The Flames unveiled new defensive pairings at Monday’s practice

The Calgary Flames hit the ice for practice at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Monday morning, as they began preparations for a pretty busy week that seems them play Vegas, Utah and then Vegas again.

And something that drew some attention was some new-look pairings among the defensive group.

Here’s how they lined up:

• Kevin Bahl & Rasmus Andersson
• MacKenzie Weegar & Daniil Miromanov
• Joel Hanley & Zayne Parekh
• Jake Bean & Brayden Pachal

Speaking with the media after practice, Flames head coach Ryan Huska described his approach to defensive pairings.

“We’re trying to put the best six on the ice at any given time,” said Huska. “That’s what we’re trying to do. We feel like we have a lot of depth on our back end right now where there’s a lot of guys that are capable of playing in a lot of situations. But ultimately, my perfect world, there’s six guys that say, ‘That’s it. I’m not coming out of the lineup.’ That’s ideally what I’d like to see happen. Now having said that, I think guys have given us good games, and there’s not necessarily a reason why we’ve switched it around other than opponent and trying to find something that really works for the group of three pairs, I would say.”

Let’s run through the pairs, with stats from Natural Stat Trick!

Bahl and Andersson have been joined at the hip since last season, playing the most of any D pairing (1,177 minutes at five-on-five through 75 games) except when Bahl was injured. If both guys are available, they’ve been playing together and been used in the defensive zone to provide high ground to the other pairings. Their underlyings (49.2% xGF) are solid.

Weegar and Miromanov are the fourth most-used pairing since the beginning of last season, playing 551 minutes together through 43 games. Their usage has also been skewed towards the defensive zone, and their underlyings (44.6% xGF) aren’t amazing.

Hanley and Parekh are a brand-new pairing. We didn’t even see them together in the pre-season. But when you think about it, the pairings make a lot of sense. Parekh has played primarily with Bean or Pachal so far in the pre-season and regular season, aside from one game with Bahl. But Hanley makes a lot of sense as a reliable partner for a young defender with a bit of energy in his game.

Huska discussed the pairing on Monday.

“Well, we talk a lot about Joel being an easier guy to play with because he’s always in the right spots,” said Huska. “He keeps his game very simple, and I think he’s very trustworthy and reliable. And I think for a younger defenceman, having someone that he could lean on in a lot of different situations could possibly be a good thing. So we’re a big believer in Joel’s ability to play the game, and we think he might be a good fit there, but we have to see before we know for sure.”

Bean and Pachal have played the third-most of the Flames pairings since last season, racking up 610 5v5 minutes over 60 games. They’ve been used like a third pairing: sheltered minutes, offensive zone starts, and a pretty decent 53.0% xGF performance. You’ve got to consider how much sheltering they’ve gotten, but they gradually built some chemistry at the end of last season. On paper, at least right now, they’re the healthy scratch pairing.

What do you think of the new pairings? Do you like Hanley with Parekh?