CALGARY — Simon Nemec came to Calgary with hopes he’d run the Flames’ power play.
On Friday, he got his wish. For now.
OK, so it was Day 2 of camp, and the battle between him and Zayne Parekh to quarterback the top unit is one that may very well be hotly contested for the next handful of years.
But, for openers, the 22-year-old got the nod when he was trotted out alongside Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee, Matvei Gridin and Matt Coronato at practice Friday.
“They both want to run the power play, so I hope one of them really takes charge of it, and it doesn't matter to me who it is,” said Flames coach Ryan Huska.
“I think they're both really good with that part of their game. I think that competition that we like to see created within is going to make both players better. They're going to eventually push each other — that's our hope.
“So I feel like we have a luxury now that we have two guys on the back end. If one is really going one night, we'll just let him run with it. And if he's having an off night, it's easy for us to go to the other guy.”
The Flames were the NHL’s lowest-scoring team last year, thanks in part to the second-worst power play in the loop, at 16.2 per cent.
Having an effective leader for both units will be crucial for a team that will struggle once again to score goals.
Gone are Rasmus Andersson and MacKenzie Weegar, who were the team’s previous two power-play pivots.
In comes two youngsters who are expected to be franchise pillars for the rebuilding club.
“I think he moves the puck maybe more than me, and I'm more like the shooter than passer, I would say,” said Nemec of their different styles. “So I think we can also play together. We can play everyone in different units, but I think that's good for this team.”
The second power-play unit trotted out Friday was Ryan Strome, Maxim Tsyplakov, Conor Zary and Yegor Sharangovich with Parekh.
Reschny named captain
Flames prospect Cole Reschny, who turned 19 in April, has been named the youngest captain in the history of the University of North Dakota. His teammates voted to hand the Flames first-round pick the captaincy after a solid freshman season in which he has 35 points in 36 games and starred for Canada at the world juniors.
Reschny is not in camp with the Flames, as he is ineligible to participate as an NCAA player. He is one of four collegiate prospects who have said they plan to join the Flames at the conclusion of this season — a list which includes nationwide scoring leader Ethan Wyttenbach, sixth pick Carson Carels and Cullen Potter.
Othmann signed
The Flames’ lone contract holdout had his contract situation resolved in time for practice Friday, when it was announced 23-year-old forward Brennan Othmann inked a one-year, two-way deal paying him $975,000 in the bigs, and $220,000 in the minors. Othmann, who spent small parts of three season with the Rangers, was acquired in exchange for Jacob Battaglia in March. He had a goal and an assist in two games with the Flames.
Pospisil up the middle
One of the questions heading into camp was who would be the team’s fourth centre, which Huska has answered by putting Martin Pospisil there, ahead of college signings Tyson Gross and Jonathan Castagna.
“I watched Marty play in the middle at the world championships again this year, and he did a really good job,” said the coach.
“He stayed in that position the entire time. I bounced him around a little bit last year, but he’s going to stay there for a bit. He's going to have an opportunity to fill in that role. Marty's also going to be killing penalties for us this year, so we're going to find ways where we're going to increase the value that he feels on a daily basis.
“I want to see if he can do it for us, and we need it. I mean, we need some competition there. We have some young guys that are pushing. We know who those players are, but I want to give Marty that opportunity.”
The lines
Huska said he expected the lines to stay largely intact throughout this shortened camp, with Chase Harrington expected to be sent back to Spokane in short order, and Alex Nylander here on a PTO.
Gridin — Frost — Coronato
Honzek — Backlund — Farabee
Zary — Strome — Sharangovich
Tsyplakov — Pospisil — Klapka
Harrington — Nylander
Bahl — Nemec
Kuznetsov — Whitecloud
Middleton — Parekh
Hanley — Pachal
Wolf
Cooley
