FLAMES RETOOL TRACKER: In-depth look at the Flames centre positon
The Calgary Flames season may have ended in April and with the NHL draft coming up in June, Postmedia sports reporters Danny Austin and Wes Gilbertson take a deep dive into the team's centre position and what could be needed and what some of the strengths are.
Article content
There's no position on the ice where the Flames need to add more depth than at centre, but where do they actually stand?
Article content
Article content
Article content
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?
Article content
Article content
As they search for long-term solutions at centre, they can't afford to not find out. They should be reminded of that whenever Sam Bennett scores a big goal — or throws a big hit — on behalf of the defending champion Florida Panthers.
Article content
Article content
However, he may also have the most upside of any of Calgary's potential pivots. He spent about a month and a half at that position this season, an audition that was halted by injury.
Article content
It's an experiment that the Flames can't abandon, even if there's not an obvious opening in the short term.
There are several ingredients that could point to success as a centre, his natural position as an up-and-comer. (This lefty would be the first to admit he'll need to improve his work at the dot. He has won just 39.4% of his draws as an NHLer).
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Globe and Mail
4 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Oilers up against the clock to find a winning mix against Panthers in Stanley Cup final
The Edmonton Oilers were the favourites to win the Stanley Cup before the season began but now find themselves on the brink of elimination from the final for the second straight year. After a defeat on Saturday, the Oilers trail the Florida Panthers 3-2 in the best-of-seven and now must win in Sunrise, Fla., on Tuesday to stay alive. They must then do it again on Friday to clinch their first NHL championship in 35 years. It has been a great and odd final series where the opponents have alternated victories. Neither has been able to maintain momentum but now the Panthers are just one victory shy of capturing the Stanley Cup for the second straight year. Florida beat Edmonton in seven games a year ago and at present would seem to hold the upper hand. The Oilers have fallen short in two critical areas that they will have to address to have a chance. The issues are related as well. The first is being outplayed at the beginning of games. They have been outscored 11-4 overall in the first period and 7-0 over the last three contests. 'We have come out flat for most of the series,' Mattias Ekholm, Edmonton's veteran defenceman, said after Saturday's 5-2 loss. 'We have to find a way to be better at that. 'We have to make sure we bear down in games, and it hasn't happened for us. We need to go to Florida and win a game and flip that.' Perhaps Ekholm is being hard on himself and his teammates in so far as three of the five games have gone to overtime. But at this time of year there should be no shortage of desperation. There is no reason a team should not be ready to go at the opening puck drop. Cathal Kelly: Any team can win the Stanley Cup – but only the Panthers truly want to Opinion: Stanley Cup pursuit reignites debate about taxes on player salaries The other crucial issue is that the Oilers' goaltending has been erratic. Stuart Skinner has been excellent, but also pulled from the net twice. Calvin Pickard came on in relief on Thursday and was splendid in an overtime victory where Edmonton fell into a 3-0 hole in the first period. As such he was given the starting nod on Saturday but allowed four goals on 18 shots. Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch cast no blame his way, but it should be pointed out that Sergei Bobrovsky, the Panthers' goalie, has been just OK so far. Knoblauch would not say who would start Game 6 during a media availability early Sunday morning, before the team boarded its charter flight for Fort Lauderdale. 'It's not an easy decision,' Knoblauch said of who would be put in the net while facing elimination. 'We have two goalies that have shown they can play extremely well. We feel no matter who [we would] choose can win the game.' The bigger problem is that Edmonton has been collapsing early and its high-powered offence has turned into a popgun in the three losses. 'It would be nice to get some goal support,' Knoblauch said. 'It would be nice to have the lead and for our goalies to not be in a position where the pressure is on them and they have to make every single save to keep the game close or keep us ahead. 'We've had high-quality chances early. Capitalizing on them would be something good for us.' Neither of the team's superstars – Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl – spoke to journalists after Saturday's game or on Sunday morning. That certainly makes it seem like frustration is mounting. The Oilers took only two penalties in Game 5 but in previous outings have allowed the Panthers to have too many opportunities with a man advantage. 'We have to clean up that issue,' Knoblauch said. 'That has been a big story throughout the series.' There are things that need to be fixed for Edmonton to win. Time is running out.
CTV News
4 hours ago
- CTV News
Senators sign defenceman Lassi Thomson to one-year, two-way contract
Ottawa Senators defenceman Lassi Thomson (60) looks to make a pass while defended by Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Kyle Clifford (43) during third period NHL pre-season action against the Ottawa Senators, in Toronto, on Saturday, September 24, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov The Ottawa Senators have signed defenceman Lassi Thomson to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2025-26 season, the team announced Sunday. The deal carries an average annual value of US$775,000 in the NHL and $300,000 in the American Hockey League. The 24-year-old spent the 2024-25 season with Malmo in the Swedish Hockey League where he compiled 17 goals and 29 points in 50 games. The six-foot, 192-pound Thomson has appeared in 18 NHL games -- 16 in 2021-22 and two in 2022-23 -- with the Senators. Thomson was claimed off waivers by the Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 1, 2023, then reclaimed by Ottawa off waivers on Oct. 9, 2023. He has appeared in 202 games with the Belleville Senators, scoring 24 goals and 93 points for Ottawa's AHL affiliate. Thomson was Ottawa's first-round selection (19th overall) in the 2019 NHL Draft. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 15, 2025.
National Post
5 hours ago
- National Post
SIMMONS: Maurice no overnight sensation, but sensation nonetheless
Bill Zito did a lot of asking around before he hired Paul Maurice to coach the Florida Panthers. In fact, he decided to poll some of his former clients from the days when he was a player agent. He chose three players intentionally to ask a simple question: Who is the best coach you ever played for? One player was an NHL star. One player was an NHL also-ran. One player was mostly a minor-leaguer who had spent some time on NHL rosters. The three players were from different countries. And they all came up with the same answer: Maurice. 'To hear different perspectives on the same thing was fascinating,' said Zito, the highly accomplished general manager of the soon to be back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Panthers. 'It made it a lot easier for me to see the big picture. The players I ask were what I'd call complete hockey geeks, so you don't know what you're going to get from them. 'But I listened to them. I asked a lot of questions. And I think we have the best coach in the business, I really believe that.' Article content Article content Article content Article content Before he coached a game with the Florida Panthers, Maurice was more known for longevity and a sharp sense of humour than he was for success as an NHL coach. He had coached for two years in Hartford, with Carolina twice, Toronto for two years, Winnipeg for nine: An extraordinarily long run without really getting a sniff of the Stanley Cup, although he did make the final once with the Hurricanes. He has lost more NHL games than any other coach in history. He has also coached in more games than anyone not named Scotty Bowman in NHL history. But it wasn't until Zito's call, when Maurice wasn't sure where he was headed after parting ways with the Winnipeg Jets and didn't know if he wanted to coach any more. Then the pieces all came together and the Panthers hired him three summers ago — and the coach once known for hanging around a long time and doing the best news conferences in the game suddenly became a legend. 'I think he was a great coach before he got here,' said Zito. 'He had a lot of success.' But it's now three seasons with the Panthers, three trips to the Cup final, one win away from a second straight championship. How do you do better than that? Only one current NHL coach has won as many as three Stanley Cups and that's Joel Quenneville, who was coach of the Panthers before the NHL and his part in the Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault scandal forced him out of Florida. Article content Article content Article content Quenneville has three. Mike Sullivan and Jon Cooper have two. Maurice is about to join a rather exclusive club at a time when loyalists were hoping that Canada would return to a Stanley Cup celebration for the first time in 32 years. The Panthers are about as Canadian as you can get at the highest level of the NHL. Maurice is from Sault Ste. Marie. His lead assistants, Jamie Kompon and Sylvain Lefebvre, are from Thunder Bay and Quebec. The Conn Smythe favourites, Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett, are from Halifax and Holland Landing, just outside Toronto. Sam Reinhart is from Vancouver. Aaron Ekblad from Windsor. Evan Rodrigues and Carter Verhaeghe are from the Toronto area. Jonah Gadjovich is from Whitby, A.J. Greer is from Joliette, Que. That's a lot of Canadian content for a team that has Roberto Luongo in management, as well as Bryan McCabe and Rick Dudley, all of them prominent Canadian hockey players or voices. But the voices that matter most here belong to the general manager and the coach he hired. Zito says very little publicly. Maurice isn't paid by the word, although sometimes it seems that way.
