Weaknesses
Goaltending
Smith is a perfectly acceptable starting goaltender. Even though he’s on the wrong side of 30, he’s still an above-average starter. However, Smith’s durability is starting to show, as signs of fatigue haunted him last season. Unfortunately, the Flames didn’t get him a better backup goalie. Hopefully one of Rittich and Gillies will step up. That said, if you know what you’re doing, it’s not that hard to find a competent backup goalie.
Weakened Pairings
The Flames are unquestionably worse off defensively without Hamilton. Even when Brodie and Giordano had success together, it wasn’t close to the success Giordano and Hamilton had together. An elite top pairing is now merely a very good to great one.
Also, Kulak and Stone bled shot attempts against last season. The Flames were outshot and outscored with the duo on the ice. Gulutzman did nothing to address this obvious issue, but perhaps Peters, being the new guy in town, will give Andersson or Kylington a shot.
Power Play
The Flames power play was horrific last season. Ahd that’s putting it very lightly. They only converted on 15.99 percent of their chances, the fourth-lowest mark in the NHL. It’s up to the coaching staff to fix it. Hamilton was a big part of the minimal success they had (12 PP points), so the Flames will have to account for that.