I have a hard time believing that. Also not hard to have a strong breakout when you have Weegar and Andersson and co. who do that as their bread and butter.
The overall rush game is garbage. Ward level at this point. And the amount of shots they take from well out is very very noticeable. Grind along the boards and shoot from the point, awesome system. Trevor Lewis is probably the epitome of this (how ironic), at least 2 or 3 times a game he gets a shot off from outside the blue line to the goalie that might have a 1/500 shot of going in.
Flames had 70% possession yet their xGF% was just 54%. Says a lot imo.
This is really long and this website is now buggy as hell for me on my phone so it's very difficult to reply.
IMO
The Flames have a team full of complementary players. If you had a 1C and a 1D in addition to the players the Flames have you would be laughing. We'd be up there for best team in the league. We don't though.
The team struggles with Zone entries? I think that's because they literally have 2 forwards I'd consider above NHL average at carrying the puck (Kadri and Backlund). They relied on Gaudreau to do this forever and now he's gone and they're seeing that hole. They thought Huberdeau filled it but he's very clearly a guy who needs people to make space for him to be effective with the puck. Essentially he can create with the puck on his stick but only with his linemates being threatening enough in their own right to let people give him time and space. This is fine (not for 10.5 mill but that's another story) in itself but the issue comes from the fact that basically every forward on this team needs someone to make space for them.
The issue is this applies to just about every offensive player on the Flames. Lindholm and Toffoli both excel with room to shoot, lindholm can pass when the play breaks down too. Thats half of our top 6 right there and none of them drive play.
5/6 of our legit top 6 forwards who don't drive their line and need space made for them. Mangiapane is usually a big time contributer despite not being super synaptic because he's such a buzzsaw and creates so many chances but he's having an awful year.
Kadri lacks high end vision to be a 1C.
The rest of the players are TWF or grinders with varying levels of skill (not saying they're bad). I love Backlund and Pelletier but I don't think they're expected to put up huge points. These guys are probably overperforming under Sutter where their offense is created off of volume rather than skill plays. I can't imagine another coach getting more put of Mangiapane-Backlund-Coleman or Lewis or Ritchie.
That being said, I totally agree that the offense gets better away from Sutter. But I don't think their ceiling is that high even without him because of the way our "star" players play. Plus, I think Sutter makes this team look much better defensively than they are.
The breakouts aren't a personal IMO, even when Zadorov or stone is starting it up theres always swinging at the correct time wingers in a good spot to recieve a pass etc. Watch Detroit struggle to bring it up the ice all game with Calgary repeatedly getting easy breakouts. Sutter's breakout emphasizes puck support which makes it much easier to move the puck up ice but at the cost of rush speed.
They don't generate much off the rush but would they generate much even with the leash off as a team that lacks the ability to carry the puck so much? I'm doubtful.
