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A few Calgary Flames notes on this off-day:
1) On Thursday, Matt Bartkowski put pen to paper on a two-year contract with the Flames. While he could potentially help out their bottom pairing this season -- it couldn't be much worse -- this signing clearly was made with the expansion draft in mind.
With Dennis Wideman, Deryk Engelland and co. on expiring contracts the Flames only had three eligible defensemen for the draft. They were obviously keeping those three (Mark Giordano, Dougie Hamilton and T.J. Brodie) so by signing Bartkowski they now have a defenseman who meets the requirements for exposure.
Assuming the Flames protect their big contracts up front, as well as Sam Bennett, it seems all but certain Micheal Ferland will be exposed and the guy Vegas snatches up from Calgary.
2) I'd like to see the Flames use Bennett a little more on the penalty kill. Mikael Backlund and Michael Frolik are firmly entrenched on the top unit, as they should be, but I think Bennett is a better option than, say, Troy Brouwer on PK2.
Neither player has a ridiculously large sample size -- not even the Flames take enough penalties for that -- but Bennett has fared much better.
Over the last year and change, the Flames have allowed 83 shot attempts and 4.5 goals per 60 with Bennett on the ice in 4v5 situations. This year with Brouwer they allow 96 shot attempts and 6.25 goals per 60. Again, the sample sizes aren't massive but given Bennett's skating ability, and that he was a dominant two-way player in junior, I'm inclined to believe there's something to the numbers.
3) Another change I'd like to see: Hamilton on PP1. He is their best possession driver, shot generator and point producer from the back end. Let him work with Johnny Gaudreau and the highest skilled offensive players the Flames have to offer. Giordano and Brodie can hold down the fort on PP2.
4) There is still a decent chunk of the season remaining, but the Flames can all but stick a fork in Vancouver's playoff hopes with a win tomorrow night. If the Flames were to pick up a clean two points, they'd be seven up on the Canucks having both played 59 games. It's tough to make up that kind of ground, especially without much in the way of high-end talent.
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The best and worst from the Flames' season to date
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