Ryan, what are your predictions for the season the Gridin, Frost, Coronato line will have this season? Thanks!
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Monday Mailbag: Celebrating Labour Day by discussing Flames lines, scoring and PTOs
Welcome to September, friends! In a week, the Calgary Flames’ prospects will be playing against the Edmonton Oilers’ prospects at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
As we begin to ramp up for the season, it’s a busy week with questions from readers in the mailbag! Let’s dive in!
My suspicion is that – in part due to the shortened pre-season – the Flames will start the season with pretty similar forward lines as they had to end last season, so I would be surprised if we don’t see Matvei Gridin, Morgan Frost and Matt Coronato start the regular season together. They had great chemistry offensively at the end of last season and trying them out again makes a lot of sense, especially for an offensively-starved Flames team.
My bold prediction: the three players will average about 20 goals between them this season.
Might be a bit early to comment but one thing some were frustrated with Huska with last year was his constant line switching. Do you see him using more consistent combinations this season?
Yes and no.
Yes, in that I think the Flames start with similar lines as last season. And because I think there are some players who seem to have very specific roles – I suspect we see a lot of Sam Honzek and Joel Farabee with Mikael Backlund, for example.
But no, I also think that if some lines aren’t working for whatever reason, Ryan Huska won’t hesitate to churn things around a bit to get lines going. Heck, I suspect a good chunk of this season will be spent experimenting and trying to figure out the quirks of a lot of the club’s youngest players.
do the Flames score more goals or fewer goals this year? (212 last yr)
Flames finish bottom 3 in scoring and bottom 3 in the standings . Agree or disagree?
I think the Flames score around as much this season as they did last season. They’ll be within 15 goals of last season’s output.
That said, they’ll probably be better defensively, which could endanger a potential bottom-three finish in the standings.
Could these PTO signings like Alex Nylander be mutual deals between player and team to give each party some flexibility on commitment? Like the player’s agent can still in the hunt for overseas deals for his client?
I don’t understand why nylander would be given a pto. Who will be left out if he makes it?
First and foremost, don’t expect the Flames to have too many PTOs in camp, at least based on Eric Francis’ recent column written after a chat with Craig Conroy.
In terms of Alex Nylander himself: he was a really effective AHL scorer on a Toronto Marlies team that won the Calder Cup. He’s likely in camp (a) to give him a bit of an opportunity to audition for a NHL role, in Calgary or elsewhere, (b) to provide more internal competition for the Flames and Wranglers’ bubble forwards, and (c) to potentially give the Flames a bit of additional organizational depth, if he’s signed, and to potentially bolster an AHL group that struggled to score a year ago.
How do you think the shortened preseason will affect battles for roster spots? Do you think management/coaching will have to rely more on what they see in practices?
Yes, the shortened pre-season will definitely put more of an emphasis on practices in terms of making roster decisions. Heck, the Sept. 14 prospects game against Edmonton suddenly becomes a bit important, too.
With Huberdeau potentially out with injuries, who do do see wearing the A as a replacement? Also would the Flames bring back the Atlanta As symbol for assistants.
Can the Flames actually trade Johnathan Huberdeau? & what could a return look like for Huberdeau?
I don’t think Jonathan Huberdeau ever leaves the Flames unless he really wants to leave the Flames. Between his cap hit, the length of his contract, and his current injury recovery, it probably wouldn’t even become much of an option for a few more seasons anyhow.
If Huberdeau isn’t ready for Game 1, I suspect the Flames just rotate the alternate captain’s A between folks like Joel Farabee, Kevin Bahl and Zach Whitecloud until Huberdeau returns.
Happy Labour Day, Ryan. Speaking of labour issues, what do you think Zeev Buium’s new contract will mean for Parekh? Or farther down the road, Carels? Will the Flames be paying big dough for youngsters who haven’t fully proved themselves?
Oh, Zeev Buium’s deal definitely has an impact. I would argue that the more relevant comparator contract is Simon Nemec’s, though, in terms of similar career arcs and the Flames’ internal salary structure going forward.
Hi Ryan! What do lines look like for the wranglers to start the year?
My guesswork Wranglers lines, assuming that the Flames roll with 13 forwards, 8 defencemen and two goalies, and one of Sam Morton and Tyson Gross start the year in the NHL in Jonathan Huberdeau’s roster spot…
Hunt – Kerins – Stromgren
Castagna – Morton/Gross – Suniev
Basha – Jones – Philp
Gallant/Boulton – Dineen – Wilkie
Castagna – Morton/Gross – Suniev
Basha – Jones – Philp
Gallant/Boulton – Dineen – Wilkie
Englund – Brzustewicz
Wiebe – Benning
Hurtig – Livingstone
Wiebe – Benning
Hurtig – Livingstone
Sergeev
Zarubin
Zarubin
Ryan. If Wolf doesn’t perform to the level expected this year, what to do with him? I think he has potential but he still doesn’t give me the warm and fuzzy. Maybe it’s the team in front of him but ………. I’m very skeptical.
I think the Flames should be, and probably are, taking a long-term view with Dustin Wolf. He’s played two full NHL seasons. He’s still becoming the goalie the Flames hope he’s going to be when they’re a contender, so they’re trying to make smart moves to help build him up into that goaltender. A lot of his dip in numbers last season was because the team was prone to big mistakes in front of him. Let’s see how he looks in front of a more mature and structured defensive group before we make any rash judgments.
Would you rather wear an Edmonton Oilers jersey in Calgary colours or a Calgary Flames jersey in Edmonton's colours?
If those are the choices, I would argue that Flames colours would probably look kinda good if applied to the Oilers jersey template. Orange and blue would look pretty weird in a Flames template.
What are the chances Atlanta and/or Houston get expansion NHL teams?
With the benefit of zero inside information: Houston (or Austin) feels like a guarantee (100%) and Atlanta feels more like a strong chance (70%).
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Calgary FlamesTeam Cap Summary
Cap Summary
2026-27
2027-28
Projected Cap Hit
$89,116,666
$70,041,666
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$14,883,334
$43,458,334
Current Cap Space
$14,883,334
$43,458,334
Active Players
22/23
16/23
Draft Picks
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'27
1
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2
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