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Examining a Catch-22 — Roster Dark Horses — Goodbye Mitch McLain |
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Ah, the summer.
The draft and free agency have passed. Lunchtime radio waves are taken over by Blue Jays broadcasts and the hockey-related silence is almost pleasant.
Almost.
As Stampede wraps up and Calgarians march towards and extended stretch of +30 degree weather — +86 for you Americans — the gentle thrum of an oncoming Flames season that carries the potential to be both deeply thrilling and thoroughly disappointing continues to buzz in the back of their fans minds.
We will tread dangerously close to a Catch-22 here and pose a question:
How much improvement do you want to see from the Flames roster come September?
Would you be elated to see Connor Zary immediately begin to flourish in a first line center role? The same goes for Martin Pospisil.
How about Dustin Wolf? What if the six-foot, 166-pound netminder pushes the Flames to 7-2-1 in the first month of the season?
That all leads to a final question along this train of thought.
Does Craig Conroy have a backup plan if the roster becomes more than the sum of their parts? The current plan expressed by management is two or three years of low finishes in order to amass a high-end core via primarily top-ten draft picks.
What if Andrei Kuzmenko pops off during a contract year, the French Connection line (see at bottom) had instant chemistry, and Jeremie Poirier steps in as a legitimate power play quarterback?
Despite the basement teams all improving this offseason, Calgary is absolutely loaded with sleepers that could easily win their way out of a top five pick.
Perhaps Plan B is to roll out Huberdeau and Kadri on the first power play unit in an attempt to kill possession and squander opportunities. Maybe put together a second unit that utilizes Mikael Backlund as the net front triggerman.
Maybe it’s less subtle and realistic. Trade Kuzmenko before he lights the team on fire. Ship Andersson, leaving the blue line even more decimated than it currently is.
On to a few team notes.
Too soon
Mitch McLain has signed an AHL deal with the Henderson Silver Knights. It’s surprising that no team was willing to give him a look on a one-year, two-way deal. He would be a great fit for a 13th forward on any team.
It makes sense. The Wranglers are adding players left and right. Parker Bell, Sam Honzek and Luca Ciona project to become regulars. Ilya Nikolaev deserves a fair look in the top six this year. UFA signees Martin Frk and Justin Kirkland will fight hard for ice time. There was simply no room left for Mitch.
Speaking of finding room on the roster.
Dark horses
Two candidates emerged to steal a roster spot on the big team during the 2024 Flames Development Camp at Winsport. Sam Morton and William Stromgren.
Given that we just talked about Mitch McLain signing another AHL deal, it’s fair to throw a caveat in here that we at HockeyBuzz sometimes can be a bit out to lunch about making assumptions regarding roster decisions, but Morton has a real chip on his shoulder. He executed well during the Snowy Cup (the scrimmage) and placed first in fitness testing.
He likens to Kuzmenko in that his skating could be better, but the 24 year old has a solid head on his shoulders and, by all accounts, is a leader in the dressing room.
Look we’re not just making Sam Morton the new Mitch McLain around here, but he does look promising.
The other dark horse this season is 21 year old William Stromgren.
The hardline speed was the first thing to notice. For a guy that weighs in at six-foot-three and 185 pounds, Stromgren has the highest top speed and acceleration of the 32 players in attendance.
The Örnsköldsvik, Sweden product brought a pretty solid set of mitts and playmaking ability to go with that high end speed. In the 2023-2024 regular season, the NHL posted a team average of 1,692 speed bursts over 20 miles per hour — roughly 32 km/h for you Canadians — per season. The Flames put up 1,392. Adding a waiver-exempt burner like Stromgren might be an easy decision should injury arise.
Similar to last week’s question, but since we’re talking about making room on the roster, do you think this will be the group they settle on come October 9, 2024? Who are the dark horse candidates that you think make the team?
Pospisil-Sharangovich-Kuzmenko
Zary-Kadri-Coronato
Coleman-Backlund-Rooney
Huberdeau-Mantha-Pelletier
Lomberg
Weegar-Miromanov
Bahl-Andersson
Bean-Pachal
Hanley
Trevor Neufeld
Stats via the NHL, NHL Edge, Puckpedia, and Elite Prospects.
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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