4 Big Questions for the Calgary Flames in 2020-21

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Here are four big questions looming for the Calgary Flames in 2020-2021.

After a rather productive offseason, the Calgary Flames look to break the Playoff funk they seem to have found themselves in. They have missed the Playoffs twice in the last six seasons and had first-round exits in four of those appearances. Whether it be a lack of production or bad puck luck, the Flames are their own worst enemy.

The Flames had a very productive offseason. They signed goaltender Jacob Markstrom to a six-year, $36 million deal. This finally gives the goaltending edge they’ve desperately craved for years. With David Rittich taking the backseat, Markstrom comes in and takes the reigns, distinguishing himself as the starter.

Defenseman Chris Tanev also joined the Flames during free agency. The former Vancouver Canuck will be killing penalties with captain Mark Giordano. The 31-year-old veteran adds a voice of leadership to a relatively young team.

Much to the surprise of many fans’ postseason prediction, General Manager Brad Treliving did not trade key players like Sean Monahan or Johnny Gaudreau. Is there a clock ticking before it’s time to move on and start centering this team around the heartbeat of the team, Matthew Tkachuk?

4. Is Andrew Mangiapane Ready To Take The Next Step?

Andrew Mangiapane inked himself a new contract this offseason, bringing him back to Calgary for another two years. His 32 point campaign and strong playoff performance have caused everyone to keep their eyes on Mangiapane. Is he ready for a promotion? Could we see him playing with Monahan?

Ward has been tinkering with the lines and trying new combinations, giving players the opportunity to find a temporary home. There might be a chance we see him on the second line as we’ve seen in practice. The shortened season might play to his benefit. It might play to everyone’s benefit, really.

If there’s one player that I fully expect to blossom and perform this season, it is Andrew Mangiapane.

3. Is Their Free Agency Haul Enough To Make It Out Of The First Round

The Flames had a plan for Free Agency, and they went in and executed it. It was essentially a haul of Vancouver Cancucks’ free agents including, Jacob Markstrom, Louie Domingue, Josh Leivo, and Chris Tanev. Their special teams got an upgrade as well when signing Joakim Nordstrom.

The most notable signing was, of course, Markstrom. The Flames finally have a true number one goalie. David Rittich is not going to need to stand on his head for sixty minutes night after night anymore. There was a sense of relief when the Markstrom signing happened, a giant sigh of relief from Flames fans everywhere.

What does this mean for the Stanley Cup Playoffs? Goaltending is taken care of. It was on the to-do list underlined, highlighted, bolded, and circled in red ink. You need a strong and steady goalie for the postseason. I can see Markstrom being that consistent goalie. His Playoff sample size is rather small at just 14 games. That doesn’t seem like a fair assessment of one’s true postseason appearance, especially because the 2019-20 postseason was under unprecedented circumstances. There’s no way he can be worse than the Flames’ previous choices so, overconfidence might be the way to go here.

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Chris Tanev’s presence on the blue line is going to make up for what they lost with T.J. Brodie and then some. Head Coach Geoff Ward noted that Tanev would be killing penalties with Giordano. The 30-year-old was averaging around 20 minutes a night in Vancouver. He’s got stamina and strength. It’s expected that Tanev will be on the second pairing with Noah Hanifin. With the number of back to backs and aging captain, Tanev could slot in on the first pair if Gio does have a maintenance day. Last season, he had a career-high 159 blocked shots. One thing that is a bit worrisome is the fact that he has missed nearly 100 games over the last three seasons due to injury. I don’t want to use the term liability, but I am certainly afraid that that label might find him well.

In the best-case scenario, these new key pieces are going to be what takes this team to the next level. On paper, everything looks good. You’ve upgraded and slotted in new players where you were struggling last season.

2.What About Johnny Hockey?

One of the most frustrating issues has been the consistency issues from Johnny Gaudreau.

In 70 games in 2019-20, he had 59 points with just 18 goals. In his prior campaign, Gaudreau notched 36 goals in a 99 point season. There was a decline in his production well before the pause. It was noticeable and raised red flags for some. Injuries and not having the strongest players around will certainly affect that.

Ward has already been tinkering with the lines a little bit. We’ve seen Matthew Tkachuk and Gaudreau swap lines in Training Camp. Tkachuk is a deadly weapon out on the ice and led the team in points last season with 61. You might want someone with that kind of production on your best line.

Gaudreau is always in the mix of trade rumors. Whether it be the media or him playing tricks by removing Calgary related things from his social media profiles, his name is typically in the mix of things. There’s never any truth to these rumors but is the clock ticking? Does Brad Treliving have a clock ticking in terms of finally taking calls and attentively listening for offers? The thing about Gaudreau is that he has the potential to be back in the 70-90 point range. We’ve seen it before. One doesn’t have a 99 point season by accident. We might see a Brad Marchand-esque career with him in terms of only getting better with time.

(Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

1. Can They Keep The Fire Burning?

If you’re going to win and be a competitive team, you need to be a cohesive unit. With no exhibition games and only intra-squad matches, there’s no real competition before Opening Night against the Winnipeg Jets. In football Training Camp, you oftentimes hear about fights breaking out at practice to stir up competition and get players going.

The Calgary Flames fell flat in the postseason and could use a little something to stoke the fire. However, fighting each other might not be the answer. They open up their season against the Winnipeg Jets, who the Flames knocked out of the postseason this past August.

The series against the Jets was a rather intense matchup. Matthew Tkachuk became enemy number one in Game One when in an awkward collision, his skate nicked Mark Scheifele’s leg- ending his season. It was another awkward collision that ended Patrik Laine’s season.

This is what the Calgary Flames need to get their season going. There is going to be a level of competition that they maybe haven’t seen since before the pause. The Flames are going to need to treat each game as an elimination game. No matter if you’re playing Toronto or Ottawa, you cannot underestimate their opponent. Every point matters. Sure, in the normal divisions, you can afford to fall into a slump thanks to teams like the Anaheim Ducks and the San Jose Sharks, but six out of the seven teams are highly competitive. You should be leaving each game with at least a point.

Next. Trevor Zegras sure looks like a franchise cornerstone. dark

That wraps up the Calgary Flames 2020-21 NHL Season Preview. Be sure to check out our other previews!

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