It’s often said that there are no small parts, just small actors. In the context of a National Hockey League hockey club, some members of the team play less or have roles that aren’t quite as showy as others may be.
Connor Bedard scored his 100th career NHL point as the Chicago Blackhawks (14–28–2) lost to the Calgary Flames (21–14–7) 5–2 Monday night at the United Center.
The Calgary Flames got ahead of some off-season work this past week, signing defender Brayden Pachal to a two year contract extension. Pachal was one of a handful of pending restricted free agents on the Flames’ roster, and his re-signing starts to fill in some of the gaps within the club’s roster.
NHL head coaches have to hire good assistants. They have to set an overarching philosophy, juggle lineup configurations, and do the kind of “man management” that is impossible to track statistically.
Since arriving in Calgary last winter via the waiver wire, defenceman Brayden Pachal has quietly carved out a really useful niche for himself as a physical, shutdown blueliner.
If Brayden Pachal keeps playing like he did in the Calgary Flames’ season-opening 6-5 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night, he’ll become a top-four defenceman in no time.
One of the main themes of the 2023-24 season for the Calgary Flames was that of opportunity. And that was evident when it came to their blueline. The Flames used a league high 15 defencemen throughout the season.
The 2023-24 season was a weird time for the Calgary Flames’ defensive group. Case in point: of the six defencemen that played in the season-opening game against the Winnipeg Jets on Oct.
The Flames claimed defenseman Brayden Pachal off waivers from the Golden Knights on Sunday, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Calgary confirmed the news in a media release shortly thereafter.
Saturday’s waiver wire features two players set to head down to the minors for the first time this season, as the Colorado Avalanche have placed goaltender Ivan Prosvetov on waivers while the Vegas Golden Knights have done the same with defenseman Brayden Pachal.