Stat Hockey’s Calgary Flames 2023-24 Line Projections

This is a look at the Calgary Flames 2023-24 line projections. It will cover all forward lines, defense pairings, goaltenders, and scratches.

Projected Lineup

F

Jonathan Huberdeau – Elias Lindholm – Yegor Sharangovich

Jakob Pelletier – Nazem Kadri – Dillon Dube

Andrew Mangiapane – Mikael Backlund – Blake Coleman

Walker Duehr – Adam Ruzicka – Matthew Coronato

S- Kevin Rooney, Dryden Hunt

D

Noah Hanifin – Rasmus Andersson

Oliver Kylington – MacKenzie Weegar

Nikita Zadorov – Chris Tanev

S- Jordan Oesterle

G

Jacob Markstrom

Dan Vladar

Forwards

There should be three new full time additions to the lineup, so while things are figured out, there should be some line shuffling. Some are expecting bigger things from this Flames team with a new coach and more freedom to play. The top line should feature the team’s two best players, Lindholm and Huberdeau. As long as Lindholm is still here, he will be the top center with his defensive and offensive capabilities. Huberdeau is great offensively, and should return to a point-per-game this season. The third member who will play on the right wing will likely change, but to start, Sharangovich should have a chance. He was acquired this summer and has a 24 goal season under his belt already.

I feel like the second and third line can almost be interchangeable with how strong Backlund played last season. But since he led arguably the best third line in the league, we are going to keep that looking the same with Coleman and Mangiapane on his wings. Backlund might have a tough time repeating a career year offensively, but his defense, along with Coleman, won’t waiver. More is expected from Mangiapane, and I do believe his shooting percentage rises back to the norm.

With the third line taken care of, we’ll go back up to the second. Kadri plays best in the second hole down the middle, so that’s where he’ll stay. Dube has been on the rise and should improve again this season in a top-six role all season long. The other spot will likely be shuffled throughout the season too as there’s two top prospects who deserve to be higher than the fourth line, Pelletier and Coronato. Since Pelletier has established himself a little more in the AHL and played more NHL games, I think he starts on the second line and improves his scoring pace.

Coronato will then unfortunately have to start out lower than the Flames would like, but they don’t have many options to move down right now. If anything happens like a trade or injury, he’ll be the first moved up if he isn’t already tested out higher in the lineup early in the season. Ruzicka had a good season in 2022-23, but was limited to 44 games. He should have a full time role this season, but it might be tough to really blow by the 20 points he had. Duehr is a young-ish talent that should earn more playing time than the fringe players expected to just make the team as extras. We’ll see what he can do.

Defense

The Flames will be coming back with mostly the same defensive unit as last season, except it has improved. The top pairing, barring a Hanifin trade, should stay the same and continue to play very solid at both ends of the ice. Andersson has turned into more of the offensive presence while Hanifin is stable all over and can help out offensively.

The second pairing is where things might shift around as the Flames test out the chemistry. Weegar is a lock, that’s for sure, but he can play both sides of the ice and it opens up different opportunities. Kylington played great on the left side of the second line in 2021-22, but took a year off. Tanev is very strong defensively and can form a very good shutdown pairing. Or Zadorov can handle those minutes and give the Flames a different look. I settled on Kylington as he is a young talent that they might want to keep around. Give him the opportunity to come back into the lineup on a high note.

Related: Stat Hockey’s Buffalo Sabres 2023-24 Line Projections

That means the third pairing will consist of a righty and lefty. As far as shutdown third pairings go, Tanev and Zadorov would form the best in the league. They are both big and strong defensively. Also in the mix is Oesterle, and I bet we will see a fair bit of him this season. He’s no slouch, but isn’t in the top-six for the Flames if everyone is healthy and still around.

Goaltending

Goaltending will be changing over the course of the year because the Flames have to find a way to get Dustin Wolf into the NHL. A trade partner should be revealed at some point early in the season to move Vladar. For now though, Markstrom is looking to have a bounce back season and Vladar can support him well like last season.