Is there any room for Andrew Mangiapane on the Flames right now?

The bottom six isn’t scoring. But you know who is? Andrew Mangiapane.

Mangiapane, currently with six goals and 16 points over 12 games for the Stockton Heat, is the Flames’ farm team’s leading scorer – and third overall in the AHL. He may have relinquished his top status since being named the Player of the Month for October, but his 1.33 points per game is still one of the best rates among regular AHLers so far this season.

And the Flames could very easily open up a spot for him. Freddie Hamilton cleared waivers a week ago; while still up with the big club, the Flames could send him down at any time within the next three weeks and change, thereby opening a spot for Mangiapane. It’s pretty much the only avenue they have, unless they want to re-demote Mark Jankowski (probably not) or send Matthew Tkachuk to the AHL (why???).

That poses a problem with any potential Mangiapane recall: if it isn’t to replace an injured player, who is he filling in for?

Hamilton is a press box regular. If the idea in calling up Mangiapane – an idea that seems to have some traction, at least outside of the front office – is to inject some scoring life into the bottom end of the lineup, then someone else would have to come out and sit. More specifically, a winger would have to draw out of the lineup, seeing as how Mangiapane is not a centre.

Sam Bennett is the only winger without a single point so far this season. In theory, swapping him out for Mangiapane could make sense: they’re both lefties, and Mangiapane would be reunited with Jankowski. Whether they can get scoring in the NHL like they were in the AHL is another matter entirely – definitely not at the same rate, as they wouldn’t be/aren’t top line players in Calgary – but if you’re desperate to see something happen, it’s possible this could make it so.

And if you’re of the idea that the Flames need to sit Bennett for a game, then it works. Therein lies the problem, though: Bennett won’t be sitting for long. He’s already an asset depreciating in value; you make him a consistent healthy scratch, and that’s pretty much it. If there’s one thing the Flames absolutely cannot afford to do, it’s that.

Jaromir Jagr only works as a sitting option if he ends up injured again which, considering the care he and the team took in ensuring he would be healthy for his return, hopefully won’t happen again.

That leaves Kris Versteeg and Troy Brouwer: two forwards who have gotten powerplay time, the former more consistently (and with more points to show for it). Versteeg’s contract makes him much more scratch-able than Brouwer’s – shorter term, fewer dollars – but would you really try to sit Versteeg for Mangiapane to play?

As exciting as the prospect of Mangiapane playing in the NHL sooner rather than later is, there just doesn’t seem to be a fit, unless somebody else gets injured. Then, it may be time to see what he can do – but unless that happens, it seems as though it may be a forced move, and one that isn’t guaranteed to lead to any success, at that.