FlamesNation mailbag: waiting on restart news

Friends, we’re expecting to get more definitive information later this week about the return of NHL hockey. Not just scheduling and cap implications, but also things like COVID guidelines, contingency plans, and next steps.

As we wait, here’s the mailbag!

Honestly, they both have good shots. Phillips is a third year pro and while he’s not physically large, he’s whip-smart and really fast on the ice. He boasts strong situational awareness and can play wing or centre, though he’s awfully small to be a regular pivot at the NHL level. Presuming the Flames see forward injuries at some point, he’s got a 75% chance (or so) of getting NHL games in. He got called up last season but never dressed (as did Glenn Gawdin).

Ruzicka’s probably a little bit further away than Phillips, but he’s a second year pro who’s big and smart and fast, but has been criticized during his junior days for a lack of consistency. Part of the idea of him coming to Phase 3 camp in July was seeing how NHL regulars prepare and compete on a daily basis and get him to bring that to his game – they did something similar with Rasmus Andersson early in his pro career and the approach seemed to work. He’s a bit more of a long-shot for games in 2020-21 since he’s not as far along as Phillips in his development, so let’s say 50%.

Let’s go west to east:

I’m interpreting this literally, so in two years we’d be two months into the 2022-23 season. Here’s a whole lot of guesswork:

Tkachuk – Lindholm – Mangiapane
Dube – Monahan – Pelletier
Zary – Backlund – Pettersen
Lucic – Gawdin – Phillips

Valimaki – Andersson
Mackey – Kinnvall
Giordano – Tanev

Markstrom
Wolf

For the forwards: I assume Gaudreau is elsewhere in the NHL, but Monahan is retained. I don’t love the forward group only because it’s heavy on smallish guys – hey there Pelletier, Pettersen and Phillips – so likely that gets beefed up a little bit. But I like the concept of Backlund mentoring someone like Pelletier (or Pettersen or Zary) in their early NHL years.

For the blueline: I assume Hanifin is elsewhere. Kinnvall in the top four is a gamble – if Hanifin doesn’t get moved an alternate top four could be Hanifin-Andersson and Mackey-Valimaki – but I like the veteran third pairing, presuming Giordano takes a hometown discount. (If not, that’s a lot of money for a shutdown pair in their 30s.)

Goaltending is guesswork, as Zagidulin could easily slide in as a backup if Wolf isn’t ready yet. If nothing else, they might try to go cheap for that spot and use the cap savings elsewhere.

If Dustin Wolf backs up Jacob Markstrom somehow in 2020-21, his entry-level deal won’t slide and his cap hit will be $815,833.

if he backs up Markstrom in any of the following three seasons (and presuming his ELC ends up sliding for 2020-21), his cap hit is reduced to $789,167 because of changes in how his signing bonus impacts his annual cap hit.