The Calgary Flames can be officially eliminated from playoff contention as early as Saturday night. For many, they were unofficially eliminated weeks ago.
With 11 games to go, the Flames are playing out the string.
And while this final stretch is going to feel largely meaningless, especially for remaining veterans, Calgary has to go out of its way to make sure that’s not the case. The final three weeks of the season can’t be a miserable march to the finish line.
“We have a lot of guys that have a lot to play for,” said assistant coach Dan Lambert on Sunday’s Flames Talk post-game show. “We have a lot of new players that are trying to prove (themselves) to a new coaching staff, to a new organization.”
It’s not preparing for the post-season or fighting tooth and nail to get in. But the Flames still have things to accomplish between now and the end of the regular season.
Dustin Wolf’s time
When it comes to players with something to prove, Wolf unquestionably leads the way.
And for the first time in his NHL career, Calgary’s goaltender of the future has runway and opportunity. Wolf will remain with the Flames for the rest of the season after the team announced season-ending hip surgery for Dan Vladar last week. Now paired with Jacob Markstrom, Wolf’s most recent returns have been encouraging.
Since being called up earlier this month, Wolf is 2-2-0 with a .929 save percentage in four starts. More importantly, he’s looked comfortable and like he belongs at the highest level. While still early, the “too small” knock on Wolf hasn’t been a factor on this most recent recall.
Wolf needs NHL reps as he continues down his development path. Aside from a return for Calder Cup playoff action next month, there’s nothing left for Wolf to accomplish in the American League.
Opportunity knocks
With mathematical elimination a formality, it’s time for the Flames to start prioritizing the big picture when making lineup decisions. Based on Tuesday night in Chicago, they may have already made that pivot.
2021 first-round pick Matt Coronato returned to the lineup against the Blackhawks after sitting for a pair of games as a healthy scratch. There’s no reason to scratch him again. In fact, now’s the time to elevate Coronato’s role at five-on-five and give him some powerplay time. Like Wolf, he needs the reps before joining the AHL Calgary Wranglers for a playoff run.
At this stage, the Flames can try things they’d be less comfortable doing in the heat of a playoff race. For instance, moving rookie standout Connor Zary to the middle for a stretch of games makes a lot of sense.
A natural centre, Zary has played almost exclusively on the wing in his first NHL season. In dire need of future depth at the position, an extended run down the middle for Zary would be more than worth it.
Individual milestones
With 17, MacKenzie Weegar has more goals than all but two NHL defencemen: Nashville’s Roman Josi (19) and Colorado’s Cale Makar (18). The ultimate team-first guy, Weegar would far rather be chasing down a wildcard spot than an individual mark. But the chance to lead all players at his position in goals is a fun consolation prize.
It’s a similar situation for Blake Coleman. The two-time Stanley Cup winner has already posted new career marks in goals, assists and points this season at the age of 32. But with 11 games to go, Coleman is two away from being a 30-goal scorer for the first time.
Also sitting at 28, the same is true for Yegor Sharangovich. The Flames believed more opportunity was the key to unlocking Sharangovich when they acquired him from New Jersey in June. And while they’ve already been proven right, seeing him hit 30 for the first time would be a nice exclamation mark.
Getting Rasmus Andersson’s mojo back
It felt like Andersson was ready to cement himself as one of the NHL’s top blueliners entering the season. He’d be the first to admit things haven’t gone as planned, however.
Relative to what he’s capable of, Andersson has struggled defensively at five-on-five. That’s been more apparent since the subtraction of Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev in recent weeks.
And he’s taken a step back offensively, too. After consecutive seasons of 50 and 49 points, Andersson sits at 33 and hasn’t spent time on Calgary’s number-one powerplay unit in weeks. With the pressure off down the stretch, the Flames are hoping Andersson can rediscover the swagger that makes him so effective.
And it starts with shooting the puck.
“We had a long conversation a couple days ago,” Lambert admitted over the weekend.
“Rasmus has a great shot, but unfortunately nobody knows it. It’s like a guy that’s an unbelievable skater but he doesn’t skate. I told Rasmus, I said: if you want to get more points, you have to start shooting the puck.
“I coached Roman Josi (in Nashville). He didn’t care, if there was a lane, he was shooting the puck, and he gets rewarded for it every year. We’re trying to get Rasmus to three or four shots a night.”
Perhaps the message is getting through.
Andersson has averaged more than five shot attempts over the last four games and snapped a 26-game goalless drought Saturday in Vancouver. Tuesday in Chicago saw him finish with five shots on goal for just the third time this season.
This is the type of shot mentality Calgary hopes Andersson can bring into the summer and, more importantly, next season.