Offseason Review: Calgary Flames

Now that the dust has settled on a wild NHL offseason, let's take a look at how each team did in regards to drafting and free-agent signings. Today, we'll look at the Calgary Flames.

Calgary is coming off back-to-back disappointments in the regular season, especially when the team looked fully ready to call themselves contenders after handily winning the Western Conference in 2018-2019. Their biggest addition last season was the signing of Vezina candidate Jacob Markstrom to a 7-year deal, finally establishing their goaltending position for the foreseeable future. However, it seems that goaltending wasn't as big of an issue as GM Brad Treliving thought. Markstrom was fine, not his showstopping self from Vancouver, but perfectly serviceable. It was the rest of the team that was lacking, both in terms of goal-scoring and on defence. The loss of T.J. Brodie left a gaping hole on their right-side that the Flames were not fully prepared to fill, and it showed in their disappointing record coming out of the North division. Let's see how those issues were addressed this summer.

Free Agency:

The Flames did make some moves here, the biggest being the signing of Blake Coleman to a 6-year, $4.9 million contract. Coleman is coming off back-to-back Stanley Cup victories with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and much like Barclay Goodrow in New York, earned himself a big payday for his efforts. The Texas native scored 14 goals and 31 points in 55 games with Tampa last season, adding 3 goals and 11 points in their playoff run, but he was primarily a middle-6 winger with the Lightning given the team's firepower up front. Coleman can expect to be firmly slotted into the top 6 in Calgary, alongside either Matt Tkachuk or Sean Monahan.

The Flames also traded a 2022 3rd round pick to Chicago for Nikita Zadorov, who is likely meant to fill the void left by the departure of Flames' captain Mark Giordano, who was chosen by Seattle in the expansion draft. The Flames traded their other 2022 third-rounder to Boston in exchange for 23-year old goaltender Dan Vladar, who will likely play backup to Markstrom in 2021-2022, and a 2022 4th round pick to Seattle in exchange for bottom-6 centreman Tyler Pitlick. Besides that, the Flames extended Brett Ritchie and Colton Poolman for another year and added forward Trevor Lewis and defencemen Kevin Gravel, Nick DeSimone, and Andy Welinski. They also signed goaltender Adam Werner to a two-way deal as their third-string in net.

Grade: B-; The addition of Coleman will help the Flames with their streaky offence, and Pitlick brings some depth up front, but the lack of meaningful additions on their already porous blueline leaves much to be desired in Calgary.

Draft:

2021 was the highest the Flames have drafted since 2016 when they nabbed Matthew Tkachuk at 6th overall. This year the Flames picked 13th overall, selecting RW Matt Coronato. While he may have been a bit of a reach at 13, the versatile, creative forward is a line-driver who likes the puck on his stick. He's not afraid to throw the body in order to gain possession, and his hands are things of beauty, possibly the best in the draft this year. He is a smaller forward, clocking in at 5'10", 185lbs, but he plays like he's much larger. His style fits well with what Tkachuk already brings, and he should be slotting into the Flames lineup in no time.

The Flames got bigger with their 2nd-rounder, selecting Willian Stromgren 45th overall. Stromgren is 6'3", an excellent skater, and plays with a "shoot first" mentality, offsetting the playmaking style of Coronato. At 77th overall, the Flames selected Cole Huckins, another 6'3" LW who hounds the puck and plays well under pressure, and then picked defenceman Cameron Whynot at 89th overall, a left-shot grinder who uses his size and positioning to shut down the opposing team's offence. Whynot racked up 101 PIM in 91 games played in the QMJHL over the last two seasons.

Grade: B; Nothing flashy here, the Flames got their guy in Coronato, and filled out the rest of their picks with some intriguing players. No franchise-altering moves here, but the pipeline is deeper going forward.

Overall grade: B-; The Flames made moves in free agency and built up their forward group as well as bringing in a young backup for Markstrom, and then added some appealing prospects in the draft, but their biggest issues on defence remain untouched.

What do you think about the Flames' offseason so far?

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