We are entering the first year of an official rebuild for the Calgary Flames for the first time since the 2013-14 season.

The previous year in the lockout shortened 2013 season, the Flames traded or moved on from their veteran core group of players that included Jarome Iginla, Miikka Kiprusoff, Jay Bouwmeester, Alex Tanguay, and Cory Sarich.

A situation that is very similar to the last 14 months the Flames just went through when they traded Tyler Toffoli, Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev, Nikita Zadorov, and Jacob Markstrom.

With that in mind, where do the 2024-25 Calgary Flames compare to the 2013-14 version of the club who was at the exact same spot as the current Flames team is today?

Record: 35-40-4

Goals For: 209

Goals Against: 241

I’m scratching my head looking at the Flames lineup wondering “how did this team not finish in dead last?”. This is the worst lineup the Flames have iced since the salary cap was introduced in 2005.

Jiri Hudler led the team in scoring with 54 points. In fact he was the only player to break the 50 point barrier.

Mike Cammalleri and Sean Monahan were the only two players to score more than 20 goals.

Mark Giordano and Jiri Hudler were the only players to put up more than 30 assists.

Some very bleak numbers to say the least. But this Flames team made up for the lack of skill and talent with work ethic, commitment to playing as a team and toughness.

Based off this roster on paper, Flames fans can expect the 2024-25 season to be a more entertaining, higher scoring one compared to the 2013-14 campaign. The forward group is significantly more skilled than their counterparts from 11 years ago.

Here are some numbers to back up my claim based off Flame player goal, assist and point totals from last season.

The Flames had five 50-point scorers in the 2023-24 season including Nazem Kadri who put up 75 points. Andrei Kuzmenko was on pace for 71 points during his time with the Flames.

The Flames had four 20 goal scorers. Add in Kuzmenko who was on pace for 40 goals during his time with the Flames and Anthony Mantha who scored 23 goals last season.

There were double the amount of players who put up 30 assists. Now add in Kuzmenko and Connor Zary who is entering his second season as a full time NHLer.

The defence in 2013-14 was better than the 2024-25 group. Mark Giordano was playing at a Norris Trophy level before he got injured. He and TJ Brodie were an excellent first pair. And Dennis Wideman and Kris Russell were a solid second pair. Better than Kevin Bahl and Daniil Miromanov. The 5/6 defencemen are a wash.

Goaltending between these two teams is pretty similar. There is/was a lot of inexperience. However, Dustin Wolf has the most upside out of all the goalies on the roster both then and now.

Looking back on it, the 2013-14 Flames were a tough watch on a lot of nights. They were not the most talented collection of players and they did not play an entertaining style of play. But you have to respect the work ethic and togetherness of that group of players. Without that, they would have been battling for 30th in the NHL.

The 2024-25 Flames are at the beginning stage of a rebuild,  but the team should be pretty entertaining. They are significantly more talented than the 13-14 team. If they play as a team, and buy into what Ryan Huska is preaching, then this group might surprise some people. And I don’t mean that they’ll make the playoffs. But they could be in the conversation for the playoffs until the trade deadline when they will likely have to move on from the likes of Kuzmenko and Mantha. After that things will fall off like they did last year.

But with a decent start to the season, and some productive years from their talented forwards, the Flames might not be quite as bad as many think they will be.

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