entire season. In the last few weeks, both Backlund and Mangiapane have lit the lamp at such a fast clip it looks like a strobelight, adding a surprise incandescent chapter to the narratives of their season.

The streaks have been noticeable, but they could’ve been just that: streaks. No matter how hot, can either of them be realistically expected to replace that dream import scorer rippling in fans’ minds for the last two months?

Regarding Backlund, his resurgence has been sudden and sensational. The Swedish pivot has notched 18 points in his last 10 games, reviving a season that had been all but dead. Projected at the midway mark to post his worst (full) statistical season ever with only 36 total points, he’s now passed that with 41 points and 17 games left to play on the schedule. Even if his current rate falters, Backlund could finish the season flaunting one of the best outputs of his career. Since his recent scorching stretch has included 9 goals in his last 9 games, it has also been anything but silent. While hordes of fans shrieked for a top-six producer leading up to the deadline, Backlund became just that, while simultaneously staking a claim as the boost the Flames needed. Plus, when he secured the win against Boston on Tuesday, he hinted that he could do it alone.

Luckily, even if Backlund stumbles again and reverts to the unremarkable, there’s more newfound top-six effectiveness on his left side. Mangiapane has been the talk of Cowtown for nearly two weeks now, ever since he exploded against Anaheim for his first career hat-trick. Since then, he’s added another multi-goal performance and rightfully received the prestige of being named the NHL Third Star of the Week. 10 points in his last 9 games bodes very nicely overall for the sophomore winger, shining a spotlight on his potential as an adept and dangerous offensive threat on the Flames second line. If Mangiapane gradually grows into a reliable 20-25 goal scorer that pushes (or hey, surpasses) 50 points every season, the Flames might already have the top-six secondary scorer the city seeks.

All unchecked optimism aside, these are extremely recent trends. The last two weeks cannot erase the first four and a half months of the season, where neither of these players remotely posed solutions to the team’s scoring woes. Their surges, however, have seemingly solidified their belonging in the top-six of a team that had been tirelessly shopping to fill their roles. The Flames second line has not only managed without a boost around the deadline, but they’ve excelled. Yet all hot streaks eventually freeze, and depending how far these two fall, failing to acquire another forward could prove a deadly decision. Only time will tell, and the only certainty is that the Flames top-six is etched in stone for the remainder of the season. If the team is truly gunning for a playoff run, one must hope that it’s enough.