Calgary Flames put together new defensive pairings with Tanev gone

The Calgary Flames will have some new defensive pairings for tomorrow’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

For the last four seasons, Flames fans have become accustomed to Chris Tanev occupying a spot in the team’s top four on the back end. That will now longer be the case given that the 34-year-old was traded to the Dallas Stars on Wednesday. As a result, head coach Ryan Huska is mixing things up to see what will work best for his group moving forward.

#Flames at practice Friday:

Zary-Kadri-Pospisil
Mangiapane-Backlund-Coleman
Huberdeau-Sharangovich-Hunt
Pelletier-Rooney-Duehr/Kuzmenko
 
Kylington-Andersson
Hanifin-Weegar
Oesterle-Pachal
Gilbert

Markstrom
Vladar

— Pat Steinberg (@Fan960Steinberg) March 1, 2024

The biggest change of all will come for Oliver Kylington, who was on a pairing with Rasmus Andersson during today’s practice. Since his return to the lineup in late January, Kylington has been playing third-pairing minutes. He will likely see a significant rise should these pairings remain, as Andersson leads all Flames players in ice time this season with an average of 23:55 minutes per outing.

The second pairing will feature Noah Hanifin, who may also be traded within the next week, and MacKenzie Weegar. Brayden Pachal will continue to play on the third pairing and will be alongside Jordan Oesterle, who has sat out the last 11 games as a healthy scratch.

While it has yet to be confirmed by the team, it also sounds like Andrei Kuzmenko could make his return to the lineup after missing the past two games due to illness. Sportsnet 960’s Pat Steinberg is reporting that he is expected to play.

Tomorrow night’s game versus the Pittsburgh Penguins is a highly anticipated one, as Flames legend Miikka Kiprusoff will have his jersey sent to the rafters. It will be a big one for the current Flames team as well, as they are looking to win their fifth straight as they continue to try and get themselves into a playoff position. Puck drop is set for 8 pm MT.

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