Post by Calgary Flames on Apr 16, 2023 10:10:46 GMT -6
The postseason is beginning, but the Flames will sadly not be taking part as they fell short of the last wildcard spot despite a good run of form for the final month and a half of the season. In the end, the mid-season swoon was too much to overcome in a very tough Pacific division. Here is a look at what went well, what went wrong, and a look towards next season.
The Positives
1. The defense lead by Dahlin and Heiskanen was very solid. Dahlin was one of the top scoring defenseman with 27 goals and more than a point per game. Heiskanen was also very solid offensively while munching some tough minutes. The acquisition of Mikael Sergachev really solidified the second pairing with Timmins.
2. The acquisition of Alex Debrincat provided the team with the elite scorer they were lacking. In 32 games the diminutive forward had 19 goals and 22 assists. That would put him on a a 49-56-105 pace which is outstanding. The Flames late season turnaround clearly had a lot with the acquisition of Debrincat.
3. Darcy Kuemper split a lot of time with Robin Lehner but once Lehner departed Kuemper seemed to be a new man finishing the season 7th in the league with a SV% of 0.902.
4. The team actually had pretty balanced scoring despite GM Sean McAndrews whining about the matter earlier in the season. The team ended up with seven 20 goal scorers which is the entire top 6 plus Dahlin. Heiskanen added 15 from the back end as well. It seems like a league wide problem that the bottom 6 does not produce much so really Sean McAndrews should think twice before whining like a bitch next time.
The Negatives
1. The Flames were just not good enough against their Pacific rivals. If they played their biggest rivals even at a 0.500 clip they would likely be in the post season.
2. The team struggled to find chemistry until the acquisition of Debrincat with a bit of a whole on the wing on the second line. Lindholm really took off once he was paired with Debrincat and Monahan maintained his PPG pace anchoring the second line but it was too little too late.
3. The Flames had 10 overtime losses which was more than every playoff team other than the Islanders. If they won half of those they are right there for a playoff spot. The Flames played a very high number of OT games, especially earlier in the season
Looking Ahead
There are a lot of reasons for optimism going into next season despite finishing tied for 9th in the conference this year.
1. Obviously a full season of Debrincat and a top 6 of Debrincat/Lindholm/Nylander and Kane/Monahan/Maltsev should yield stronger results over a longer time frame.
2. A very strong defensive group was the engine of this team all season and there is no reason to believe it won't remain so. Dahlin/Heiskanen Sergachev/Timmins Bear/Butcher will all be back with Butcher being the only member of the D Corps being over 25 so there should be room for improvement.
3. There is some highend farm talent that could force some roster decisions with Zadina and Texier likely to push for NHL roles while on the backend Brannstrom will certainly be pro ready and Juolevi could be too.
4. With over $7 million in cap space the Flames have the ability to bring in an impact player, likely a forward, to further improve the teams scoring punch.
5. Although not likely to improve the team immediately, the Flames have 9 draft picks, including 4 in the first two rounds to restock the pipeline.
The Offseason To-Do List
1. With potentially 8 pro-rostered defenseman GM Sean McAndrews may look to capitalize on that depth to bring in a forward or improve the team's futures as they look to build a sustainable winner.
2. Further improve the 2nd line wingers. Maltsev turned it up late in the season and Kane played well (except for a brief time in Florida) but one more top 6 winger would be a good fit. Maltsev is cheap but he did not perform well enough to warrant a full time spot unless he ups his game. As mentioned D depth or the free agent market could help solve this issue if GM Sean McAndrews has lost faith in Maltsev. Zadina could be an internal option here too.
3. Find another 1B goalie. Bobrovsky was not good enough and spent a good portion of the season in the AHL and despite Kuemper's strong finish to the year and overall solid performance the team could handle more competition in the crease and potentially a goalie of the future although with Dustin Wolf in the system they might already have that.
4. Add some affordable depth for expected departures. As mentioned, the Flames are not likely to put a large emphasis on the bottom 6 but they need a couple forwards and realistically it would be nice if they were 3rd line quality.
Whelp that is the season review and a look ahead. While it was a disappointing result to miss the playoffs, there is still a lot of reasons to look forward with optimism. The Flames are looking forward to the upcoming entry draft and would like to wish all of the teams in the playoffs the best of luck. Except for the Pacific Division. Those guys can go fuck themselves.....twice.
The Positives
1. The defense lead by Dahlin and Heiskanen was very solid. Dahlin was one of the top scoring defenseman with 27 goals and more than a point per game. Heiskanen was also very solid offensively while munching some tough minutes. The acquisition of Mikael Sergachev really solidified the second pairing with Timmins.
2. The acquisition of Alex Debrincat provided the team with the elite scorer they were lacking. In 32 games the diminutive forward had 19 goals and 22 assists. That would put him on a a 49-56-105 pace which is outstanding. The Flames late season turnaround clearly had a lot with the acquisition of Debrincat.
3. Darcy Kuemper split a lot of time with Robin Lehner but once Lehner departed Kuemper seemed to be a new man finishing the season 7th in the league with a SV% of 0.902.
4. The team actually had pretty balanced scoring despite GM Sean McAndrews whining about the matter earlier in the season. The team ended up with seven 20 goal scorers which is the entire top 6 plus Dahlin. Heiskanen added 15 from the back end as well. It seems like a league wide problem that the bottom 6 does not produce much so really Sean McAndrews should think twice before whining like a bitch next time.
The Negatives
1. The Flames were just not good enough against their Pacific rivals. If they played their biggest rivals even at a 0.500 clip they would likely be in the post season.
2. The team struggled to find chemistry until the acquisition of Debrincat with a bit of a whole on the wing on the second line. Lindholm really took off once he was paired with Debrincat and Monahan maintained his PPG pace anchoring the second line but it was too little too late.
3. The Flames had 10 overtime losses which was more than every playoff team other than the Islanders. If they won half of those they are right there for a playoff spot. The Flames played a very high number of OT games, especially earlier in the season
Looking Ahead
There are a lot of reasons for optimism going into next season despite finishing tied for 9th in the conference this year.
1. Obviously a full season of Debrincat and a top 6 of Debrincat/Lindholm/Nylander and Kane/Monahan/Maltsev should yield stronger results over a longer time frame.
2. A very strong defensive group was the engine of this team all season and there is no reason to believe it won't remain so. Dahlin/Heiskanen Sergachev/Timmins Bear/Butcher will all be back with Butcher being the only member of the D Corps being over 25 so there should be room for improvement.
3. There is some highend farm talent that could force some roster decisions with Zadina and Texier likely to push for NHL roles while on the backend Brannstrom will certainly be pro ready and Juolevi could be too.
4. With over $7 million in cap space the Flames have the ability to bring in an impact player, likely a forward, to further improve the teams scoring punch.
5. Although not likely to improve the team immediately, the Flames have 9 draft picks, including 4 in the first two rounds to restock the pipeline.
The Offseason To-Do List
1. With potentially 8 pro-rostered defenseman GM Sean McAndrews may look to capitalize on that depth to bring in a forward or improve the team's futures as they look to build a sustainable winner.
2. Further improve the 2nd line wingers. Maltsev turned it up late in the season and Kane played well (except for a brief time in Florida) but one more top 6 winger would be a good fit. Maltsev is cheap but he did not perform well enough to warrant a full time spot unless he ups his game. As mentioned D depth or the free agent market could help solve this issue if GM Sean McAndrews has lost faith in Maltsev. Zadina could be an internal option here too.
3. Find another 1B goalie. Bobrovsky was not good enough and spent a good portion of the season in the AHL and despite Kuemper's strong finish to the year and overall solid performance the team could handle more competition in the crease and potentially a goalie of the future although with Dustin Wolf in the system they might already have that.
4. Add some affordable depth for expected departures. As mentioned, the Flames are not likely to put a large emphasis on the bottom 6 but they need a couple forwards and realistically it would be nice if they were 3rd line quality.
Whelp that is the season review and a look ahead. While it was a disappointing result to miss the playoffs, there is still a lot of reasons to look forward with optimism. The Flames are looking forward to the upcoming entry draft and would like to wish all of the teams in the playoffs the best of luck. Except for the Pacific Division. Those guys can go fuck themselves.....twice.
