The Calgary Flames top two defence pairings have been pretty consistent for the majority of the season. That group consists of Kevin Ball, Rasmus Andersson, MacKenzie Weegar and Daniil Miromanov.

Brayden Pachal has been a mainstay on the right side of the third pair. But he seems to be playing with a new partner almost every game.

Flames head coach Ryan Huska has rotated Tyson Barrie, Jake Bean, and Joel Hanley as the sixth defenceman all season.

Now that we are past the quarter mark of the season, I thought it would be interesting to see who has been the best fit on the Flames third pair.

Let’s take a look at some numbers and add in what I’m seeing from an eye test perspective and see if we can come up with who is the best fit with Pachal.

Stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick

Pachal and Bean have played the most minutes together at 5-on-5 this season as the third pair at 112:01. And they have been pretty effective during their time together. Based off their numbers, they’re actually the most effective pair on the team. I know the top two pairs face a much high quality of competition, but it’s interesting to note nevertheless.

As you can see, the Flames are a very good team at 5-on-5 when Pachal and Bean are on the ice together. They outscore, outshoot, and out chance their opposition by a wide margin. The most impressive number being how the Flames control 57.45% of the high danger chances when they’re on the ice.

My eye test backs up what you see from the numbers. Pachal and Bean seem like a very good fit stylistically. Pachal is the stay at home, physical, shut down defenceman. And Bean is more of an offensively inclined player who can take advantage of his skating and skill because he knows Pachal is going to be there to back him up.

They seem to work well off each other. They don’t make many mistakes. I think you have to really like what you’ve seen from those two together in their 112 minutes.

The Flames signed Barrie primarily to be a puck mover at 5-on-5 and play on the second power play unit. He’s not necessarily here to play every night and be relied upon as a shut down defenceman.

But Barrie has fared well in his limited minutes this season. He’s only played in nine games, but he has a goal, an assist, and some of the best underlying numbers among defensemen. He leads Flames defenders in expected goals percentage (xGF%), scoring chance percentage (SCF%) and high danger percentage (HDCF%).

Barrie’s numbers are pretty solid with Pachal as well.

Similar to Bean, Barrie has more of an offensive skillset that he can take advantage of when playing with a defensive minded player in Pachal.

They seem like a decent pairing from an eye test standpoint. When I watch them I don’t notice a ton of glaring mistakes. The one negative is that it looks like Barrie is a step behind the play sometimes. He’s just not the dynamic skater he once was in his days with the Colorado Avalanche.

They make a half decent third pair, but not quite as good as Bean and Pachal.

There isn’t much to go off of when evaluating Hanley and Pachal. They’ve only played 46:55 together at 5-on-5. Hanley has only suited up for 5 games this season.

But they have played together the last three games against Detroit, Ottawa, and Minnesota which helps.

Despite not playing much, Hanley has faired pretty well when he’s been in the lineup, especially with Pachal as his partner.

They’ve controlled 60.98% of the shots when on the ice at 5-on-5 which is impressive.

But the thing with Hanley is that you can see he isn’t as skilled or talented as guys like Bean and Barrie. There isn’t a lot of upside to his game. Hanley is one of those defensemen who if you don’t notice him, that means he’s playing well. The guy is a competitor, he works hand and blocks shots. But there is a reason he’s been a $7 or #8 at the NHL level for most of his career.

Based off the numbers and what we’ve watched this season, I think the best option for a third pair is Jake Bean and Brayden Pachal.

The one thing you notice when you watch these pairings and look at the numbers, is that the Flames depth defencemen have not been an issue this season whatsoever. They’ve actually been one of the bright spots.

Now it’s time to answer the question posed at the beginning of this article. Who is the best fit alongside Brayden Pachal?

In my option, it’s Jake Bean.

The Calgary Flames give themselves the best chance to win with Bean and Pachal as the third pair. They have the best chemistry. Bean is the best player among he, Barrie and Hanley.

Plus Bean is a guy the Flames might be able to grow with. He’s only 26 years old, a former first round pick, and is signed for another year. I would like to see Bean and Pachal get a long look together as the third pair moving forward. It’s unfortunate for the coaching staff  to healthy scratch good pros like Hanley and Barrie, but the Flames have the potential to builds some continuity among their defence pairs like they did in the 2021-22 season. This isn’t going to be much of a difference making decision no matter which way Huska goes about it, but in an ultra competitive league like the NHL, every little bit helps when it comes to winning hockey games.