Day one of Calgary Flames training camp 2013 gave us a true look at how Head Coach Bob Hartley wants things to run. After only getting one week of camp in his first season with the Flames, Hartley had three groups of players split between two sheets of ice on Thursday morning as players hit the ice for the first time. Practices were up-tempo and intense and looked to set the tone for the three weeks to come.
The most interesting piece of information to come from Thursday might have been Hartley’s decision to reveal his utilization of newcomer T.J. Galiardi. The Flames coach has decided to use Galiardi at center ice to start the season, a position he hasn’t seen a lot of in his six NHL seasons.
With Mikael Backlund and Matt Stajan the only two natural centers held over from last season, it’s fairly safe to say Galiardi joins those two as the top three down the middle. With center ice not being the team’s strong suit, it opens up a very intriguing battle through camp for the fourth job. For my money, there are four guys I could see get the nod when the season starts on October 3rd.
Sean Monahan
The sixth overall selection in June’s draft looks to be physically and mentally mature enough to give the NHL a shot as an 18 year old. The question is, will his game be at a mature enough level for him to make the team out of camp?
Being a product of the OHL and the Ottawa 67’s, Monahan is able to play nine games at the NHL level before tolling a year of his entry-level contract. Knowing where the Flames are in their rebuilding process, there’s a pretty decent chance he’ll at the very least get his shot in that free window period. But will it be at center ice?
The problem here is that Monahan playing behind the aforementioned three already penciled in doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Playing fourth line minutes in the NHL for a player with Monahan’s skill level and ceiling wouldn’t make much sense. The best case would be to see him elevate as one of the top two centers, as that’s what he’s best suited for in the grand scheme of things. Monahan will be given every chance to beat out the guys in front of him, but it’s anything but a guarantee that will happen.
We may very well see Monahan start his NHL career as a winger, if he starts his pro career at all in 2013. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if that were the case, and it would allow Calgary to ease him along slowly. Of course, with three weeks still to go in camp, Monahan first has to prove he belongs in the NHL fulltime. If there are even a few question marks about that, a return to Ottawa is likely the best option.
Corban Knight
Also entering his first pro season, Knight is a little more developed than Monahan, simply because he’s older. The Flames acquired the 23-year-old former fifth round pick from the Panthers this summer. Knight had indicated he wasn’t going to sign in Florida after four years at the University of North Dakota. Instead of letting him walk as a free agent in August, the Panthers traded him to Calgary for a fourth round pick in June’s draft.
Being more than four years older than Monahan, Knight is a little further along in his development, which might give him a leg up for a job to start the season. Knight is a little more physically mature, and just as important, has four years of NCAA hockey under his belt.
Knight was a point-per-game player for his final three years in college, and had interest from a number of other teams before finally settling on Calgary. While his production was good at UND, scouts are higher on his all round game and are quite fond of how responsible he is inside his own blueline.
Knight may be the most logical spot to grab the fourth center position. Not only is he a little older and advanced, his game seems to fit a role further down the depth chart fairly well. Couple Knight’s two way game with extremely proficient work in the faceoff dot, and things start to fall into place. On top of all that, Knight’s ceiling isn’t as high as Monahan and would be hurt less playing fewer and less crucial minutes.
Max Reinhart
Here’s another player who could fit a bottom two center role very well. Reinhart’s game has always been prided on responsibility at both ends of the ice, going back to his time with the Kootenay Ice in the Western Hockey League. The former third round pick of the Flames was also very impressive prior to the opening of main camp.
Just like Knight and Monahan, Reinhart was in Penticton, British Columbia for the 2013 Young Stars Classic. In the two games he played, Reinhart was among the most polished and impressive players on the ice. Abbotsford Heat Head Coach Troy Ward said he was the best player on the ice for the majority of Calgary’s win over Oilers prospects to open the tournament.
Reinhart also has some NHL experience under his belt, something the prior two guys do not. With the Flames playing out the string, Reinhart got into 11 games late last season, scoring his first goal and finishing with three points. In that short stint, he played all kinds of different roles, including that of a bottom six forward.
Reinhart is a smart player who plays a hard-nosed, responsible brand of hockey. He’s not going to wow you with his skill, but he’ll work hard and keep mistakes to a minimum. Playing the role he might be asked to this season, those are traits that are crucial to have.
Blair Jones
There’s good news and bad news when it comes to Jones. The good news is that he’s done this before, and was pretty decent at it. Prior to his injury in the spring of 2012, Jones had a pretty good stretch of games being buried with tough defensive matchups by former Head Coach Brent Sutter.
Time and time again, Sutter would hammer Jones with defensive starts against whomever the other coach happened to throw out on the ice. It was the first time since Daymond Langkow was in Calgary that a coach was able to bury one player to open up more offensive time for others. It’s no coincidence that Jarome Iginla and Alex Tanguay had some of their best offensive success of 2011-2012 before Jones broke his ankle blocking a shot in Phoenix.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not comparing Jones to Langkow. The latter is one of the better two-way forwards we’ve seen the last number of years, and was at his best during his time with the Flames. Jones can do the job, but isn’t going to put up a ton of points, and isn’t going to outmatch a lot of his opposition. But he’ll hold his own and won’t get scored on a ton, which is just fine in this conversation.
The bad news? Jones wasn’t necessarily in the best books of Calgary’s coaching staff last year. After playing some pretty decent hockey to start the season, Jones was sent to Abbotsford in the American League for what we can safely say were philosophical differences. The prior three paragraphs of positivity won’t matter much if the former Red Deer Rebel can’t get himself back in the good graces of Hartley and his staff.
With Galiardi’s move to center ice, it looks like there will be just one spot up for grabs on the Flames this year, at least to start. If you’re asking me, I think Knight has the best shot of getting the nod when it comes time. I’ll be very interested to see what the other three have to say about that over the next number of weeks.