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It’s Calgary Flames Day at PHT

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Calgary Flames left winger Johnny Gaudreau won the NHL Puck Control competition.

Each day in the month of August we’ll be examining a different NHL team — from looking back at last season to discussing a player under pressure to identifying X-factors to asking questions about the future. Today we look at the Calgary Flames.

2018-19
50-25-7, 107 points (1st in Pacific Division, 1st in Western Conference)
Playoffs: Lost in the first round to Colorado in five games

IN
Milan Lucic
Brandon Davidson
Cam Talbot

OUT
Michael Stone
James Neal
Mike Smith
Curtis Lazar

RE-SIGNED
David Rittich
Sam Bennett
Rinat Valiev
2018-19 Season Summary

After not making the playoffs by 11 points in 2018, the Calgary Flames decided it was time to make some changes. They fired Glen Gulutzen and named Bill Peters as their head coach. After landing Peters, they decided to make a blockbuster deal with his old team, the Carolina Hurricanes. Calgary ended up getting Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin and the move ended up making a world of a difference. Lindholm was one of five Calgary Flames to collect at least 74 points in 2018-19, while Hanifin ended up averaging almost 21 minutes of ice time.

The added firepower and the solid group of players that were already on the roster combined to give the Flames a lethal team. Not only did they win the Pacific Division, they also finished in top spot in the Western Conference. That’s a pretty significant turnaround in just one year.

Johnny Gaudreau led the way with 99 points while Sean Monahan (82 points), Lindholm (78 points), Matthew Tkachuk (77 points) and Mark Giordano (74 points) helped make the Flames a dynamic attacking team.

The only clear weakness on the roster was between the pipes. Smith and Rittich held their own for most of the year, so that wasn’t really an issue between October and early April.

As you’d imagine, expectations were high in Calgary heading into the playoffs. Their first-round opponent, the Colorado Avalanche, were never going to be an easy out, but no one could’ve predicted how quickly the Flames’ Stanley Cup hopes would be extinguished.

Nothing went right for the playoffs for the Flames. Gaudreau couldn’t put the puck in the net, Mike Smith wasn’t coming up with key saves, and other contributors like Lindholm and Monahan just couldn’t create the same amount of offense they did during the regular season. It was bad. Calgary went down in five games and the joy of a great regular season quickly faded.

All the optimism surrounding the team for most of the year was gone. Brad Treliving went from GM genius to needing to find solutions in a hurry. He made some bold moves this off-season but it’s difficult to say if this edition of the team is better than the one that took to the ice last season.
[MORE: Under Pressure: Treliving | 3 Questions| Talbot the X-Factor]

They swapped Mike Smith for Cam Talbot. So they got younger in goal but the tandem of Talbot and Rittich will still have some question marks heading into the season. They sent free-agent flop James Neal to Edmonton for the ageless wonder, Milan Lucic, but that’s not a move that will make them better or worse.

The biggest question mark heading into the season is whether or not they will get Tkachuk signed to a new contract. The restricted free agent racked up a significant amount of points last year but his contributions are even more significant than that. He brings a level of physicality, nastiness and heart to the ice every game. The Flames will be missing a huge piece of their squad if this contract stalemate doesn’t get resolved before the start of the season.

Have the young veterans on this club learned from last year’s playoff disappointment? We’ll find out soon enough, but there’s no denying that this team is talented enough to do some damage in the Western Conference.

MORE:
ProHockeyTalk’s 2019 NHL free agency tracker
Your 2019-20 NHL on NBC TV schedule

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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.