The upcoming season for the Calgary Flames could be a rough one, though that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, that appears to be the plan.
Though general manager Craig Conroy has made it clear he doesn’t intend to do a rebuild through tanking, he has moved many of his assets to other teams in exchange for mainly prospects and picks.
That said, Conroy was able to make a few additions to his roster on the opening day of free agency to try and keep his team competitive this upcoming season. Here’s a look at what lines they, along with the returning players on this roster, could find themselves on to begin the 2024-25 campaign.
Top six
Jonathan Huberdeau – Yegor Sharangovich – Anthony Mantha
Connor Zary – Nazem Kadri – Andrei Kuzmenko
Though the Yegor Sharangovich experiment at centre ice didn’t go particularly well last season, the Flames have few other options unless they instead elect to go with an inexperienced Connor Zary down the middle. The best bet may be to give Sharangovich another opportunity, while seeing if Anthony Mantha can provide a spark to Jonathan Huberdeau’s game.
Zary may be best suited to play on a line with Nazem Kadri, who he played well with throughout the 2023-24 season. Though Martin Pospisil played with them on plenty of occasions, a better offensive producer in Andrei Kuzmenko serves as a better fit.
Bottom six
Blake Coleman – Mikael Backlund – Matt Coronato
Jakob Pelletier – Martin Pospisil – Ryan Lomberg
If Matt Coronato is to play in the NHL this coming season, placing him on the third line with two defensively responsible players who can score, Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman, would be wise.
The fourth line could go many ways, but Conroy has said he hopes to see Martin Pospisil get some time at centre ice, and beginning that experiment on the fourth line may be the best bet. Jakob Pelletier is likely to be eased back in after an injury-filled 2022-23 season, while Ryan Lomberg was brought in specifically to be a pest in the bottom six.
Defensive pairings
Daniil Miromanov – MacKenzie Weegar
Kevin Bahl – Rasmus Andersson
Jake Bean – Brayden Pachal
While the forward line combinations will be changed plenty this coming season, the pairings on the back end could shift even more. Many others have projected that MacKenzie Weegar and Rasmus Andersson will man the top pair, but allowing them to both play on their strong side would be beneficial.
Handing Daniil Miromanov top-pairing minutes could prove to be a lot given his inexperience, but he did look very solid in his 20 games as a Flame last season. It would be a good test for the 26-year-old, who certainly has a lot of talent.
Recent trade acquisition Kevin Bahl is likely to spend the majority of the season on the second pair, while newly signed blue liner Jake Bean figures to begin the year on the third pairing with Brayden Pachal.
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