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Flames Looking To Add To Their Offensive Core

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Throughout the 2023-24 NHL seasons, the Calgary Flames went through a re-tooling year, selling off Noah Hanifin, Elias Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov, and Chris Tanev before they eventually made it to unrestricted free agency this summer. However, rumors are beginning to arise indicating that the Flames may be going for a change of course this offseason.

Nevertheless, Conroy and the Flames still have to deal with the future of goaltender Jacob Markstrom, who may be headed to the New Jersey Devils after talks with the two teams cooled off at this year’s trade deadline. With that being said, expect the Flames to be both buyers and sellers this offseason as Conroy looks to mold the team into his image moving forward.

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Evening Notes: Pospisil, Henrique, Hintz

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Calgary Flames general manager Craig Conroy shared that winger Martin Pospisil’s shoulder injury isn’t a long-term concern during the Flames Talk segment of Sportsnet 960 The Fan. Pospisil sustained the injury in Team Slovakia’s May 21st matchup against Team Sweden – Slovakia’s final game of the group stage. He’d miss the team’s quarter-finals matchup against Team Canada, a game that’d end in a 6-3 Canada victory and Slovakia’s elimination form the World Championship.

Pospisil was a force to be reckoned with during Worlds, posting three goals and seven points across seven tournament games. He added six penalty minutes – though that’s certainly not representative of the fast and heavy physical presence Pospisil brought to the tourney. It was his first time skating with Slovakia’s men’s team, after representing the team at the 2019 World Juniors and 2017 World U-18 Championships.

The World Championship was a continuation of Pospisil’s breakout season. He made his NHL debut and earned a defiant role on the Calgary Flames this season, recording 24 points and 109 penalty minutes through 63 games. It was just his third season in North American pros, having spent the last two years with Calgary’s AHL affiliate. Pospisil posted 35 points and 119 penalty minutes in 67 AHL games prior to this season – adding six points in six games with the Calgary Wranglers this year. With this injury not expected to linger beyond this summer, Pospisil should be set up to engrain his spot on the Flames lineup even more adamantly next season.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch described forward Adam Henrique as “98 per cent” to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link). Knoblauch added that it will be a bit more time before Henrique is fully ready to go, leaving his availability for the Western Conference Finals Game 2 up in the air. Henrique has missed Edmonton’s last six games with an ankle injury. He’s posted 11 points in 28 combined games with the Oilers since joining them at the Trade Deadline. With ample veteran experience, Henrique should be set to return to the lineup as soon as he’s ready – likely bumping Sam Carrick or Connor Brown out of a spot.
  • The Dallas Stars head coach Pete DeBoer described centerman Roope Hintz (upper-body) as a possibility for Game 2, per Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas News (Twitter link). Hintz joined the Stars practice on Friday, his first appearance since being injured in Game 4 of Dallas’ series against the Colorado Avalanche. Hintz will step immediately back into a top-six role when he’s ready to return, likely bumping Radek Faksa out of the lineup and returning a 65-point scorer to Dallas’ lineup amidst a tough Western Conference Finals matchup.

Nikita Okhotyuk Traded In The KHL

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  • A pair of young NHL players were traded recently in the KHL. CSKA announced that they traded the rights to Blues prospect Mikhail Abramov in exchange for Flames blueliner Nikita Okhotyuk.  Abramov picked up 14 goals and 22 assists in 59 games with AHL Springfield this season and has yet to play at the NHL level.  Okhotyuk, meanwhile, spent most of the season in San Jose before being acquired late in the season by Calgary; he notched nine points, 80 blocks, and 147 hits in 52 NHL games.  Both players are set to become restricted free agents in July.

Flames And Assistant Coach Marc Savard Mutually Part Ways

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After just one season behind the bench in Calgary, the Flames announced that they and assistant coach Marc Savard have mutually parted ways.  GM Craig Conroy released the following statement on the move:

We would like to thank Marc for his commitment last season and also for his professionalism during this process to arrive at today’s decision. We wish Marc success with his future endeavors in the game.

Savard joined Calgary last June, joining Ryan Huska’s staff after he was appointed as their new bench boss.  It was his first time being back behind an NHL bench since the 2019-20 season when he was with St. Louis.  In between that time, Savard spent two years as head coach with OHL Windsor which helped get him back on the NHL coaching radar.

Savard was responsible for running Calgary’s forward group and power play this season, units that didn’t exactly light it up.  The Flames scored seven fewer goals than 2022-23 while they had just a 17.7% success rate on the man advantage, good for 26th league-wide after being 18th the year before.  Of course, it bears mentioning that they moved out their two top point-getters from 2022-23 in Tyler Toffoli and Elias Lindholm which certainly wouldn’t have helped things.

Savard’s time with St. Louis is notable as there has been speculation that Toronto head coach Craig Berube would be interested in adding Savard to his staff.  That outcome is a lot easier to make happen now as a result of Savard parting ways with the Flames.

Afternoon Notes: Huhtanen, Lyle, Nečas

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have made the signing of forward prospect Niko Huuhtanen official, following reports of the signing yesterday. The three-year, entry-level deal will kick off next year and carries $57.5K in performance bonuses and $92.5K in signing bonuses each season, in addition to its $867.5K cap hit. Huuhtanen is currently playing with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, appearing in two games of the Calder Cup Playoffs but still searching for his first AHL point.

Huuhtanen played through his second full season in Finland’s Liiga this season, recording 19 goals and 46 points in 52 games. Tampa drafted Huuhtanen in the seventh round of the 2021 NHL Draft, selecting him out of Finland’s U20 league after he posted 20 goals and 34 points in 37 games. He moved to America in the following season – appearing in 65 games and recording 77 points with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips. But his juniors career was short-lived, and Huuhtanen returned back to Finland ahead of last season – posting 17 goals and 30 points in 48 games as a Liiga rookie.

Huuhtanen has scored at every level and served as a staple for Finland’s international teams for the last six seasons. He’s a hefty winger who sacrifices swift feet for strength. He doesn’t lack finesse, though, and knows how to use his strong frame to fight for space and become an option for teammates. From there, Huuhtanen’s shot is strong enough to make him dangerous anywhere in the offensive end. He’ll likely return to the AHL next season, though his strong performances against pro competition in the Liiga could help him rival the Lightning lineup soon.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Pending Calgary Flames free agent Brady Lyle has signed with HC Dynamo Minsk of the KHL. Lyle was previously a Group 6 free agent in the NHL, set to become an unrestricted-free agent if Calgary didn’t sign him by July 1st. He’ll now head to Russia, after posting 15 points in 47 games with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers this season. The scoring brought his career point totals up to 51 across 186 AHL games. With Lyle now headed to Russia, Calgary’s only remaining Group 6 free agent is centerman Benjamin Jones.
  • Carolina Hurricanes centerman Martin Nečas is joining Team Czechia for the remainder of the World Championship, reports Walt Ruff of NHL.com (Twitter link). Nečas’ NHL season ended with Carolina’s Game 6 defeat on Thursday. He contributed nine points in 11 playoff games – a boost in production after he managed just 53 points during the regular sesaon. This will be the first time that Nečas has played with Team Czechia since the 2019 World Juniors, when he posted four points in five games. He made his World Championship debut in 2018, with five points in seven games.

Offseason Checklist: Calgary Flames

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The offseason has arrived for three-quarters of the NHL for teams that either missed the playoffs or were eliminated in the first round. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Calgary.

Gone are the inconsistent yet high-ceiling Flames teams led by Johnny Gaudreau. After another underwhelming campaign, this time under first-year head coach Ryan Huska, Calgary failed to make the postseason in back-to-back years since 2013 and 2014. With rookie general manager Craig Conroy entering his second season at the helm, he has some work to do to continue his aggressive retooling of the club over the past few months and steer them back toward playoff contention in the coming years.

Make A Goaltending Decision

Is Dustin Wolf ready?

That’s likely the question that makes Conroy lose the most sleep this summer. His star goaltending prospect’s ascension from being selected 214th overall in 2019 is well-documented. After three incredible seasons with AHL Stockton and Calgary, compiling a 2.29 GAA, .926 SV% and 11 shutouts in 141 appearances, it’s clear the California native is ready for a longer look.

He got a longer look this year, though, and failed to truly confirm he’s ready for NHL duties. His numbers, while better than the older Daniel Vladař’s, were unimpressive, posting a .893 SV% in 15 starts and two relief appearances. It wasn’t due to poor team defense, either – his -10.1 goals saved above expected were nearly on par with Vladař’s -12.5, per MoneyPuck.

While he’s likely suited for a backup role, especially if Vladař is his only competition, that’s likely not the question Conroy grapples with. Starter Jacob Markström nearly ended up with the Devils at this year’s trade deadline in a rather public saga that involved him waiving his no-move clause only for a deal not to get done. The Devils, who didn’t make any longer-term moves to shore up their crease, will likely re-engage this summer. Even if it’s not New Jersey, Markström could still waive his NMC for someone else after expressing frustration with the way things played out prior to the deadline.

That would leave Wolf and Vladař, the latter of whom will be an unrestricted free agent in 2025, as the Flames’ goaltending tandem next season unless a goalie is added in return for Markström. It’s hard to imagine Wolf not getting the majority of the starts in that scenario, especially after Vladař’s poor showing this season, something Calgary should be cautious of rushing him into.

Solve The Huberdeau Enigma

A constant of the last two seasons in Calgary has been highly underwhelming play from winger Jonathan Huberdeau. After being acquired from the Panthers in the Matthew Tkachuk trade and signed to an eight-year, $84MM extension that kicked in this season, the NHL’s assist leader just two years ago has managed just 27 goals, 80 assists and 107 points in 160 games as a Flame. In his final season in Florida, the Canadian winger lit up the league with 85 assists and 115 points in just 80 games.

The dropoff has confused many. Most of his underlying metrics haven’t changed to explain the lack of production. A coaching change from Darryl Sutter in 2022-23 to Huska this season did nothing.

An NHL team is just that – a team, not an individual player. But at such a steep cap hit of $10.5MM through the end of the decade with a no-move clause, it’s worth having an organizational discussion about how Huska can implement systems that help Huberdeau get back to the point-per-game plateau. Whether it’s solely a systems change that unlocks Huberdeau or if Calgary makes some coaching staff alterations or targeted player acquisitions remains to be seen, but if they want to get back to playoff contention in the next few seasons, they simply need more out of him.

Reconstruct The Defense

Calgary got rid of half their blue-line regulars via trade this season, unloading Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev and Nikita Zadorov for a considerable combined haul. All were on expiring contracts.

While Conroy’s work was solid, making the trades was only half the battle. With depth defenders Dennis Gilbert, Oliver Kylington and Jordan Oesterle needing new contracts to avoid unrestricted free agency in July, he has some decisions to make about how much money he wants to invest in reshaping the Flames’ blue line next year.

Daniil Miromanov looked good after being picked up from the Golden Knights in the Hanifin deal, posting seven points in 20 games down the stretch as he logged over 21 minutes per game. He’s penciled in to replace one of the departed defenders, joining Rasmus Andersson and MacKenzie Weegar. That leaves Joel Hanley, Nikita Okhotyuk, Brayden Pachal, Ilya Solovyov, and any UFAs they choose to re-sign to compete for around four spots. It’s not the most inspiring group. Is it smart to make a play for a big name in free agency this summer? There is no shortage of intriguing names.

Don’t Strike Out On Draft Day

The Flames have done just okay in the past few seasons to acquire some high-ceiling talent without having top-10 picks, namely 2021 first-rounder Matthew Coronato. However, they’ll have a much better chance of landing a true impact prospect late next month, holding the ninth overall pick at the 2024 draft in Vegas.

If Kelowna Rockets winger Tij Iginla is still available, he’ll almost certainly be a Flame. The son of all-time Flames great Jarome, who’s now back with the team in a front-office role, is tabbed to go somewhere between sixth and 15th overall by most public rankings but is likely to go near the higher end of that range with nine goals in 11 WHL playoff games. He may not be available by the time Calgary picks.

A backup plan should involve a high-ceiling pick, either at forward or defense. Calgary’s prospect pool is fine – a number of names there likely have NHL futures – but it lacks any true blue-chip players outside of Coronato, who lit up the AHL for more than a point per game in his first professional season.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Flames CEO John Bean Stepping Down, Transitioning To Advisory Role

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Flames president and CEO John Bean is stepping down and transitioning into a senior advisory role, reports The Athletic’s Julian McKenzie. Bean will stay involved with the club, as well as the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers and WHL’s Calgary Hitmen, as they transition out of their collective home in the Scotiabank Saddledome to the Calgary Event Centre arena complex, with construction expected to begin later this year.

Bean, the father of Blue Jackets defenseman Jake Bean, technically holds the president and CEO role for the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC), which owns the Flames, Hitmen and Wranglers, as well as the Calgary Roughnecks of the National Lacrosse League and the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. He had been with CSEC since 2010, first as their senior vice president of finance and administration as well as their CFO. He was promoted to COO in 2013 before assuming the president title in 2018 and being named CEO one year later.

According to an internal memo Bean sent announcing his decision obtained by The Athletic, he informed CSEC ownership of his intentions to step down last year. His replacement, Robert Hayes, will begin work next month, per McKenzie. CSEC is also hiring Lorenzo DeCicco as their COO – neither he nor Hayes has experience in hockey management.

Similarly, Bean’s tenure as Flames president was his first time being affiliated with the management group of an NHL club. His tenure has overseen some rather tumultuous on-ice results for the Flames. They peaked with a 111-point campaign in 2021-22 that immediately resulted in leading scorer Johnny Gaudreau leaving for the Blue Jackets in free agency and star winger Matthew Tkachuk being flipped to the Panthers for Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar after he informed the team he wouldn’t sign long-term. Tkachuk’s eight-year, $76MM deal in Florida looks like a bargain early on, while Huberdeau has failed to eclipse 20 goals or 55 points in a season despite carrying a $10.5MM price tag annually.

CSEC’s big decision with Bean as CEO was parting ways with longtime Flames general manager Brad Treliving last summer, replacing him with internal promotion Craig Conroy at the helm of their hockey operations decisions along with Don Maloney. Under Bean, the organization also relocated its AHL affiliate from Stockton, California, back to Calgary in 2022.

Snapshots: Team Sweden, Bennett, Kuzmenko

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Team Sweden named their leadership group for the 2024 IIHF World Championship ahead of their opening game on Friday (Twitter link). Long-time Swedish star Erik Karlsson will serve as the team’s captain, flanked by Victor Hedman and Lucas Raymond as assistant captains.

Karlsson is taking on a significant leadership role in his first appearance with Sweden since the 2017 World Cup. And while he wore an ‘A’ with Sweden in that tournament, this news marks his first time wearing the ’C’ with his home country. Karlsson is no stranger to leadership, having served as the Ottawa Senators captain from 2014 to 2018. He’s also no secret to international hockey, with 23 points across 28 games with Sweden’s Men’s team, including appearances at the World Championship, World Cup, and Olympics.

Sweden won their first contest of the 2024 Worlds, beating Team USA 5-2 thanks to a three-point performance from Joel Eriksson Ek and 28 saves from Filip Gustavsson. They’ll look to maintain the confident start through the rest of the tourney, chasing their first Gold Medal win since 2018.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Florida Panthers welcomed forward Sam Bennett back to the lineup on Friday (Twitter link). It was his first game since suffering an upper-body injury in Game 2 of Round 1. Bennett recorded a primary assist on Florida’s second goal of the matchup, stepping right back into his role alternating with Anton Lundell. Nick Cousins stepped out of the lineup to make room for Bennett. Cousins has appeared in seven games this postseason, recording one assist and 20 penalty minutes. Bennett offers a big boost to a Florida lineup that’s gone blow-for-blow with the Boston Bruins. He was a major piece of their success last spring, posting 15 points in 20 postseason games.
  • Calgary Flames winger Andrei Kuzmenko has changed agencies, now represented by Newport Sports. The swap was first reported by former Sportsnet reporter Irfaan Gaffar, and seconded by Ryan Pike of Flames Nation (Twitter link). Kuzmenko will now be represented by the same management company as Robert Thomas, Vasily Podkolzin, and Tomas Hertl. He leaves Gold Star Agency, where he was notoriously represented by Daniel Milstein, who served a role in Kuzmenko’s swap from the Vancouver Canucks to the Flames. Kuzmenko found a strong scoring groove in Calgary, netting 25 points in 24 games, and should be poised for a top role next season.

Hockey Canada Releases 2024 World Championship Roster

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May 7: Celebrini and Fantilli have returned home from Czechia, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports. The former will participate in tonight’s 2024 NHL Draft Lottery, while Fantilli’s reasons for departing are undisclosed. It’s unclear whether they’ve been removed from the roster entirely. In a corresponding transaction, the team added Kings center Pierre-Luc Dubois and Lightning forwards Brandon Hagel and Nick Paul to the roster.

May 3: Hockey Canada has released its roster of 22 players who will wear the maple leaf at the 2024 World Championship, which begins next week in Ostrava and Prague, Czechia. There are three open spots left to be filled throughout the tournament as more teams are eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Much like the initial World Championship roster that USA Hockey released weeks back, it’s almost completely made up of NHL talent – a rarity for the top-level countries at this tournament recently. The return and promise of future best-on-best international tournaments in the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Winter Olympics has players and front offices looking at this year’s Worlds as a tune-up and initial evaluation for those events.

In fact, the only non-NHL player on Canada’s tournament-opening roster will be in the league next season. That’s presumptive 2024 first-overall pick Macklin Celebrini, who continues his 2023-24 campaign after taking home the Hobey Baker Award for the top collegiate player in his freshman season with Boston University. Their offense is highlighted and led by Blackhawks rookie phenom Connor Bedard and Kraken sniper Jared McCann, while Sabres defenders Bowen Byram and Owen Power highlight the back end. Blues netminder Jordan Binnington is expected to serve as the team’s starter.

The full roster is as follows:

F Connor Bedard (Blackhawks)
F Michael Bunting (Penguins)
F Macklin Celebrini (2024 draft-eligible)
F Dylan Cozens (Sabres)
F Adam Fantilli (Blue Jackets)
F Ridly Greig (Senators)
F Dylan Guenther (NHL Utah)
F Andrew Mangiapane (Flames)
F Jack McBain (NHL Utah)
F Jared McCann (Kraken)
F Dawson Mercer (Devils)
F Brandon Tanev (Kraken)

D Bowen Byram (Sabres)
D Kaiden Guhle (Canadiens)
D Jamie Oleksiak (Kraken)
D Colton Parayko (Blues)
D Owen Power (Sabres)
D Damon Severson (Blue Jackets)
D Olen Zellweger (Ducks)

G Jordan Binnington (Blues)
G Nico Daws (Devils)
G Joel Hofer (Blues)

NHL Announces 2024 Bill Masterton Trophy Finalists

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The NHL has announced the three finalists for the 2023-24 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. The award is given to “the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.” The nominees are goaltenders Frederik Andersen of the Carolina Hurricanes, Connor Ingram of the Arizona Coyotes, and defenseman Oliver Kylington of the Calgary Flames.

Andersen started the season well with a 4-1 record in his first five games. However, he was diagnosed with a blood clotting issue early in the year and missed four months of action that ended up totaling 49 games. He returned to the Hurricanes crease late in the season and finished the year off on an elite level, posting a 1.30 GAA and a .951 SV% as he went 9-1-0 down the stretch. He’s continued his solid play in the postseason, going 4-1 with a .912 SV% and a 2.25 GAA as Carolina dispatched the Islanders in five games in the first round.

Ingram was close to retiring in 2021 but received assistance through the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance program to deal with lingering mental health issues, which he said earlier this year was undiagnosed obsessive-compulsive disorder. Blossoming into a true starter this season with the Coyotes, he registered a .907 SV%, a 2.91 GAA and a 23-21-3 record. He also tied for the league lead with six shutouts and played in a career-high 50 games.

Kylington spent a year and a half out of the NHL and made his return at the midway point of the 2023-24 season. He was also away from the game for mental health reasons, staying on personal leave for the entire 2022-23 season and working with support staff during his time away from the Flames. The 26-year-old re-established himself as a regular upon his return, averaging 17:15 in ice time per game with three goals and five assists.

The NHL has yet to announce an official date and place for the NHL awards show.

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