As Flames turn page to 2023, does team have any more surprises in store?

Significant surprises dotted the landscape for the Flames in 2022.

With more than half the team posting career years, the Flames astonished many by walking away with the Pacific division before stunning Dallas in seven, and face-planting against Edmonton.

Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk both exceeded all expectations (and the 100-point mark) before leaving town in the summer, prompting staggering acquisitions no one could have imagined.

It’s been anything but boring around the Saddledome, where a surprisingly beige start has the revamped club slowly trending in the right direction after falling short of expectations in the first half.

As we turn the page to 2023, it would be foolish to suggest the Flames have anything close to the type of staggering dramatics in store.

Or would it?

A peek at a handful of upcoming developments ahead:

The debate over how Gaudreau will be received upon his return to the Saddledome Jan. 23 has been framed by earlier visits from Tkachuk and Monahan.

The former got a standing ovation following his tribute video, followed by half-hearted boos every time he touched the puck.

The latter triggered an unabashed love-in.

The standing ovation following Gaudreau’s welcome back video is a no-brainer, but his treatment before and after that is a hot topic given his 11th-hour decision to spurn Calgary in favour of a city and franchise few see the upside in.

And for less money.

While time heals all, the fact Gaudreau’s wizardry is so sorely missed on this year’s team doesn’t bode well for warm and fuzzies from fans.

Either way, it will be one of the spiciest Monday nights in years ’round here.

Oliver Kylington has missed the first half of the season dealing with personal issues in his native Sweden.

His return would solidify a blue line that has struggled at times with chemistry as injuries arose.

As Darryl Sutter said, his defence has been “a challenge.”

It’s anyone’s guess as to when – or if – Kylington will be back, but if he returns in the next month or so it all but eliminates the need to augment the back end by the trade deadline.

Given Brad Treliving’s proclivity for wheeling and dealing, Flames fans should brace themselves for an endless stream of rumours connecting the Flames to various trade chips around the league.

Bo Horvat, Brock Boeser, Patrick Kane, Janathan Toews and almost everyone in St. Louis could potentially be linked to Cowtown at some point.

After releasing Sonny Milano from his PTO, the Flames GM hasn’t been shy to admit he’s been looking for some help up front, even though the group is scoring at the same clip as it did last year.

This team is nowhere near the defensive juggernaut many expected it would be with its solid top 5 at the back and the addition of Nazem Kadri to Elias Lindholm and Mikael Backlund up the middle.

The team has allowed almost a half goal more a game than it did last year to this point, as Sutter has had a cast of young players trying to fit in as his sixth man.

John Klingberg might help there, but then, so would Kylington if available.

Even though the organization is pushing hard to win now, it’s hard to imagine this is the year to deal another first rounder away to add proven help.

Could youngsters like Matthew Phillips, Jakob Pelletier, Connor Zary or maybe even Dustin Wolf be in play, or move the needle on significant returns?

We’re not big on rumours in this space, but the rest of the hockey world sure is, opening the door for plenty of speculation as March rolls around.

Things have been trending better of late, and if the team continues to improve you can bet Treliving will do something of significance to bolster their playoff chances.

The pre-season expectation was the Flames would battle the Oilers for divisional supremacy.

As it sits, there’s danger one or both will miss the playoffs.

It says here neither will, which is all anybody in Alberta can ask for as the hockey world prays for another provincial playoff matchup.

Whether the two meet could be determined by another pre-season notion that while this year’s Flames might not be better than last year, they appeared better suited for playoff success.

Kadri’s addition was made with an eye on countering the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and by swapping out Gaudreau for Jonathan Huberdeau the belief was the bigger, stronger man could be more of an impact player than No. 13 ever was in the spring.

They’ll have to get to the dance first, before anyone’s theories can be proven or dispelled.

The good news is that no matter how things unfold, the provincial matchup battle is guaranteed to be more than the three games it was this year, which will include an outdoor meeting at Commonwealth Stadium Oct. 29.