Can the Flames hang on?

Two years ago, the Flames opted for a short rebuild. They traded key elements to rejuvenate the team.

The first player that comes to mind is Matthew Tkachuk.

Since then, Sean Monahan, Tyler Toffoli, Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin, Jacob Markstrom and Andrew Mangiapane have all left by trade.

The Flames have made a decent start to the season, even exceeding expectations. After 10 games, they were playing for over .500.

Why should we care? Not least because Jonathan Huberdeau seems to have stopped asking himself too many questions. He scored 5 goals in the first ten games.

Young Connor Zary continues to impress. At 23, he’s picking up where he left off last year, in his rookie season. He’s the Flames’ center of the future.

Another change of scenery seems to have helped Anthony Mantha. This season, he’s playing for a 3rd team in two years, and he’s contributing to the offensive effort in Calgary. It remains to be seen whether he’ll keep up the pace.

At one point per game at the start of the season, Rasmus Andersson is confirming what he has put in place over the past three years: he’s not necessarily one of the NHL’s elite, but he can certainly be a contributor to his team’s success.

The enigmatic Andrei Kuzmenko and Nazem Kadri are also part of the recipe in Calgary. We don’t know if the effort is always there, but we also know that the talent is there, just waiting to be exploited.

Mackenzie Weegar, too often forgotten, was one of the key players in the deal that brought Jonathan Huberdeau to Calgary. Straight as an oak tree, he racked up career-best numbers last year, and looks on track to repeat in 2024-25.

In front of the net, it’s an interesting gamble. It’s not immediately clear whether Dustin Wolf (pictured) will be a great goalie, but he and Daniel Vladar are skilfully dividing up the work so far this season.

Appointed the 24th coach in the Flames’ history last June, Ryan Huska is expected to have a free hand for a few seasons to get this team under his belt. He’s counting on good horses, but he’ll need an above-average performance to have any hope of making the 2025 playoffs, let’s be honest…