Haven't watched Flames that closely. Is there enough there for them to pull a St. Louis Blues of a couple seasons ago or is that too much to expect?
Well. Here's the thing, Flames have the pieces to be a really hard out.
Not they have an elite team where you have a Norris D, a Selke C, a top 10 centre and a top 5 winger all playing on the same club... but they have the pieces to be a team that really makes life difficult on people.
It's been the main frustration of Flames fans. There's been no middle ground for this team. If this team gave you a middle ground more often they'd likely be in the mix for top spot in the division.
In reality this is what they have:
2 all-star wingers.
2 top 20ish two-way centres (and before we have people crying here, I mean two centres that are defensively responsible and can still produce at a decent rate; guys that get <50% offensive deployment but still have great possession metrics and goal metrics).
A young mobile D
A top 5-10 goalie in the league.
4 centres that while non jump off the page as a 'elite' in terms of top 20 centres in the NHL, are all more than capable (like having Doc Ryan on the 4th line for example).
The thing for me is going to be what Sutter can get out of guys like Monahan and Bennett. Neither guy has developed like Flames fans have wanted. Is he going to be able to get playoff Bennett out of Sam during the regular season. Is he going to get Monahan to commit to being a top line centre in the league.
Flames fans don't expect a steamroller in terms of what kind of team Calgary will be... what we kind of expect is being a tough out for people. Not giving up a lot of chances, owning the puck... mostly because we know what this team can do when they're rolling.