Flames moves aimed to add versatility and flexibility

As the signings rolled in on Canada Day, fans and media types alike busted out their notepads to sketch out how the Calgary Flames might look in the 2018-19 season. The top line definitely features Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. On their right side? It could be Elias Lindholm, though he could fit in up the middle on another line. Might new head coach Bill Peters split up the 3M Line, which is a season removed from being a lights-out trio?

Undoubtedly, anybody putting together forward lines has probably crossed out a few names and moved them around several times – and that was the whole point of the last few weeks. Giving his coaching staff options was the goal for Brad Treliving and his hockey ops staff as they wheeled and dealed.

“As we go through this Bill and I spent a lot of time together and talked about ‘if this happens’ or ‘if that happens,'” said Treliving as he spoke to the assembled media on Sunday afternoon. “I see a different lineup every 10 minutes. I see different power play units. I see different penalty killing units. One move is not done in isolation and say ‘okay, let’s go grab that guy.’ You have to blend it out and see where does he fit and how do you distribute the minutes, who’s playing where on the power play unit. And I think right now, there’s flexibility.”

The bottom six group, in particular, is a bit cloudy – as if designed that way. Is Derek Ryan the third line center? If so, where does Mark Jankowski go? Names like Sam Bennett, Troy Brouwer, Curtis Lazar, Austin Czarnik and Garnet Hathaway also factor in. When you ask yourself “who has a guaranteed, cemented job?” the answer is probably fewer than you think. That hopefully translates into a competitive training camp, particularly with several hungry players from Stockton pushing from below for jobs.

“We wanted to build depth,” said Treliving. “We think we have some players in Stockton, we saw a bunch of them last year – Jankowski and Hathaway came up and stayed – there’s a handful of guys that came up and had a little bit of a taste. Mangiapane, Foo, Lomberg, Klimchuk and there’s others. We can never have too much depth. It’s got to be a competitive environment, and it’s got to be one where the best stays.”

If you were the type of person who pondered to yourself “Hey, why is Brouwer playing on both sides of special teams?” during games then this free agency period was for you, because the likely answer from the Flames hockey staff last season probably boiled down to “Well, who else was there?” Treliving repeated his line from the end of the season, where he noted that the club “relied upon too few to do too much.” The Flames now have many, many more options in every game situation than just putting the Brouwers of the team out on the ice by default.

That said, having the options is only half the battle. It’s up to the new coaching staff to deploy those options in a way that maximizes the team’s results.

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