FlamesNation Mailbag: the final mailbag of 2021

It’s the final week of 2021! As such, it’s the last time we’ll dive into the mailbag for this calendar year!

Let’s check out the questions!

If you look at the components of his game, Dillon Dube should be more of a needle-mover than he has been. He’s fast. He’s got a great shot. He’s a good forechecker. He can play with an edge.

But the issue so far is that he hasn’t been able to turn his north-south speed and shooting into more east-west speed or puck distribution. He’s able to hit the zone with speed, but he’s not quite able right now to make passes at speed, and him slowing to process the zone allows the opponents to isolate him a bit.

The other X-factor is his linemates: he plays with Sean Monahan more than anybody else, and Monahan is arguably the unluckiest player on the team in terms of shot metrics. Given enough time, Dube and Monahan’s metrics will normalize but they still need to improve, and a good deal of that may be Dube figuring out a middle ground between going full tilt and slowing down to process. If he can find that middle ground, he should get back on track.

Assuming they play on Thursday in Seattle, I would assume Darryl Sutter really leans into using four lines. The team will have had a few practices, but getting their game rhythm back will be important and making sure that everybody gets into the game will be key. Oh, and staying out of the penalty box: when the Flames get into penalty trouble, they basically park a third of their team on the bench and given the circumstances it would be difficult to get that momentum back.

If Johnny Gaudreau or Andrew Mangiapane are able to be difference-makers, the Flames should be in good shape.

For those unaware, Scotiabank Arena (in Toronto, Canada’s biggest city and hosts the Leafs and Raptors) signed an arena naming deal in 2017 that spans 20 years and pays the Leafs $40 million per year. Next week, the operators of the former Staples Center (which hosts the Kings, Clippers, Lakers and Sparks in America’s second-biggest city) begin a 20 year deal that pays them $35 million per year.

Arena naming deals are usually a proxy for market size and the prominence of the teams in the building. The Saddledome hosts one big four league team (the Flames) and some good secondary teams, but nothing close to what they see in Toronto or Los Angeles. The new arena deal anticipates a modest naming rights package because the current naming rights package is fairly modest – reportedly around $1 million per season – and that’s primarily based on market size.

As written, the taxi squad rules say that Adam Werner and Dustin Wolf aren’t eligible for the taxi squad because they’re both waiver exempt. Tyler Parsons is injured. So that leaves the Flames with no goalies who are eligible to be on the taxi squad, so either they roll with no goalie on the taxi squad or they’ll need to sign somebody for the gig.

“In life, there are so many moments to celebrate, I don’t want to waste a great moment on a bad drink. That’s why I choose Deuce Vodka.” – Brett Kissel. Click here to find Deuce Vodka in a store near you.