Flames Training Camp Preview: How Will Sutter Line Up New Star Acquisitions?

It’s been a long time since there has been so much excitement around the Flames in Calgary.

That’s saying something in a city that just had its first Spring Battle of Alberta in 31 years.

The rollercoaster off-season that saw Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri and MacKenzie Weegar replace Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk and Sean Monahan leaves the Flames with a more experienced and accomplished group that has very few holes or question marks around them.

We’re starting to hear more about how the boys will mesh Thursday when Flames Camp opens.

The team’s goalies and defense are amongst the elite in the league, which means the spotlight will continue to focus on the lads responsible for putting in the goals.

Whether the team is any better than last year won’t be decided until next spring, but people on both sides of the debate will start getting clues relatively soon.

Place for current salary cap: $2.136 million
Director General: Brad Treliving
head coach: Darryl Sutter
Assistant Coach: Kirk Muller, Ryan Huska, and Cail MacLean.
Unsigned Players: Adam Ruzicka

AN IMPORTANT QUESTION: Who is playing where?

The Flames have many of the ingredients necessary to be legitimate contenders this season, but how they all mix together will be the subject of daily water cooler discussions in Calgary.

Line combinations are tweeted during each skate as Darryl Sutter spends camp trying to figure out who goes best with who?

Sutter wondered aloud last week if Huberdeau would be a better winger alongside Elias Lindholm or Nazem Kadri, which is the first piece of the puzzle to determine.

Assuming Lindholm remains the supreme lynchpin, will it be Tyler Toffoli or Andrew Mangiapane playing on her right?

Will Blake Colemen get a top notch audition, or is he better suited alongside Kadri or in the third row with Mikael Backlund with whom he has developed tremendous chemistry?

Is newcomer Kevin Rooney good enough to fend off a camp challenge from PTO invite Cody Eakin, or could Eakin be a viable addition on the wing?

At the back end, everyone wants to know if MacKenzie Weegar fits best alongside Chris Tanev or somewhere else.

Let the shuffling of the lines begin.

A BOOT CAMP FIGHT TO WATCH: Can the kid make it?

In a veteran-laden team where 95 percent of the roster seems set, many are curious if Jakob Pelletier can stand out enough to warrant a spot on Opening Day.

The odds are certainly against it, as Darryl Sutter puts it with unproven youngsters.

Pelletier is a feisty, undersized left winger whose competitiveness and skills made him one of the most successful rookies in the AHL last season, scoring 27 goals and 62 points in 66 games.

The 21-year-old winger could certainly benefit from another heavy workload at the minors and Sutter has long favored veterans he can trust.

However, the door is open for a third-row spot if the former first-rounder can force the issue with a great camp.

Treliving was open last week about his desire to add depth to the wing, which he addressed on Monday by signing Sonny Milano for a PTO.

There’s still a chance that another winger could be added on a trial basis as the team have been exploring multiple options.

Pelletier would need to outplay the eight-year veteran, as well as a number of others in the mix, including the versatile Cody Eakin, who is also in stock on a PTO.

ESTIMATED POSITIONING FROM STOCK

Huberdeau-Lindholm-Toffoli
Coleman-Kadri-Mangiapane
Milan – Backlund – Dube
Lucic-Rooney-Lewis

Hanifin-Andersson
Weegar-Tanev
Zadorov-Kylington

Markstrom
Vladar