There is something wrong.
Darryl Sutter has been in no rush to admit it, his actions over the past 14 months have done anything but pay homage to it, but the fact remains, she’s broken and she needs fixed.
When building a sports franchise, more often than not the things that need improving are as obvious as the nose on one’s face. The Tampa Bay Lightning need goaltending, the Los Angeles Kings need patience and time, the Toronto Maple Leafs need to start over from square one.
Sometimes, though, the ailment isn’t as easy to diagnose. There are good players in all positions, a roster that appears deep, and a group in place that look to be great on paper although said greatness often doesn’t make it as far as the ice.
Such is the case with the Calgary Flames.
They don’t get it done consistently enough within games, or from game to game to warrant their expenditure in salary or their age on their birth certificates. Change is needed if the team is to become a contender and perhaps win a Stanley Cup while a great core seems to be in place. Winning timeframes in team building are tight and short lived, so with that said the time for tinkering on the edges of the roster is over and a new way of looking at things is somewhat overdue.
Some NHL clubs are saddled with mediocre high priced players with no trade clauses blocking general managers from rectifying the situation. In Toronto, Cliff Fletcher is stuck trying to deal a good players that wants to stay (Mats Sundin and Tomas Kaberle) and two players that would have little by way of interested suitors even if they did agree to move (Darcy Tucker and Bryan McCabe).
The Flames are lucky in that regard, in that the no move clauses within their roster are all players that Sutter would want to keep. In Miikka Kiprusoff, Robyn Regehr, Dion Phaneuf and Jarome Iginla the Flames have four high end solid players that are both talented and good characters in which to build. On the surface they should provide the nerve center for the club and the direction on the ice. Too often they are not however.
It’s hard to lead from the crease, so we’ll give Kiprusoff the pass on the impassioned call to arms, though he needs to provide a spark by overcoming some down periods from his team more often, like he did in San Jose last week.
Robyn Regehr is a guy that never takes a night off, but can only do so much to inspire his teammates on the ice. Playing the opposition hard and setting the tone physically is his forte, and he does that very well most nights.
Of the core, Dion Phaneuf is probably the best of the group for leading his club through his play, as he brings a bombastic, energetic style to the club that can change the complexion of a game at a moment’s notice. In the future with maturity this energy will be boon to the club more often than not, but his young age compared to the other three core pieces leads to many mistakes and sometimes the opposite result.
The captain, Jarome Iginla is clearly a star player in this league, but at times just isn’t the straw that stirs the Flames drink when the team is down. He is the player when things are going strong but seems to be the poster boy for the club malaise when the team is inexplicably bad as they’ve been since the all star break in most starts. So how does Sutter build around this group and change the team going forward?
In past eras and seasons teams with good rosters but bad performance would look to a coaching change to change their fortunes on the ice. The Flames since a brutal game seven performance against Anaheim in 2006 have gone through three coaches with little change to their ability to show their talent on the ice. They’ve tried youth and technical and they’ve tried experienced and motivational but neither has been able to capture the team that has looked good on paper.
If the coach isn’t the problem, the key has to be leadership, and bringing in players with experience, and a track record of winning at all levels; at least that was the way to alter chemistry in the old NHL. Sutter tried exactly that with the likes of Tony Amonte, Jeff Friesen, Darren McCarty, Craig Conroy, Wayne Primeau, Owen Nolan and a handful of others. All these players have won in other locals and should, at least in theory provide the added direction that the team has been sorely missing.
They may have done just that, but the results haven’t been seen on the ice.
A look around the NHL has shown a dramatic change to the way teams have been built and the value on different subsets of hockey players. The teams that churn through the regular season and playoffs now have a great bubbling group of youth that pushes the envelope with energy on the ice, a reverse leadership if you will where the young at heart inspire their cantankerous elders despite their lack of experience in pressure cooker games.
When these players are more than just hopped up energizer bunnies so much the better as we’ve seen with teams like the Ducks where the Ryan Getzlafs and Cory Perrys push for more ice time and more responsibility creating a team that comes at you in waves.
So the Flames need to get younger and they need to get faster. They need to up the exuberance index, but they can’t do it through quick youngsters without any talent.
That creates two issues for a general manager heading into first a trade deadline and next into what should become a summer of change.
One, he have to move bodies off the roster in order to make space for said youth, and then second he need to take stock of the youth in the Flames’ system and determine if they have the chops to step in and do the job.
The first task can be a difficult one. Which vets do you move? And do you make the choices based on the players you least want to keep (very little market value), or move the players that afford you the easiest chance to trade, and the most in terms of return?
For example a player like Adrian Aucoin or Alex Tanguay are both have a year left on their contracts and hold some value to other teams, while a guy like Rhett Warrener has the same contract term but wouldn’t demand a whole lot of interest.
Moving the first two to the highest bidder at the deadline would probably decimate the Flames playoff chances; both in their ability to get in and in their ability to advance should they make it, but would go a long way to freeing the team up in the summer to make the types of changes the team is needed. Soon to be UFAs like Owen Nolan and Craig Conroy won’t help you much in the summer, but if they can garner an interesting young player or a decent pick they too could be move to help the Flames shape the 2008-09 edition of the club.
Players like Warrener may have to be bought out in order to turn the page.
Assume for a minute the Flames manage to move some of these veteran players, leaving a clean slate for which to build in the summer, the next task is looking within the system for suitable replacements. Do the Flames have a half dozen young players ready to make an impact? At first glance probably not.
On the roster they have a couple of good young players that seem to have the ability to do more than a crowded roster is affording them. David Moss has good size, and makes the right play in his own zone more often than not, but hasn’t had the ice time nor the responsibility to take his game to the next level. The same can be said for the younger Dustin Boyd, who spends more time playing catch with the likes of Eric Godard and very little with skilled wingers that can assist him in developing his game.
On the farm sits Eric Nystrom, a player that has limited offensive skill but a high degree of jam as was witnessed this season in Calgary. The health of the roster pushed him down to Quad City despite the fact that he is exactly what is needed in Calgary.
Beyond that the Flames have some journeyman prospects and some energy players in the farm, but no other players that can jump into the club’s top nine for next season. Further out the Flames have a number of interesting draft picks that if developed properly could provide the next generation of boost to the roster.
In Mikael Backlund the Flames have gifted puck handler that dominated at the World Juniors, but will he be ready to step in next season? Chances are no, but the Flames should take a good long look at him at camp again and give him an exhibition game or two.
John Negrin has been a pleasant surprise this season, suggesting the Flames have a dark horse on their hands that could fill into the club’s top four on the blueline sooner than you’d think. Add Matt Pelech to Negrin and the team is likely in better shape on the backend going forward.
Beyond that the Flames would need a surprising surge by the likes of Dan Ryder, Juuso Puustinen or a John Armstrong to provide an option going forward unless they look outside the roster.
Which brings us to the third step in the process, replenishing the system.
Darryl Sutter has had it right in recent drafts when he moved down the draft order if a player they felt they needed to select was either already taken, or expected to be available with a later pick. Players like Negrin in the third round can be found, especially if you have a few additional lottery tickets in your back pocket.
If the offers for some of the veterans may seem minimal, coming in the form of third, fourth and fifth round picks so be it … they will give Sutter more options on draft day, perhaps taking away the need to stock pile picks at the draft due to moves made in the next week.
These picks can be used to add more players to the system, but also to deal to other teams at the draft for established young players and prospects as well.
Add in the odd camp invitee or obscure deal bringing in a young player found by the team’s pro scouting group and you have the makings of a rebuild in Calgary on the fly, much like the Flyers managed in the past off season.
This team is limping towards what appears to be one of two disappointing finishes to their 2008 season; a quick exit in the first round, or a missing of the playoffs altogether. Both of those results will meet more harsh critiques from fans and the local media than Sutter taking the bull by the horns and moving towards a successful next season right now.
The Calgary market is patient and educated, the market is ripe for a surprise seller, and the time is now for the Flames to blow up the perimeter of their hockey operation.
Get to work Mr. Sutter, in a 30 team league you only get so many chances to take advantage of a dominant core, wasting seasons in the middle of the pack is not the way to Lord Stanley.
