Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Questions For The Calgary Flames Heading Into The Season

08/15/2015 at 7:33am EDT

from Aaron Vickers at NHL.com,

Here are three questions facing the Flames this season:

Will the Flames regress in 2015-16? For the majority of last season, the Flames bucked the trend when it came to advanced analytics. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Colorado Avalanche did the same in previous seasons and found fleeting success in doing so. The Maple Leafs and Avalanche each followed their advanced stats-defying success by failing to reach the playoffs the following season. The continued development of young players Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau and Sam Bennett, coupled with the additions of Dougie Hamilton and Michael Frolik, who boast strong possession numbers, will be Calgary's best means to counteract that.

Can Calgary's youth continue to improve? In Monahan's second season, his goal total rose from 22 to 31, and his points increased from 34 to 62. Gaudreau, a finalist for the Calder Trophy, had a 24-goal, 64-point season. Defenseman T.J. Brodie, 25, scored an NHL career-high 41 points, and forward Lance Bouma, also 25, had new career marks with 16 goals and 34 points. Whether these totals are replicated or were a single-season aberration will go a long way in determining the Flames' fate this season.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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