Should Dustin Wolf get an NHL game? 3 Flames keys for their final 10 games
On Monday night, the Calgary Flames played their worst game of the year. It’s one thing to lose to the Los Angeles Kings, the league’s hottest team since Feb. 1, because of talent. It’s one thing to lose because of a tight, one-goal effort like what they suffered against the Dallas Stars. But allowing four goals in the opening period on the way to allowing four more by the game’s end?
“That was a brutal game,” Andersson said Monday night. “There’s nothing more to say, really. Quick turnaround. We’ve got to be better tomorrow.”
OK, how about another quote from Darryl Sutter? He didn’t think his team’s energy was the problem that night.
“It’s not always about energy,” Sutter said. “Sometimes it’s about getting outplayed.”
How did the quick turnaround go? They beat the Ducks and never let go of the gas pedal in a 5-1 win in Anaheim. After all that, the Flames find themselves back at square one. They entered their two-game California trip four points behind the Winnipeg Jets. They return home four points back with a home date against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night.
The Flames’ odds still don’t look great and they will need more help from the flailing Jets and the Nashville Predators, who still have three games in hand. Entering Tuesday, Dom Luszczyszyn’s playoff odds model ranked the Flames’ chances of making the playoffs at 21 percent. Things could always change if the Jets continue to lose games. But the Flames are running out of time, and they cannot afford to have any more duds like what they did against the Kings. The Flames have been given easy opportunities to pick up points during this final stretch and they’ve fumbled them.
As fluid as their situation is, the Flames have a number of keys they’ll need to address on and off the ice by season’s end. We’ll spare you the obvious ones about how goaltending needs to be better and offence has to be consistent.
The Flames’ home record must improve, scoreboard watching
As long as the Flames haven’t been officially eliminated from playoff contention, we can still focus on what they have to do in order to qualify for next month’s postseason. Seven of the Flames’ next 10 games will be at home which is both good and bad. Judy Garland can click her heels as many times as she wants and tell us that there’s no place like home, but the Flames’ home record isn’t something to be overwhelmingly proud of at 16-14-4. It will have to improve over the next 10 games. All of the Flames’ remaining games are against Western Conference teams, and there are opponents ahead whom the Flames have winning records against.
If you’re wondering, entering Tuesday’s games, Dom’s model has the Flames with the easiest strength of schedule of any NHL team for the remainder of the season.
But even a stellar finish to their season might not be enough of a guarantee if the Predators make up those games in hand and pull ahead of the Flames without letting go. However, the Predators have the toughest strength of schedule according to Dom’s model. The Jets, meanwhile, have the sixth easiest. Winnipeg also has four more regulation wins — and nine more regulation and overtime wins — than Calgary, which matters a ton in a tie-breaking scenario.
Too long, didn’t read? The Flames need to win and they need the Jets and Predators to lose a lot.
The future may be on its way in Coronato, but what about Wolf?
Even if the Flames don’t fully fall out of the playoff purview, fans are wondering with bated breath if they’ll see their two biggest prospects, Dustin Wolf and Matthew Coronato, at any point between now and the end of the regular season. Coronato told us he’ll make his decision at the end of his season, which could come this weekend if Harvard gets eliminated from the NCAA men’s hockey tournament. In a world where the Flames sign Coronato immediately after Harvard is eliminated by Ohio State, Coronato would have a maximum of eight games he could play with the Flames this season.
But what about their prized goaltending prospect Dustin Wolf? He is the American Hockey League’s best goaltender, leading in wins, shutouts, save percentage and goals-against average. Some fans have wondered why the Flames won’t consider calling him up for this stretch run. When we last spoke to Flames director of goaltending Jordan Sigalet back in February, the plan was to keep Wolf in the AHL and let him continue to dominate.
“You got to be patient with Dustin,” Sigalet told The Athletic. “I know he’s ready to play NHL games, but you got to wait for the right time and you don’t want to rush them. You see some young goalies get rushed. And it hurts them more than it helps them.
“We know Wolfie’s ready, but you want to be patient with him.”
There are some examples of rookie goaltenders catching fire and leading their teams to impromptu Stanley Cup glory. Jordan Binnington, Matt Murray and Cam Ward are recent ones who come to mind. While there are examples to follow, it seems clear the Flames would rather let Jacob Markstrom and Dan Vladar finish the year as opposed to throwing their rookie goaltender into the fire.
That being said, it would be a fun reward to see Wolf make his NHL debut if the Flames find themselves out of playoff contention before the season’s end, if only for the Flames to have some kind of idea of what they have in Wolf at the NHL level and to give fans something to look forward to.
Darryl Sutter and Brad Treliving’s futures
Winning cures all ills. Perhaps the Flames can still win enough games to make this year’s postseason and the story could go from ‘what went wrong’ to ‘how did they turn things around?’
In the meantime, the Flames are still playing through a season in which they are trending toward falling short of expectations. As a result, some are focusing on Flames head coach Darryl Sutter and whether or not his approach is the best one for the team. Their record would say no, but the Flames also extended Sutter before the beginning of the season. However, because of the team’s current state, it is more than fair to question if the team would want to keep Sutter for next season or consider a coaching change.
There is also nothing new to report when it comes to GM Brad Treliving and his contract status for next season. With his contract set to expire at year’s end, it is also fair to wonder about his future and if it is worth giving him an extension.
It might not be something these next 10 games will solve — perhaps the damage has been done already — but these next few games are an ideal time to see the team, Treliving and even Sutter take a moment of reflection to consider what is best for the Flames and themselves going forward.
