5 questions facing the Flames as training camp nears

Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports/@NHLFlames-Twitter

The Calgary Flames had a Pacific Division-topping campaign a year ago, but the team returning for the 2022-23 season is nothing like the one that posted a 50-21-11 record and a 111-point effort.

Understandably, more questions surround this year’s Western Conference entry, and with good cause.

Out are forwards Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk — the club’s top two offensive producers.

But in are winger Jonathan Huberdeau, who matched Gaudreau’s production last season, and signed centre Nazem Kadri, who helped the Colorado Avalanche win the Stanley Cup in June. Defenceman MacKenzie Weegar, who joins Calgary via the summer blockbuster Huberdeau-Tkachuk swap with the Florida Panthers, will also play a key role for the club moving forward.

Here are the burning questions surrounding the Flames as training camp nears:

1. How will the new pieces gel with the old Flames core?

Up front, the additions of Huberdeau and Kadri give the Flames a dramatically different look, but not necessarily a more productive one. Gaudreau signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Columbus Blue Jackets, and Tkachuk formed two-thirds of Calgary’s top line last season — the most potent trio in the NHL- alongside Elias Lindholm.

Will Huberdeau find that same chemistry with Lindholm? Will Kadri and Andrew Mangiapane, should the rugged duo line up together, find success as a pair?

2. How will the Flames’ forward lines shake out?

Huberdeau with Lindholm makes a lot of sense, but it’s far from a guarantee. So too is Kadri and Mangiapane. Mikael Backlund will certainly anchor the third-line centre position, likely with Dillon Dube on one of his flanks. A fourth line of Kevin Rooney between Milan Lucic and Trevor Lewis seems inevitable.

But where does that leave Tyler Toffoli and Blake Coleman among the top six? Is there the possibility of loading up the top line with Mangiapane playing his off-wing, and how does that complicate matters?

3. Can a prospect push his way into the top-12 up front?

There’s not a lot of roster room up front with 11 spots tied up in new acquisitions, returning players, and depth additions inked to one-way contracts via free agency. Veteran try-outs have also been either rumoured or issued. That could make it difficult for a rookie to push through and steal a spot in coach Darryl Sutter’s lineup.

Jakob Pelletier is a prime candidate, but can he showcase enough through rookie and main camp to convince Sutter he’s not better off in the NHL? Can Adam Ruzicka, currently a restricted free agent, upend Rooney, for example, to command fourth-line duties?

4. What can Markstrom do for an encore?

Few goaltenders had the impact Jacob Markstrom gave Calgary between the pipes through the regular season. The 32-year-old posted an NHL career-high in wins (37), goals-against average (2.22), and save percentage (.922) in a personal-best 63 games. But in the playoffs, most noticeably against the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Second Round, the wheels came off a bit on the Vezina Trophy runner-up. Markstrom went 1-4 with a 5.12 GAA and .852 SV%, allowing 24 goals on 162 shots in a performance that left him unsatisfied.

The playoff performance was likely just a blip, but what can that do to fuel the fire for an unsatisfied stopper?

5. Is there any room on the blue line for Mackey or Valimaki?

With the addition of Weegar, the Flames boast one of the deepest d-cores in the NHL, with the workhorse joining Noah Hanifin, Rasmus Andersson, Christopher Tanev, Oliver Kylington, and Nikita Zadorov. The Flames also added Nicolas Meloche and Dennis Gilbert on one-way deals via free agency and have brought back the beloved Michael Stone via a try-out. Mackey and Valimaki are also both on one-way pacts, but neither seem likely, at least at this stage, to snag a top-six role.

Would either make sense as a seventh defenceman at this stage? Could either be optioned elsewhere for a fresh start?

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