The Flames are two days into training camp and we’re starting to get an idea of what the Calgary’s lineup will look like to begin this season.
Here are Saturday’s Group A lines courtesy of Pat Steinberg at QR770:
Gridin-Frost-Coronato
Honzek-Backlund-Farabee
Zary-Strome-Sharangovich
Tsyplakov-Pospisil-Klapka
Harrington-Nylander
Bahl-Nemec
Kuznetsov-Whitecloud
Middleton-Parekh
Hanley-Pachal
Wolf
Cooley
Lots going on here, let’s dive into a few things.
Finding a Fit
While not the flashiest role change, it’s hard not to notice that Joel Farabee is now riding shotgun for Mikael Backlund.
He hasn’t had a faithful sidekick every season. For example, there was the awkward 2020-21 season where the shutdown Swede’s most common deployment was with Milan Lucic and Andrew Mangiapane—but as most Flames fans know, Mikael tends to find a go-to winger.
For four and a half seasons, it was Micheal Frolik. The posted dominant possession stats from 2015 to 2019 where Frolik appeared to lose a step and found himself shipped to Buffalo in exchange for a fourth round pick in 2020 (Daniil Chechelev).
The second great wingman in Backlund’s life was Blake Coleman, who signed a six-year, $29.4 million dollar contract with Calgary in the summer of 2021.
Next up appears to be Joel Farabee.
Mikeal Backlund and his ability to shut down opposing stars can’t be understated. The Flames posted the 11th-best home record last season at 23-13-5. On the road, The Flames had the 32nd worst record at 11-26-4.
The first issue Ryan Huska cited when asked about this trend was matchups.
“It’s friendly confines here,” said Huska on Garbage Bag Day. “You get the matchups that can set our team up for success, but we have to have players on the road that do a little bit better of a job at embracing the hard part of the game.”
For more on that trend, absolutely check out this episode of the Pilot Light:
Can Joel Farabee take up the mantle of go-to shutdown two-way winger? Time will tell. It starts tomorrow against the Seattle Kraken at 6:00 P.M. MST.
The Waiting Game
You may also notice that the smooth-skating offensive defenceman Hunter Brzustewicz is nowhere to be seen. Once again, the Flames blue line is a full house. Under the current system, the 21-year-old has two or three blueliners to claw past to regain the spot in the lineup that he earned last season.
Currently, Brustewicz is making up the first pairing with Abram Weibe on Team Black.
Unfortunately, Hunter’s age is his greatest weakness. The Washington, Michigan product doesn’t need to clear waivers.
God forbid Joel Hanley, who has spent most of his career as an ancillary #7 defenceman, has to pass through waivers—Or Brayden Pachal gets claimed and finally starts playing consistent minutes on an NHL team.
That is the time of year. Every team has players that they want to keep around. Organizations value their players so subjectively that someone like, say, Yan Kuznetsov could be placed on waivers and other organizations won’t have room to take a flyer.
Regardless of how camp goes, Hunter is playing the waiting game. At least the AHL affiliate is in Calgary.
What lines stand out to you? Drop a comment!
Statistics courtesy of Elite Prospects, Capwages, and the National Hockey League.
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