ScorchStack Issue #7- The Justin Kirkland Special
Big congratulations to Justin Kirkland!
Justin Kirkland has re-signed with the Calgary Flames, and we’re so excited for him, that we’ve dedicated the whole issue to him!
What’s inside?
The draft is coming up, and we have a guide for understanding which teenagers will become the hopes and dreams of significantly older hockey fans.
We give the NHL some new rules to consider.
One of the NHL’s greatest goaltenders has hit the UFA market- should the Flames come calling?
Justin Kirkland breaks down some of the Flames first round picks that didn’t work out
Since last week
Miikka Kiprusoff is very upset with you. Why? Find out by reading our last issue.
Floob tortured himself and watched an awful hockey musical. He will also be very upset with you if you don’t read it.
I think something happened in the NHL but I can’t quite remember or care to remember what it was. Probably nothing.
The Official 2020 Calgary Flames Draft Primer
It is 100% official and approved by the club, unless you are a lawyer working for the Calgary Flames.
By Christian (@decayinwtheboys)
It’s offseason 3.0 now, the one where everyone is (again) on break and waiting for hockey to resume.
But instead of just twiddling our thumbs as we did in offseason 1.0 (March-June), we have actual hockey things happening. We will be launched yet again into pie-in-the-sky speculation, wacky trade proposals, way too early predictions, the crippling, wide awake in bed anxiety that the team is going to hopelessly fuck everything up and make you question every ticket you ever bought, and all the other offseason fun that gives us something to talk about while waiting for the next season.
And it all kicks off with the draft on Tuesday. The Flames will be in the precarious position of being exactly the right mix of good and bad where they will miss out on the best prospects and hope that enough teams in front of them screw up so that they can get their hands on who they want. It will be cluttered and chaotic, but that’s the draft.
What do the Flames need?
Everything
Well if you don’t like the best player available approach the Flames have been taking in recent years, I’m sorry, but it makes sense to go back to that well.
The Flames currently have two prospects (Jakob Pelletier, Dustin Wolf) who look like surefire NHLers and a bunch of maybes, and none of the maybes have a high enough ceiling. I’m not a drafting genius, but I think the Flames could stand to add some players who have a legitimate chance of making the NHL if they would like to remain good in the future.
Right-handed defencemen
More specifically, this is the clear positional need for the Flames. Only Alex Yelesin and Johannes Kinvall are RHD, but they’re also both in their 20s and have questionable chances at making the NHL. The Flames will likely dip into the UFA pool to shore up their RHD depth this year, but absolutely need to make it a priority at the draft. You can’t keep pulling from the scrap heap.
Right Wing
Little known fact: to pay honour to Jarome Iginla after his departure from the club in 2012, the Flames decided that they would take the unorthodox route and retire his position. Never again would the team have a right wing worth a shit.
Jokes aside, this has been an issue for a number of years. Since Iginla left, the Flames have stepped up to the podium 43 times and selected seven right wings, the earliest being second round bust Hunter Smith. The most notable among that group are Matthew Phillips and Dmitry Zavgorodniy, who are both smalls and both maybes at the NHL level. The situation is not as dire as RHD, but they are really betting big on players with mild chances of making it.
Centre
Not as pronounced as other weak spots in the prospect pool, but the Flames have a minor problem at centre. Sean Monahan, regardless if he’s on his way out or not, isn’t quite up to #1 C standards. Mikael Backlund, fantastic in his own right, also isn’t a #1 C. Derek Ryan isn’t a long term option, and Mark Jankowski, lol. If you’re looking to move on from some of these centres, you also need to acknowledge the difficulty in doing so without any good centre prospects.
The Flames have some help coming in Glenn Gawdin, but he tops out at 3C, and behind him is the highly touted yet incomplete Adam Ruzicka. Then you have a number of centres who have been moved to winger (Martin Pospisil, Jakob Pelletier, Mathias Emilio Pettersen, Zavgorodniy, Phillips), and centres who are very, very far away (Ilya Nikolaev, Josh Nodler). It’s not the most immediate need, but there’s a gap emerging in the long-term picture.
How do they address those needs?
Well we first have to acknowledge that the Flames don’t have the picks to address their major issues. They’ll walk into the draft with seven (fingers crossed on trades), which is the most they’ve had since 2016, but this is a top heavy draft. They really only have the #19th overall pick to select an impact player, and then hope that someone slips through the cracks to 50th overall.
The Flames are going to have to go best player available, again. I don’t think this is a bad approach to the draft: you should always draft the best player available with your pick.
Thankfully, it just so happens that some of the best players available will be exactly what the Flames need with their high-value picks. There are plenty of capable forwards (highlighted below) to choose from in the first round, a few of them right handed. That bodes well for a team lacking in right-handed forwards.
But there’s a pretty significant lack in both quantity and quality for RHDs. Justin Barron, Braden Schneider, and Helge Grans are the only RHD consistently ranked in the first round, but scouting services are torn on each of these players. Barron is ranked as high as 23 and as low as 71, Schneider from 13 to 34, and Grans from 19 to 69. The good news is that the Flames might be able to find at least one of these guys in round two, but there’s not a slam-dunk solution at RHD this year. If the Flames draft a LW in the first round, it’s probably the right call rather than stretch for a RHD.
Outside of addressing right-handed issues early, I think the Flames will likely just try to build depth at all positions for the remainder of the draft. They don’t have the draft capital to shore up all of their weak points, and the prospect crop this year really forces them to go in one particular direction with their most valuable pick.
Who should the Flames target in the first round?
Be very, very excited if one of these guys end up wearing a Flames jersey.
Seth Jarvis, RW/C, 58GP-42G-56A - I have explained why I like Jarvis so much already. You can go and read that. He is the best case scenario and I want him to be a Calgary Flame.
Connor Zary, C, 57GP-38G-48A - I also dive into Zary in the same link. Zary is also a very strong producer in the WHL, though his reliance on PP scoring and his diminished impact on team offence puts him a step below Jarvis, but overall still a very fine player.
Mavrik Bourque, C, 49GP-29G-42A - A highly intelligent righty, Bourque was the highest scoring QMJHL draft eligible not named Alexis Lafreniere. Tied for the team lead with someone who played 14 more games than he did.
Noel Gunler, LW/RW, 45GP-4G-9A - Already plying his trade in the SHL, Gunler’s a very strong two-way player whose offensive tools make him very enticing. Still a work in progress, but has the potential to be a stud.
Who should the Flames avoid in the first round?
I hope I’m wrong on these players, but I feel that I’m not. If the Flames draft them, it’s the former; if they don’t, the latter.
Jacob Perreault, RW, 57GP-39G-31A - The Sarnia RW has a hell of a shot, and almost scores at will. He’s shown in back to back years that he can shoot a lot and pick his spots, consistently hanging around an 18 SH%. The issue is that his goalscoring covers up a lot of the very real flaws in his game, such as his consistency and his defensive commitment. And even with the outstanding goalscoring ability, he doesn’t stack up on offence as well as the rest of the first round. Those are things that could perhaps be coached out of him, but the risk factor relative to the other prospects that should be available at #19 is much higher.
Braden Schneider, D, 60GP-7G-35A - I know I highlighted him as a first round RHD, and that I also pointed out that he’s the least volatile of the first round RHDs, but the main difference between him and the others is that Schneider is more physical, which can always put the blinders on for hockey minds. Schneider is a guy who is not afraid to use his size, but that can cover for some pretty egregious defence, or lack thereof (I don’t have the space to get into it, but I recommend this video). He’s one of those players who looks the part more than he acts it.
Hendrix Lapierre, C, 19GP-2G-15A - Scouting services have him going in the first round, but he’s anywhere from 10 to 27. The reason for the disparity is Lapierre’s health issues, suffering three major injuries and only being able to play a quarter of the season. He’s receiving major hype from his Hlinka tournament performance, scoring 11 points in five games, but the Hlinka is essentially a preseason tournament not worth your time. Given the lack of sample size in his draft year, he’s coasting off of reputation and is not worth the risk with a first round pick.
Dylan Holloway, C, 35GP-8G-9A - Another guy with a high pedigree without the production to back it up, but to a lesser extent than Lapierre. Holloway was on a pretty loaded Wisconsin team but couldn’t really stand out except for the occasional moment. Perhaps there’s some talent lying underneath the bad numbers, but again, not worth the first round risk.
Who should the Flames target in later rounds?
Again, this is a top heavy draft, but there are some candidates who could punch above their weight. Not to put the burden on the shoulders of these kids, but if the Flames call their name, keep your eyes on them.
Ozzy Wiesblatt, RW, 64GP-25G-45A (2nd round)- A hometown kid worth getting excited for. He’s a very intense, high scoring player who could feasibly go in the first round. If he slips, the Flames should be there to catch him.
Helge Grans, D, 21GP-1G-2A (2nd round)- It’s a far stretch to see him at 50, but there’s a possibility. He’s already made the SHL and isn’t that far off from NHL action. Grans seemingly tops out as a second pairing defender, but has the great skating ability and offensive weapons to succeed in that role.
Martin Chromiak, C, 28GP-11G-22A (2nd round)- An oddity who left Slovkian pro hockey midseason to join up with Kingston in the OHL, he immediately fit in and scored over a point per game in his half CHL season. Although he benefited from playing with 2022 draft sensation Shane Wright, he is a very talented kid flying under the radar.
Pavel Novak, RW, 55GP-25G-33A (3rd-4th)- Quietly led the Kelowna Rockets in scoring all season despite being a WHL rookie, and did the majority of it at 5v5. Has also been one of Czechia’s strongest international players. I think he could be the steal of the draft.
William Villeneuve, D, 64GP-9G-49A (3rd-5th)- RHD from the QMJHL who led his team in scoring, and is generally good at driving play. Although he’s a QMJHL defender, I think he’s worth a shot because of his offensive output.
Zayde Wisdom, C/RW, 62GP-29G-30A (4th-5th)- Can you really disagree with drafting a guy named Zayde Wisdom? He put up just under a point-per-game with the Kingston Frontenacs. Though there are also concerns that Wright helped out, Wisdom remained productive after Chromiak came overseas and replaced him.
Brandon Coe, RW, 60GP-25G-27A (5th-6th)- A fantastic player on a lousy team, Coe led the way for the North Bay Battalion. Given how low he’s ranked, I feel he could be worth a shot.
What is the most realistic scenario for the Flames?
Honestly? I don’t know. Based on everything I’ve read, the draft could unravel and become an absolute mess by the fifth or sixth pick (I think it was a mistake to give Ottawa two top-five picks). After the tenth overall pick is made, it really does become a guessing game.
This little primer could wind up becoming virtual toilet paper (or print it out and turn it into real toiler paper to own me, I would be actually be impressed if you did that) within a span of twenty minutes depending on how maybe two or three teams ahead of the Flames draft. Perhaps the worst case scenario happens and the Flames are only left with some of those players I suggested they don’t draft. Perhaps an even better case scenario happens and the Flames hit the jackpot with a player that slips way too far. Who knows!
If I had to make one bold prediction, it’s that this will be one of the most unpredictable drafts in recent memory. But hockey is chaos and the team that manages it the best usually comes out on top.
Ramina's brilliant ideas for the NHL
Do not steal these, please
By Ramina (@raminashlah)
Hello everyone, first let me start off by apologizing for missing last week’s issue. I’m sure you all miss me and only read because of me, so I know how terrible it must have been to not have seen my section. It’s ok, I’m back. Everyone at Scorchstack thinks I have to work on my teammate skills but I disagree. We still have one more element remaining in the ass-trology segment, but I won’t be talking about that today. Instead, we’ll be discussing this Tweet:
This blew up more than I thought it would, so I thought it would be fun to talk about my ideas for the NHL. In my opinion, my ideas are exceptional and the NHL should look into hiring me in their “ideas” department. Trust me when I say I have excellent ideas:
Let’s discuss those.
Yes, I believe that goaltenders must serve their penalties themselves. They must sit the full two-minutes (or less) in the box. It may be uncomfortable, but that’s hockey baby. I’ve gotten a few questions about this, perhaps if someone would be replacing them in net or it would just be an empty net. And to that I say, there are four options I have in mind, and I am alright with either. This is why this would be a group decision in the entire “ideas” department, as folks would vote on this. Anyways, here are the four options:
There is nobody in net. The goaltender goes and sits in the small box which he probably can’t even fit into and nobody replaces him in net. This is still possible for the other team to not score with the man advantage. First, the defensive team can just keep possession for the entire two minutes. If they aren’t terrible then it’s doable. If they’re the Detroit Red Wings, then it isn’t. Sorry to the Detroit Red Wings. If they’re the Edmonton Oilers, then it’s basically the same as playing the game with Mike Smith in net.
There is another way, however, if you’re the Detroit Red Wings or the Ottawa Senators. You get about three players to all stand in front of the net side by side with one player laying down and the last player runs around trying to get the puck. Let me draw a diagram.
Yes, it may be painful for them, but again, that’s hockey baby. Now, it is my personal belief that players should play this way always at all times. Have the goalie stand in the middle with the two defenders on either side of him just standing upright blocking the net and have three primary skaters to try and get goals. In this case, you wouldn’t need another player laying on the ground since the goalie’s pads are much bigger. You may not get many goals but at least you never get scored on. I can go into much more detail about this specifically but I won’t get into those politics now as they are very controversial.
The goalie picks any of the healthy scratches to come down and be in net. No, they may not change their clothes. Yes, they must remain in their suits and dress shoes. Once the goalie’s penalty is done, the healthy scratch must try to get off the ice as quickly as possible, they do not wait until the next whistle. I will not be explaining any further.
The backup goalie comes in for two minutes. That’s it, just the two minutes. Make him sweat a bit. The same rules apply as the previous point, the backup goalie must get off the ice as quickly as possible without a stoppage of play. He may have to climb above the boards, but that’s the name of the game.
The goalie picks any player he wants to be in the net while he serves the penalty. Similar to the rules now, except instead of the coach choosing any player to serve the penalty the goalie took, the goalie gets to pick. Let the games begin.
Please vote for which one you’d pick by emailing scorchstack@gmail.com. Please do not actually do this as Christian will kill me.
By the way, there is at least one pro goalie who agrees with this idea:
My next idea is that second Tweet above which is about overtime. Think 3-on-3 OT is fun and exciting? Well then get a load of this:
Every player on the ice at one time. That’s it, no further questions please, thanks.
No, I’m kidding, I'll provide a little more context. But only a little and then I will be answering zero questions and concerns, figure it out for yourselves. All the players on the active roster must play, including healthy scratches. They are not allowed to change or put on skates. The backup goalie must also play but as a skater and he is also not allowed to change his equipment at all. Also this:
Alternatively, we can go on a completely opposite route. Only goalies, but they play as skaters. And they can choose anybody to be in the net. No, that player may not change into goalie equipment. And when I say anybody, I mean anybody. Healthy scratches, coaches, even a random fan if he’d like. I’d personally go in this direction:
But that’s just me.
Those are my ideas, thanks for tuning in. If anybody at the NHL is reading this, these ideas ARE patented and I am willing to allow them to be implemented for a fair price. Thank you.
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Henrik Lundqvist will be bought out by the New York Rangers. In efforts to bolster the goaltending, should the Calgary Flames sign him?
By Konnie (@konnie49)
No.
The Calgary Flames All-Team First Round Draft Failures
Let’s Call These Cautionary Tales
By Floob (@itlooksreal)
Well, draft season is here. The annual boy auction always captures our collective spirit, and allows us to look to the future with optimism, hoping to have that shiny new toy become the backbone of a franchise that sorely needs it.
We’ve provided you with draft coverage over the short lifespan of the Scorchstack. Hell, scroll up and you’ll see we told you already who the Flames will call to the probably Zoom Conference pinned screen as their first round pick. It’s fun and you can’t help but get caught up in it.
I’m here to dampen the mood, however, by highlighting the numerous times previous Flames fans have gone through this obstacle race and had their hopes crushed and turned into a paste. Over the years Calgary has drafted a litany of players whom you don’t remember at all, or Mark Jankowski. Many of them have never played a game in a Flaming C. I call this the Who’s That of the Calgary Flames. All of these players are first round picks (some, to my great surprise!). They are all abject failures at the NHL level. I have listed them here.
Sorry.
Chris Biotti - D, Drafted 17th overall, 1985
Calgary Flames career: 0 GP, 0 G, 0 Pts
NHL Career: 0 GP, 0G, 0 Pts
Biotti has to be considered Calgary’s first real whiff in the entry draft after selecting players like Al MacInnis and Gary Roberts in the years prior. Biotti was a decent defenseman at Harvard and played in the World Juniors, but never, ever made the jump to the NHL, a trend that surely will never establish itself in Calgary.
Notable players taken after Biotti include Sean Burke, Mike Richter, Eric Weinrich, Benoit Hogue, Nelson Emerson, and Steve Chiasson. Oh, and a guy named Joe Nieuwendyk, who I think turned out to be pretty good.
A note on Biotti: I think I probably hate him. Seems like he used that time at Harvard to secure his law degree, and eventually became Vice President of Bank of America. He just feels like the kind of guy who knows Brett Kavanaugh (speculation, non actionable)
George Pelawa - RW, Drafted 16th Overall, 1986
Calgary Flames career: 0 GP, 0 G, 0 Pts
NHL Career: 0 GP, 0G, 0 Pts
Personally, if I ever got drafted in the first round, I simply would not die in a car accident three months after the draft.
It’s hard to fault Pelawa for being on this list, because it sounded like he would have been a pretty good player had he lived to give it a try. He was nicknamed “Minnesota Mr. Hockey because people in Minnesota are not particularly clever.”
There are rumours that the Tom Cochrane song Big League is about Pelawa, but Cochrane himself denies that, which is good, because that song blows.
Bryan Deasley - LW, Drafted 19th Overall, 1987
Calgary Flames career: 0 GP, 0 G, 0 Pts
NHL Career: 0 GP, 0G, 0 Pts
Three drafts in three years without one game of NHL experience to show for it. Sometimes I wish I was born like 20 years earlier than I was. I could have been a professional hockey player.
Deasley hung around the IHL and Canada’s National team before retiring to become a payer agent. He represented John Tavares while Tavares was in junior, but lost him as a client once he went to the NHL. Stopping just short of the NHL seems to be Deasley’s thing
Jason Muzatti - G, Drafted 21st Overall, 1988
Calgary Flames career: 2 GP, .813 sv%
NHL Career: 62 GP, .894 sv%
Hey, we’ve got our first player with actual games played for the Flames! Jason Muzatti played 1 full game and ten minutes of mop up duty for Calgary over 2 seasons. In the full game he let in 8 goals. It was the 90’s so that wasn’t that weird but still. Not great.
I think he’s Italian now or something.
Niklas Sunblad, RW, Drafted 19th Overall, 1991
Calgary Flames career: 2 GP, 0 G, 0 Pts
NHL Career: 2 GP, 0G, 0 Pts
More like Niklas SoBad, am I right?
Jesper Mattsson - RW, Drafted 18th Overall, 1993
Calgary Flames career: 0 GP, 0 G, 0 Pts
NHL Career: 0 GP, 0G, 0 Pts
God this team is historically very terrible at drafting players, a thing you need to be able to do to be successful.
Chris Dingman - LW, Drafted 19th Overall, 1994
Calgary Flames career: 72 GP, 3 G, 6 Pts
NHL Career: 385 GP, 15G, 34 Pts
We’re about to go on a run of players who had a good draft year that probably tricked various GMs into taking them in the first round. Dingman scored 83 points in 66 games for Brandon, but I always thought he was just a face puncher and still can’t believe he was a first rounder. Famous for being the other guy who went to Colorado in the Theoren Fleury trade.
Also got to be in Tampa Bay in 2004 when the Lightning won their first Stanley Cup *
Daniel Tkaczuk - C, Drafted 6th Overall, 1997
Calgary Flames career: 19 GP, 4 G, 11 Pts
NHL Career: 19 GP, 4G, 11 Pts
This was, at the time, the highest the Flames ever drafted in the first round, which sounds about right, because this was around the time the team was at its most objectively terrible. I don’t really know why Tkaczuk never really panned out. All his NHL action came in 2000-01 and he put up 11 points in 19 games, which had to be not so bad on what would have been a truly awful team, but never played again. Ended up in the Roman Turek trade.
Daniel Tkaczuk retired and became Matthew Tkachuk’s dad.
Rico Fata - RW, Drafted 6th Overall, 1998
Calgary Flames career: 27 GP, 0 G, 1 Pt
NHL Career: 230 GP, 27G, 63 Pts
Cool ass name, and I think that’s why he got drafted.
I do not understand Rico Fata. He had a great draft year in the OHL, never amounted to anything at all in Calgary, and bounced around the NHL/AHL for a few years. Had a career year in Pittsburgh the year before they drafted Sidney Crosby, and then never got to play with him as he was gone after 20 games in Sid’s rookie year.
He owns two Tim Hortons franchises now. Say what you want but I love a chocolate glaze.
Brent Krahn - G, Drafted 9th Overall, 2000
Calgary Flames career: 0 GP
NHL Career: 1 GP, .667 sv%
In the interest of time and brevity, Brent Krahn sucked.
Kris Chucko - RW, Drafted 24th Overall, 2004
Calgary Flames career: 2 GP, 0 G, 0 Pts
NHL Career: 2 GP, 0G, 0 Pts
Chucko and Matt Pelech, who comes in after this, are both in the “I thought these guys got drafted way later” category. But they didn’t. This was when Darryl Sutter was trading away all his draft picks for like Freddie Modin or some shit, so it seemed like the Flames first draft pick every year was in the fourth round. Apparently not. Maddening.
Matt Pelech - RW, Drafted 26th Overall, 2005
Calgary Flames career: 5 GP, 0 G, 3 Pts
NHL Career: 13 GP, 1G, 4 Pts
Pelech sorta sounds like Pellet. Is that something?
Leland Irving - G, Drafted 26th Overall, 2006
Calgary Flames career: 13 GP, .902 sv%
NHL Career: 13 GP, .902 sv%
Leland Irving is the reason why dumb people won’t get excited about Dustin Wolf.
Greg Nemisz - C, Drafted 25th Overall, 2008
Calgary Flames career: 15 GP, 0 G, 1 Pt
NHL Career: 15 GP, 0G, 1 Pt
Another guy I thought was taken way later. I always mixed him up with Ryan Howse. They both sucked so who cares?
Tim Erixon - D, Drafted 23rd Overall, 2009
Calgary Flames career: 0 GP, 0 G, 0 Pts
NHL Career: 93 GP, 2G, 14 Pts
Tim Erixon is a 90’s Disney villain ‘round these parts, but I think we should cut him some slack. He was reviled because he didn’t want to play for the Flames, but as his career pressed on, it became apparent he was doing all of us a favour. I think we would hate him more if he played even a full season in Calgary, because the potential to Babchuk seems pretty high.
At the time, trading him for Roman Horak, Tyler Wotherspoon, and Markus Granlund seemed like a coup. I think it still is.
Mark Jankowski - C, Drafted 21st Overall, 2012
Calgary Flames career: 208 GP, 36 G, 64 Pts
NHL Career: 208 GP, 36G, 64 Pts
The nice thing is I get to redact this in two years when he’s the best player in his draft class.
Up Next Week
Justin Kirkland Special Edition #2
The draft, free agency, and our instant, 100% rational and correct takes on those things.
Which Arrested Development characters are the Flames?
Another movie review, the only thing we’ve been doing consistently