For a team that added just three new bodies from last year, there were no bigger developments in training camp than the emergence of professional tryout signee Tobias Rieder.
The team finally made it official Sunday morning that he and Zac Rinaldo had inked one-year, two-way deals worth $700,000 to add depth to the roster.
[snippet id=4748264]
Rieder’s speed and elite penalty killing skills will actually earn him an opening night roster spot, while Rinaldo will undoubtedly start in the minors.
Rieder’s two goals in the final pre-season game Saturday against his former Edmonton club was big for the confidence of the 26-year-old German, who went scoreless in 67 games with the Oilers last season.
Although a different player, Rieder should be counted on to essentially fill the shoes of departed grinder Garnet Hathaway, who scored 11 goals last year while spending valuable time on the penalty kill unit.
The question is whether Rieder can get back to playing in the dirty areas Hathaway thrived in – something Rieder knows he has to work on.
It says plenty about the talent and depth of the defending Western Conference regular season champs that there were very few developments or surprises in camp other than two lads on tryouts.
Here are a few other takeaways:
GOALIE GRADING
Cam Talbot opened his tenure as a Flame allowing three goals on nine shots in an overtime loss, drawing Bronx cheers from a crowd that perhaps needed a bit of time to get over the fact he was a longtime Oiler.
His play from that point on improved tremendously, gaining the trust of a coaching staff confident the veteran reclamation project has regained enough confidence and form to push David Rittich all season long.
Rittich had a great pre-season, allowing just three goals in 60 shots over three games.
He’s poised to be the opening night starter with an eye on playing roughly 50 games for a team that needs him more than perhaps any other player.
These are uncharted waters for Rittich, so plenty is riding on whether he’s ready to handle the pressure and responsibility of backstopping one of the league’s most talented teams.
So far the start has been good.
The plan is to ride the hot hand, as they did last year, with Rittich getting every opportunity to be the alpha dog and play slightly more games.
[snippet id=4167285]
THE LUCIC FACTOR
The pressure is off the big man as he knows the most he’ll be asked to do here is be a good teammate, serve as the ultimate protector and toil on the third or fourth line.
His time here won’t be measured in goals and assists, but moxie.
That said, he filled in for Matthew Tkachuk on the first power-play unit in Game 6 of the pre-season and looked good doing it.
He’ll start the season on the second PP unit as a net-front presence, from where he scored Saturday against his former team.
Popular in the dressing room already, one big question is how long he’ll be popular in town.
The locals will be able to overlook his salary and stats as long as he’s an engaged participant on most nights.
So far so good as he’s appeared very relaxed in his new environment and role.
TOP LINES COMPLETE
There was talk heading into the pre-season that coach Bill Peters was going to tinker with the top two trios by experimenting with Tkachuk on the top line alongside Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan.
Alas, Tkachuk’s late arrival squashed that, giving Elias Lindholm the Day 1 assignment with the big boys.
Mikael Backlund left Saturday’s game with an undisclosed ailment, but assuming he’s good to go by Thursday, he will anchor the second unit with Tkachuk.
Frolik seems the obvious go-to for the second-line wing gig, but a solid camp by Sam Bennett makes one wonder if he will be elevated to line two.
JOHNNY BE PRETTY GOOD
Fresh off a 99-point season, Gaudreau has looked good in pre-season, scoring twice and adding a pair of assists.
While he no doubt elevated himself to superstar status last year, questions will dog him all season long about last year’s playoffs, in which he had one assist in five games.
Only a solid post-season will be able to erase that talk.
There’s familiarity and history of success alongside Monahan, which won’t be changing any time soon.
THE OTHEHR AUSTIN
Last year was Austin Czarnik’s NHL breakthrough with 54 games (six goals, 18 points), but it was bittersweet because he spent plenty of time as a healthy scratch.
This year he has designs to be a regular contributor.
The good news is he had a good camp, scoring twice in his first pre-season game, adding an assist and making it clear there will be no debate as to whether the team will have to try sneaking him through waivers to get to the minors.
The team is being patient with the 26-year-old in the final year of his $1.25 million contract, but lapses in play will see him as the odd-man out due to the team’s forward depth.
CUTS
The Flames depth is such that local diehards are debating daily who should be the 13th forward on a team that will likely carry just one extra forward, as opposed to the traditional two.
Rieder’s play changed the picture a bit as he will undoubtedly open the season with the team.
Rinaldo will not, and there’s a good chance he might not see NHL action this season, unless there are several key injuries or Milan Lucic is out, prompting some muscle in the lineup. (If that’s even still a thing.)
The early victims would appear to be Dillon Dube and Alan Quine heading down to start the season.
Dube had a good camp with a couple goals, but is still being pushed to improve his wall play and the defensive side of his game. He can go down without having to clear waivers, so he likely will.
[relatedlinks]
Quine was up and down last year therefore the club isn’t worried the veteran will be snapped up on waivers.
At the back end, it appears the battle between Michael Stone and Oliver Kylington for the sixth spot alongside Rasmus Andersson will see them both stay with the club to start.
Veteran Andrew MacDonald was a strong consideration as a PTO signee, but he was not signed Sunday. Still a chance they could revisit that, of course.
Jusso Valimaki would otherwise have been a top-sixer, but he will start the season on the injured reserve following off-season knee surgery that will keep him out until well past Christmas. Upon his return, the team will have eight viable NHL options on defence.
CHIP SHOTS
It became evident in camp that solid showings from players like Glenn Gawdin and Adam Ruzicka demonstrated they certainly have shots at NHL looks later this season if the injury bug hits the Flames hard.
Neither looked out of place.