While the Calgary Flames have a logjam up front with their wingers, the same thing can be said on the blue line. Rumours have been swirling around whether or not Rasmus Andersson will be traded. There is also an influx of youth waiting to get their shot with the NHL team. Nothing has happened yet regarding Andersson. I will look at the defence in both scenarios. With him on the team and with him not on the team.

If Andersson is moved, then this defence is MacKenzie Weegar’s to run. While it could be said that it already is, moving Andersson would make him the team’s number one defenceman. That would be until the mantle is passed onto Zayne Parekh to run the backend. With more players like Hunter Brzustewicz, Ilya Solovyov, and Yan Kuznetsov looking to make an impact. Here’s how the d-core may shake out.

The blue line with Andersson

Kevin Bahl–Rasmus Andersson
MacKenzie Weegar–Zayne Parekh
Ilya Solovyov–Brayden Pachal

You could say that with Andersson in the lineup, the defence doesn’t change much. Zayne Parekh will almost certainly start with the team at the minimum. For a kid like Parekh, pairing him up alongside MacKenzie Weegar is a great fit. Weegar has the unique ability to play on his offside. He also has a lot to teach Parekh, who has the potential to be a premier defenceman in the league.

Kevin Bahl brings his shutdown defensive game alongside Andersson, who would be able to focus more on the offensive side. On the third pairing, another youngster slots into the lineup. Ilya Solovyov enters on the left alongside Brayden Pachal on the right. Pachal has proven to be a decent option on the bottom pairing over the past few years for this team.

Exiting the lineup in this scenario would be 34-year-old Joel Hanley and hometown kid Jake Bean. Hanley would be the seventh defenceman, most likely, with Bean being eighth. As for Daniil Miromanov, his $1.25M cap hit would be buried in the AHL.

How it looks without Andersson

Ilya Solvyov–MacKenzie Weegar
Kevin Bahl–Zayne Parekh
Yan Kuznetsov/Jérémie Poirier–Hunter Brzustewicz

Without Andersson on the roster, there are more open spots for younger players. Solovyov jumps up to the left side of the first pairing alongside Weegar. Zayne Parekh would stay on that second pairing, this time playing with Kevin Bahl.

As mentioned previously, Bahl’s defensive capabilities complement the surplus of offensively-minded defencemen on the roster. That maturity Bahl has in his own zone can allow for Parekh to go through his growing pains. Seeing as Parekh is an offensive threat first and foremost, he has work to do on defence. Moving into the NHL will see him get exposed a few times, but Bahl helps sort that out.

The third pair here contains no returning players, with fresh faces from the Wranglers coming up. On the right, it would be Hunter Brzustewicz, who we ranked third on our Calgary Flames prospect rankings. Acquired from the Vancouver Canucks in the Elias Lindholm deal, Flames fans have been looking towards Brz.

On the left, it would be either Yan Kuznetsov or Jérémie Poirier. Poirier has been a promising prospect for quite some time; however, injuries have derailed his progression. Last season, Poirier rebounded with the Wranglers, bringing himself back in contention for a roster spot. Poirier is a solid two-way defenceman who could be a proper NHLer.

Kuznetsov is another interesting prospect in the system. The 23-year-old is a proper shutdown defensive defenceman. It would bring much-needed defence to his back end, which is much more offensively minded. At 6’5″, 220 lbs, Kuznetsov also brings size to a relatively smaller team.

In this lineup, the seventh and eighth defencemen would be Jake Bean and Joel Hanley.

What happens if Andersson stays

You may wonder why Brzustewicz, Kuznetsov, or Poirier wouldn’t get spots with Andersson in the lineup. In my opinion, if Andersson is still a Flame come October 8, this team will be trying to win. In return, the team would be less likely to give the younger players a chance, other than Solovyov and Parekh. With him gone, it shows a clear intent in developing their prospects. That would result in the three defencemen above cracking the roster.

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