FLAMES RETOOL TRACKER: The state of the centre position
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It's a quiet time in the Calgary Flames' calendar.
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Their season ended a little less than a month ago and it's still roughly six weeks until the NHL Draft.
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So what better time to dive deep into where they stand in their famous retool, right? How close are they to contention? Where are their strengths and weaknesses? What are their priorities going to be in the draft, free agency and the trade market?
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Over the next five weeks, our Flames beat reporters Danny Austin and Wes Gilbertson will be going position-by-position to look at the state of the Flames' rebuild. We're kicking things off this week by looking at centre and today's big-picture look at their roster, prospects and future needs.
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There's no position on the ice where the Flames need to add more depth than at centre, but where do they actually stand? Let's take a look:
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The sure things
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Assuming the earth doesn't tilt over from its axis over the summer, we know Nazem Kadri and Mikael Backlund are going to be playing centre for the Flames this season. Kadri will be on the first line, leading the team's offensive charge and putting up numbers, whoever is on his wings. Backlund will be in the middle of the Flames' shutdown line, likely alongside Blake Coleman, quietly captaining his team, leading the penalty kill and doing all the other quiet things his team requires of him.
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There can't be any complaints about the work either guy put in last season. They were important leaders in the locker room and had generally good years. It is, however, worth pointing out that Backlund is 36 years old and entering the last year of his contract. Kadri is 34, and while he hasn't slowed down, time eventually catches up to everybody. They're important pieces of the retool, but if the focus is on the future, they may not be around when the Flames are truly trying to contend for a Stanley Cup.
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Something to prove
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Hopes should still be high for Morgan Frost. Acquired alongside winger Joel Farabee in the deal that sent Jakob Pelletier and Andrei Kuzmenko to Philadelphia, the 25-year-old could be a fixture on the Flames power-play and a middle-six pivot for years to come … but the early returns didn't exactly blow anyone away. Frost had only three goals and nine assists in 32 games with the Flames and those numbers don't exactly fill you with confidence, do they? Were those numbers the result of a tough, confidence-draining end to his time in Philly under John Tortorella? Could a good summer and a full training camp with the Flames bring out the best in him? He's a restricted free agent this summer and it's going to be interesting to see how much the Flames are willing to offer him. How much do you pay for potential?
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Zary's potential
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Connor Zary has established himself as a full-time NHLer over the past two seasons while playing on the wing, but there has been persistent chatter about him playing in the middle and it can't be ignored. Injuries hampered Zary's production and games played this season, but there were stretches when he was one of the Flames' most eye-catching offensive players. If the team is planning for life post-Backlund and you factor in an inevitable decline for Kadri as he enters his late 30s, it might make sense to start transitioning the 23-year-old Zary to the centre of the ice. Even if they do draft a few centres this season, it'll be a little while before they're ready to contribute at the NHL level, so Zary could be useful in the middle for the next couple of seasons, at least.
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