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Today's the day. Preseason is officially kicking off around the league, and the Flames are a part of it with not just one, but two games. In Calgary, the Flames take on the Edmonton Oilers at 6 p.m. MT. Meanwhile, about three hours up north, some other Oilers will host more Flames, also at 6 p.m. MT. Both games will be available to stream online, and if you miss them, we'll have recaps up for you after.
Why they can't stagger split squad games, we'll never know. Seriously, would it be that hard to start one of the games at 6:30? Anyway, here are the projected lineups for the game in Calgary:
| Calgary Flames | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing | |||
| Mason Raymond | Sean Monahan | Jiri Hudler | |||
| Johnny Gaudreau | Joe Colborne | Devin Setoguchi | |||
| Brandon Bollig | Max Reinhart | Josh Jooris | |||
| Morgan Klimchuk | Corban Knight | Garnet Hathaway | |||
| Left Defense | Right Defense | ||||
| Mark Giordano | TJ Brodie | ||||
| Ryan Culkin | Sheldon Brookbank | ||||
| Brett Kulak | Deryk Engelland | ||||
| Goalies | |||||
| Jonas Hiller | |||||
| Brad Thiessen | |||||
| Edmonton Oilers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing | |||
| Nail Yakupov | Mark Arcobello | Teddy Purcell | |||
| Iiro Pakarinen | Anton Lander | Steven Pinizzotto | |||
| Matt Hendricks | Boyd Gordon | Jussi Joensuu | |||
| Mitch Moroz | Jujhar Khaira | Chris Baltisberger | |||
| Left Defense | Right Defense | ||||
| Nikita Nikitin | Mark Fayne | ||||
| Martin Marincin | Dillon Simpson | ||||
| Jordan Oesterle | David Musil | ||||
| Goalies | |||||
| Viktor Fasth | |||||
| Laurent Brossoit | |||||
And in Edmonton:
| Calgary Flames | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing | |||
| Curtis Glencross | Matt Stajan | David Jones | |||
| David Wolf | Bill Arnold | Austin Carroll | |||
| Sven Baertschi | Markus Granlund | Paul Byron | |||
| Lance Bouma | Mathieu Tousignant | Brian McGrattan | |||
| Left Defense | Right Defense | ||||
| Kris Russell | Dennis Wideman | ||||
| Ladislav Smid | Raphael Diaz | ||||
| Mark Cundari | Nolan Yonkman | ||||
| Goalies | |||||
| Mason McDonald | |||||
| Joni Ortio | |||||
| Edmonton Oilers | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing | |||
| Taylor Hall | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | Greg Chase | |||
| Benoit Pouliot | Leon Draisaitl | David Perron | |||
| Marc-Olivier Roy | Will Acton | Kyle Platzer | |||
| Vladimir Tkachev | Bogdan Yakimov | Kevin Westgarth | |||
| Left Defense | Right Defense | ||||
| Darnell Nurse | Justin Schultz | ||||
| Andrew Ference | Brad Hunt | ||||
| Keith Aulie | Oscar Klefbom | ||||
| Goalies | |||||
| Ben Scrivens | |||||
| Richard Bachman | |||||
No surprises here: both teams are saving their biggest players for at home, and it's not a stretch to think that both home rosters will probably kick around the away team a little. That said, of course, how awesome would it be for a Flames sweep tonight? It's certainly possible.
Some thoughts on the Flames lineups:
- The first and second lines at home, and the first and third lines away could all be real NHL lines. I'm especially interested in the Baertschi - Granlund - Byron line, since that's a line that might end up in the AHL this year instead, but they should be able to complement one another very nicely.
- There's a fair share of grit lines mixed in there as well, of course. Carroll seems to have done nothing but impress, as he gets to play with two more players the organization is excited about. Arnold probably won't play in the NHL for a bit yet, but the freshly brought in Wolf could definitely snag a bottom six spot. It's a nice story for the seventh rounder.
- The Flames are showing off pretty much all their free agent and trade acquisitions at home. So they better be good.
- Reinhart and Knight are probably battling for the same spot, so it makes sense to keep them close together. That said, of all their wingers, Klimchuk has the greatest potential.
- I wouldn't hate a Giordano - Brodie / Russell - Wideman / Smid - Diaz defence throughout the NHL season. The defence in Edmonton is deeper, but the defence in Calgary has the elite Giordano - Brodie pairing, so it evens out.
- Kinda weird how they're playing the goonier type defencemen with prospects, though. What are the expectations there, for both parties?
- At least in Calgary, Hiller will be playing the first 40 minutes, while Thiessen takes the final period. Hiller is almost certainly making the team, while Thiessen will almost certainly be the AHL team's backup. Meanwhile, Ortio gets the start in Edmonton, and there will probably be a similar split. McDonald is almost certainly going back to junior, while Ortio is almost certainly going to be Adirondack's starter.
There's definitely a lot to look for in both games. Even with injuries, between the two teams, there are enough veterans to make a full lineup. There isn't a lot of room for prospects to grab spots, and there are definitely a few - Gaudreau, Reinhart, Knight, Wolf, Baertschi, and Granlund - who could all probably play a regular NHL shift this season. It'll be a tight, interesting battle, all entering another gear in just a few hours.