2016 Pool Projections: Calgary

The Calgary Flames were last year's darlings in the NHL, finally breaking down to promote the rebuild, but really challenged the league as a whole for the entire season.

The analytics community (or cult, whatever) are suggesting that the Flames are bound to repeat the same Cinderella to rags story that the Colorado Avalanche did last season, thanks to their poor possession numbers.  It's hard to argue when they were so right about the Avalanche, but this is why they play the game.

Myself, personally, never been a big fan of the analytics side of things, trying to help predict the future and all, especially going year after year, with roster turnarounds and such.

The Flames have added this Summer, bolstering an already tough blueline, adding a two-way winger with some offensive upside and they'll debut their 2014 1st round pick as a full fledged rookie in the 2016 season.  This might just be enough to keep the momentum going through the 2016 season... or the analytics people may not shut up otherwise.

Player	Pos	15/16 Proj	Rookie
Jiri Hudler	F	75
Jonas Hiller	G	65
Sean Monahan	F	65
Johnny Gaudreau	F	60
Mark Giordano	D	55
Dennis Wideman	D	50
Sam Bennett	F	45	Y
Dougie Hamilton	D	45
Karri Ramo	G	40
Michal Frolik	F	40
Lance Bouma	F	40
Joe Colborne	F	40
Mikael Backlund	F	40
T.J. Brodie	D	40
Kris Russell	D	30
David Jones	F	25
Josh Jooris	F	25
Mason Raymond	F	25
Matt Stajan	F	25
Paul Byron	F	15
Markus Granlund	F	15
Joni Ortio	G	10	Y
Deryk Engelland	D	10
Brandon Bollig	F	5
Emile Poirer	F	5	Y
Ladislav Smid	D	5
Tyler Wotherspoon	D	5	Y

Table updated on August 15th

Most Intriguing or Breakout Player

For the most part, Mark Giordano already broke out last year, before his torn bicep injury, as he was on one hell of a pace from the back end in scoring.  The intrigue, however, comes from the addition of Dougie Hamilton, who should be coming to town as another big minute guy.  The Flames, with the loss of Giordano, had a group of guys that were able to spread out the minutes that their captain left behind and they all turned into well-rounded defenders, who each could log more than enough time.  Throw Giordano back in the mix, add Hamilton as well and now the portions of the pie get much, much smaller and that won't bode well with someone.  I'm not saying it will be Giordano, but his group of guys will lead the intrigue train, unless management has a quick fix.  As of right now, I can't see the points being nearly as high as last year, just because of the ice-time uncertainty.

First Round Picks

It could very well be, that in my draft, we'll see more than one Flame go in the opening round of the draft, but by my projections, it looks like Jiri Hudler should be the only bonafide starter, sitting in the 75-point range.  Hudler has done a good job over the last couple of years, taking a quiet lead on this team and consistently playing his game.  Other players have been able to feed off that and the kids are learning their lessons the right way.

Other Pool Worthy Forwards

Again, the Flames might oversell in my pool draft, given that it is held in Calgary, but that's what makes some of these pools exciting.  Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau should be locks for the early rounds of any pool, as their upside is certainly there, while the newly-acquired Michal Frolik should add a little bit of touch on this team as well.  Lance Bouma, Joe Colborne and Mikael Backlund won't be overly amazing, but they'll be there for some pretty reasonable depth.  Past those guys, it will be a lot of depth scoring, which the team will need, but we might not touch in the pool.

Other Pool Worthy Defense

The Flames are projecting to have one of the best bluelines in the NHL, according to these numbers, but that may be a product of everything is okay thinking and everyone will be happy with the ice-time they get.  Giordano, Hamilton and Dennis Wideman will go early among defenders, while T.J. Brodie and Kris Russell won't likely be too far behind, but it will be a lottery of sorts for that precious TOI statistic.

Goaltending Situation

The Calgary crease is not the only cloudy one, by any stretch of the imagination, but it is one to take note of, especially since this one is a three-headed monster.  The third being Joni Ortio, who may or may not have been given some idea of what kind of time he can expect, but he draws closer and closer to a full-time NHL job and when you see young goalies get to that point, it gets really tough on teams.  As soon as Jonas Hiller and Karri Ramo slip up, someone else will be auditioning for a job and that could mean musical creases, before too long.

Possible Entries Into the Rookie Race

Forward Sam Bennett will certainly have his hat in the rookie scoring race this year and with a good stretch of play in the playoffs, his rookie status was not tampered with and he gained some very key experience.  If Joni Ortio gets a full-time job, I believe his rookie status is still intact for the 2016 season.

Team To Pick From Late?

The Flames are going to put up some points in the 2016 season, but it remains to be seen how much defense they are going to play, so for our pool purposes, they might be a good team for both sides of the ice and the point that will occur from it.  Yes, I think the Flames are going to be that kind of side, where you can look at those depth players and think that there will be points in there.

Unsigned Players and Salary Cap

An early look at a 23-man roster, at the end of July, suggested that the Flames are in okay shape heading into the season.  The Flames still had about $3.2 million left underneath the cap ceiling at the time, which gives them plenty of flexibility down the stretch.

The biggest name left on their free agent list was one of their playoff darlings, forward Michael Ferland, who is awaiting his new deal out of his entry-level contract.