FlamesNation mailbag: let’s do that hockey

Actual hockey. On Thursday. Still just a bit more waiting to do. Then we can do that hockey.

From the coach’s perspective, I think their issue with Austin Czarnik is two-fold. Primarily, the lack of production versus the promise he’s shown at times (understandably) makes them hesitant to play him much. They want a player who they know can contribute in key situations, not a guy who did that once a few games ago. Building off that, if he’s not scoring goals, he’s not doing much else, so there’s not a whole lot of other use for him.

To criticize this logic, I’m not sure how they can bemoan a player for not taking advantage of his opportunities when they deny him said opportunities. I don’t think Czarnik is second line minutes away from being a 50 point player, but sitting him for over a quarter of the season and then limiting his minutes in the games he does play is counterproductive to the goal of getting him going. He’s shown that he can be a handy player, so let him be handy. He can’t do that from the bench.

From an org perspective, the potential waiving and demotion of Czarnik is related to staying under the cap. He’s a player who will likely pass through waivers and save the Flames some cap room. No hard feelings, they just need the cash.

Even as a huge fan of Dillon Dube, I think he had an extremely rough preseason. Bill Peters openly criticized his play this pre-season, and I can’t find a reason to disagree with the coach. He didn’t show well against other NHLers, and didn’t decisively make his mark on the roster.

Even though he’s the most NHL ready Flames prospect, there’s still a lot of work to be done before he hits his full potential, and I think that was apparent this preseason. Maybe a bit more time in Stockton is what he needs to become that, or maybe he needs a lighter assignment to help ease him into the NHL (Derek Ryan has been very good with that), but it’s still certainly a bit too early to think of him as an NHL regular, much less a top sixer.

I think it’s his spot should he be up for the challenge. Michael Frolik is on his way out at the end of the year (if he’s even on the Flames by July) and Sam Bennett is not. With no other wingers looking entirely ready for a top six promotion, the Flames should absolutely give Bennett an extended look. You can free up Frolik to do good work on other lines (Mangiapane-Ryan-Frolik sounds solid) and try and unlock Bennett’s offensive gifts while he’s still on a very team friendly contract. He put up the best numbers of his career on the second line with Mikael Backlund way back in 2015-16, so perhaps his experience since then and the presence of Matthew Tkachuk could be just what he needs to get over that 30 point hump.

The “should he be up for the challenge” part is doing the heavy lifting in that first sentence, however. We shouldn’t let Bennett’s good pre-season act as an indication that he’s turned the corner, and we also shouldn’t think that another year older means he’ll be better, because we’ve all been fooled on both counts before. Bennett has shown that he’s better than the bottom six at times, but he’s had just as many moments where he’s shown that’s where he belongs. Better linemates might improve his scoring numbers, but they can’t fix his flaws.

If he can maintain that preseason level of play well into the regular season and find some consistency, then everyone’s happy. But we should always remember that Bennett should get a top six job on the basis of him being a better player, not because better linemates can carry him more easily.

I though Milan Lucic was just alright. I’ll admit that I had a very low bar for him in the preseason, but he did clear it, and with a bit of space too. Mentally, I think he’s a bit sharper than people expect. Lucic was generally where he needed to be on the ice, and knew what he needed to do there. He can be effective in front of the net, surprisingly decent at generating high danger chances on the power play (sorry, M(il)an Advantage). Defensively, he’s smarter and more committed, which is a leg up on the person he’s replacing.

The issue is that Lucic isn’t physically able to keep up with the rest of the game. As expected, he’s slow, not particularly agile, and doesn’t really have slick hands. Oddly enough, I felt his play with the puck was the major downside. I found that opponents could knock the puck off his stick pretty easily (he’s not great at using his big body to defend against that, for whatever reason) and that he really couldn’t recover from it. He was never the guy to drive play up ice or carry the puck in, and he rarely did much in the offensive zone at 5v5 besides stand there.

In short, Lucic’s mind can keep up with the play, but his body can’t, and that’s going to be a major issue in the regular season. I think the Flames have ideas about how to manage that (playing him in the most stationary role on the power play, for example), but they’ll likely always be at a disadvantage when he’s on the ice.

They just like signing NHL capable tough guys. We’ve done this dance before with Tanner Glass, Luke Gazdic, and Anthony Peluso in recent years. As always, the story should play out the same: they will play 10 total minutes of NHL hockey in one or two rivalry games that promise violence and then stay in Stockton for the entire season.

The answer to the bigger why of “why do they keep doing this” is unknown to me. None of those players made a major on-ice impact in Stockton, so it’s not as if these signings can be justified that way. The off-ice impact of veteran leadership might have some value to the club, though there’s no real results to point to as evidence that doing this is a good idea. Free depth is another reason, but the Flames make a few of those signings every year (Alan Quine, Justin Kirkland, Byron Froese) and they generally see more playing time in the NHL than those fighters.

So basically, they sign a guy who might get into a fight in one or two NHL games. That’s the only reason I can think of and it’s a pretty weak reason at that. Just call up Ryan Lomberg or something.