Ryan Huska Will Lead The Calgary Flames in 23-24

Huska Was Assistant Under Darryl Sutter for Five Seasons.

June 14, 2023 417 2 minutes readNHL Picks & Parlays

Ryan Huska Will Lead The Calgary Flames in 23-24 — DEREK CAIN / GETTY IMAGES

Former assistant Ryan Huska is the Calgary Flames next head coach. He’ll inherit a team that finished the regular season NHL picks, but it’s never too early to start our focus on moves that will shape next season. Let’s look at one way the Calgary Flames next head coach can find immediate success with a team full of talent.

Flames Offense, Confidence, Offseason Focus

A team can’t finish 19th in the league in offense and expect to be escorted into the postseason. Calgary averaged 3.13 goals per game, the leading reason for their less-than-stellar 34-48 record against the puck line. That goals-per-game number doesn’t seem great, but it’s not that far off from where the better teams in the league are.

The Panthers were sixth with an average of 3.51 goals per game in the regular season. In order to climb back into the playoffs next season, the Calgary Flames next head coach will be relying on guys like Jonathan Huberdeau to elevate his point total back to the 90-point level. The 2-time all-star had a 60-point decline (55) from his 21-22 total of 115 points. Elias Lindholm had a career year in 21-22 with 82 points but found production dropped 18 points after barely crawling over the 20-goal mark with 22, a 20-goal drop.

In addition, Jacob Markstrom was playing as if the Edmonton Oilers had sucked the soul out of the 33-year-old after ending their season in 21-22. Markstrom finished 23-21-12, with just one shutout to go with 2.92 goals against average and a .892 save percentage. It seemed like this season’s edition of the Calgary Flames was a team that played with a lack of confidence, all factors that led to the firing of Darryl Sutter.

Is Ryan Huska The Long-Term Solution?

If there is one thing we’ve learned anything from watching St. Louis Blues in the 2019 Stanely Cup, you can bet he used that experience to help the Golden Knight win a Cup this season.

That brings us to Chicago Blackhawks in 97-98. We’re not suggesting that the Calgary Flames next head coach won’t find themselves in the playoffs next season, but it may be a few years before Huska and the Flames finds themselves deep into the postseason.