FLAMES RETOOL TRACKER: The depth on defence
Article content
No matter what way you cut it, the future of the Calgary Flames defence looks bright.
Article content
The team has loaded up in the NHL Draft over the last couple years and also has a few early-20s talents who could break through soon. In a couple years, there's potential for the Flames blueline to be pretty … dare we say spectacular?
Article content
This summer, though, the focus will be almost entirely on what they choose to do with one of their veteran leaders and how it impacts the NHL roster next year.
Article content
Article content
Article content
This isn't just the biggest question facing the Flames defence, it's going to be the dominant question surrounding the team as a whole until it gets sorted out. What do they do with Rasmus Andersson? The Swedish defenceman himself seemed to know that a long-term contract to stay in Calgary might not be forthcoming when he spoke with the media on garbage bag day. Not with guys like Zayne Parekh ready to break through soon. If a deal isn't worked out — and it seems unlikely — he'll have to be traded before he becomes an unrestricted free agent. The return that GM Craig Conroy gets could be franchise-altering, even if Andersson underperformed in 2024-25. Is it best to move him this summer if there's a good offer on the table, or give him a chance to show he's back at his best before flipping him at the deadline?
Article content
Article content
Next year
Article content
Article content
Let's assume the Flames move Andersson this summer. What does the defence look like next season? Joel Hanley had a great year for the Flames, but he's an unrestricted free agent and just makes more sense elsewhere. Getting Kevin Bahl re-signed — he's a restricted free agent — is a priority and MacKenzie Weegar is a proven No. 1. The two of them are a nice foundation. After that? Parekh is too young to play in the AHL and it would be a total waste to send him back to the OHL for another year. He's going to be around. There will be inevitable growing pains, but the sky's the limit for him. The Flames will be wanting to see more out of Jake Bean, but he's a proven NHLer and you'd expect him playing most nights, while it's a crucial year for the 27-year-old Daniil Miromanov if he wants to stick around in the NHL and Brayden Pachal provides a reliable, physical option on the third pairing. The Flames are in pretty decent shape even without Andersson, especially as they'll be hoping one or two of the guys we're about to speak about take another step and push for NHL playing time.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Star
34 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
NHL, NHLPA in ‘really good shape' on talks for new CBA: Bettman
EDMONTON - NHL commissioner Gary Bettman says the league and its union are in 'really good shape' with negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement. Speaking ahead of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final rematch between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers, he added that this round of talks with NHL Players' Association executive director Marty Walsh are 'no comparison' to past CBA discussions.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Draisaitl nets OT winner, Oilers top Panthers 4-3 to take Game 1 of Stanley Cup final
Edmonton Oilers' Leon Draisaitl (29) celebrates his game-winning goal against the Florida Panthers in the first overtime period in Game 1 of the NHL Stanley Cup final in Edmonton, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. Leon Draisaitl capped a two-goal effort with the overtime winner to lift the Edmonton Oilers to a 4-3 comeback victory over the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final on Wednesday. Connor McDavid picked up his second assist of the game chipping a pass in front to Draisaitl who scored a power-play goal with just 31 seconds remaining in extra time. Viktor Arvidsson and Mattias Ekholm also scored for the Oilers, who lost the first three games of last year's Cup final against Florida before storming back to force Game 7, where they suffered a narrow 2-1 loss. Stuart Skinner made 29 stops in net for the win. Sam Bennett had a pair of goals and Brad Marchand also scored for the Panthers, who are playing in their third consecutive Stanley Cup final. Sergei Bobrovsky made 42 saves in the loss. Edmonton got off to a tremendous start with a goal just 66 seconds into the opening period. A big rebound from a Kasperi Kapanen shot came out to Draisaitl and he sent his eighth of the playoffs into a wide-open net. It was the fastest goal to start a Cup final in nearly 50 years. Draisaitl didn't score once in last year's final. Florida tied the game at 10:49 of the first period as a Carter Verhaeghe shot ticked off of a sprawling Bennett and past Skinner. The Oilers unsuccessfully challenged the goal, saying Bennett interfered with their goalie on the play, but a quick review went in Florida's favour. It proved costly, as the Panthers struck again just over a minute later on the ensuing power play, with Nate Schmidt making a nice feed to the side of the net to Marchand, who potted his fifth. Florida took a two-goal lead just two minutes into the second period as Schmidt made a nice feed to give Bennett a free lane to the net and he beat Skinner stick-side for his 12th of the playoffs. Bennett set a new franchise record for post-season goals and tying an NHL record for road goals in a playoffs with 11. Edmonton responded just 1:17 later as Arvidsson sent a shot through traffic that ticked off Bobrovsky and in for his second. The Oilers tied the game up with 13:27 to play in the third period as McDavid sent it back to a pinching Ekholm who scored his first. Ekholm was playing in just his second game of the post-season after missing two months with injury, becoming the 20th Oiler with a goal in these playoffs. Edmonton outshot Florida 14-2 in the third period. It was the 19th Game 1 to go to overtime in Stanley Cup final history, with 14 of the 18 winners of those OT contests going on to win the series. NOTES It is just the second Cup final rematch in the past 40 years since Edmonton played the New York Islanders in 1983 and 1984, and first since Detroit and Pittsburgh played each other in 2008 and 2009. The team that lost the first half of the two previous rematches came back to win in the second meeting… Clubs that win Game 1 have gone on to win the Cup 76.5 per cent of the time (65-20), including all of the past four years. UP NEXT Game 2 takes place on Friday in Edmonton. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2025. Shane Jones, The Canadian Press
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
McDavid: Oilers' goalie Skinner ‘gave us a chance to win' Game 1 over Panthers
Florida Panthers' Eetu Luostarinen, left, is stopped by Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner during the first period in Game 1 of the NHL Stanley Cup Final, in Edmonton, on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. Connor McDavid went straight to the point in summing up Stuart Skinner's performance in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final. 'Great again,' the star captain of the Edmonton Oilers said after his team's 4-3 overtime win over the Florida Panthers to win the series-opening game. Call it nine games of greatness now, ever since Skinner returned to the net after Calvin Pickard was lost to injury two games into the Oilers' second-round playoff series with the Vegas Golden Knights. Pickard had replaced Skinner in the Oilers' net after the team's first two games of the playoffs, both high-scoring losses to the Los Angeles Kings. '(Skinner) gave us a chance to win,' McDavid told reporters of the starting goalie's performance Wednesday night before a loud Rogers Place crowd. 'That's all you ask of your goalie. He made some big saves there in the second and in overtime.' Oilers vs. Panthers Florida Panthers' Aleksander Barkov (16) and Edmonton Oilers' Evan Bouchard (2) battle in front as goalie Stuart Skinner (74) makes the save during the third period in Game 1 of the NHL Stanley Cup final in Edmonton, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (JASON FRANSON/THE CANADIAN PRESS) They were big, all right. On the biggest stage of the hockey world. Against the same team Edmonton played in last year's Stanley Cup final and lost by a goal in the seventh and deciding game. While the Panthers took the lead on a first-period power play gifted to them courtesy a failed coach's challenge by Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch on their previous goal – then went up 3-1 on a clear, point-blank look by forward Sam Bennett on his team's eight shot of the game – Skinner held down the fort the rest of the way. Skinner said in the Oilers' dressing room after the game he simply thought of his performance as his job, which is – and you've heard it before – 'to give my team a chance to win.' 'That's what I've got to do,' Skinner said. 'It doesn't really matter how the last period goes, or how the last goal goes in, or the last great save I made, it's all about kind of what you do from there.' He withheld a barrage of Panthers shots the rest of the second period, turning aside 16 more to help allow the Oilers to claw their way back into the game. 'That's all you ask of your goalie. He made some big saves there in the second and in overtime.' — Connor McDavid 'I knew that they were going to have a push, especially in the second period, because you knew that we out shot them pretty good in the first,' Skinner said in the Oilers' dressing room. And with Edmonton coming on in the third period, turning the tables on Florida with a dominant 20 minutes to outshoot them 14-2 and tie the game with six minutes left in it, it set up one last-ditch effort by the Panthers when extra time began. Stuart Skinner Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner stops Florida Panthers' Sam Reinhart (13) during the first overtime period in Game 1 of the NHL Stanley Cup Final, in Edmonton, on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (DARRYL DYCK/THE CANADIAN PRESS) Florida poured on the shots, getting two on net and missing four – including a good chance by Sam Reinhart in close – inside the first minute spent entirely in Edmonton's end. But the Panthers grip on extra time evaporated a couple of minutes later and the Oilers came to life. Halfway through overtime, Edmonton grabbed the momentum, and although Florida managed four more shots, the Oilers won the quality chances battle, with Leon Draisaitl scoring the winner on the power play with 31 seconds left. 'The way that we were able to finish it in a timely manner is massive,' Skinner said. 'You saw that in our faces when we celebrated.'
