Preseason Preview - Flames @ Jets

The Flames begin the second half of the preseason this evening with a quick trip to Winnipeg to face the Jets.

Puck drop is set for 6 p.m MT. Tonight's game will be streamed live on CalgaryFlames.com and the Flames App within the Flames broadcast region (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories and Nunavut).

There's been a bit of a different feel around Flames training camp over the past couple of days.

The numbers have been trimmed, most of the NHL returnees have been put in the same skating group, and the intensity has gone up a notch with only four of the team's eight preseason fixtures left on the docket.

Thursday's skate focused on special teams, while Friday morning, head coach Ryan Huska put his group through the paces with an emphasis on defensive zone coverage, as well as adding another level of speed to their drills as the countdown to the regular season continues.

All part of the plan, according to the bench boss, as the group continues to get down to numbers ahead of the season opener in Edmonton, a game that now is less than two weeks away.

"The first few games, I think, is a lot of getting your feet wet and some younger players getting an opportunity to play," Huska explained Friday, when asked about his team's eight-pack of preseason games. "Now it's about returning players having to amp it up a little bit because they have to be ready for October 8th and if they're not taking the games the right way or practices, the way, there's no chance they're going to be ready.

"I think that's probably why you're starting to see the intensity creep up a little bit more."

That said, the games themselves are all about evaluation.

And because of that, Huska is preparing to lead a group that will provide an opportunity to showcase some of the battles we've seen so far in camp.

"I think you get to this point where the people that are in games, or should be playing games are the ones that are really competing for a spot," he said. "Early on, you want to give some of your younger draft kids or draft picks or prospects and opportunity to see what it's like at the next level. Now it shifts a little bit, where when we go into Winnipeg, not knowing their lineup, we're going to get two or three of their best lines.

"So it changes pretty significantly, and we want to see players andf whether or not they can handle competition like that. That's the big part of what these next four games are like."

Huska said Friday that the plan is for Devin Cooley to go the distance in goal, as did Ivan Prosvetov Wednesday night in Abbotsford. The likes of Matvei Gridin, Rory Kerins and Justin Kirkland will likely each get looks up front, while Zayne Parekh is expected to draw in on the blueline for his first road contest of the campaign.

The Other Side

Winnipeg comes into this evening's contest in search of their first victory of the preseason, sliding to 0-3 after a 4-0 setback Friday in Edmonton.

Darnell Nurse's first-period tally stood up as the decider, while Calvin Pickard turned aside all 21 shots he faced against a Jets crew that was without the likes of Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Josh Morrissey.

"We had some veterans, a couple of guys that hadn't played games yet. And there was some rust," head coach Scott Arniel told WinnipegJets.com after the game. "More of our veteran guys made some mistakes that they don't usually do.

"So it's just everybody kind of getting them, getting the rust off of from the summer, young guys still trying to, you know, show that they deserve another game."

The story this summer in Winnipeg though, has been all about a homecoming.

Future Hall of Famer Jonathan Toews signed a one-year deal with the Jets in July, marking his return to the NHL after a two-year absence.

Prior to signing in Winnipeg, Toews spent his entire career with the Blackhawks, winning a trio of Stanley Cups as part of a 15-year span that saw the 37-year-old play more than 1,200 regular season and playoff games in Chicago silks.

Player To Watch

Yan Kuznetsov has always prided himself on being a difficult defenceman to play against, and Tuesday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome, he did exactly that.

He finished +2 over his 18:32 of work against the Kraken, but most importantly, he took away time and space from Seattle forwards and consistently boxed out the front of the net.

This year's camp is a big one for the 23-year-old, who made his NHL debut in 2023-24 and last season led the Wranglers with a +21 rating; he was the also the only skater on the AHL club to appear in all 72 regular season games last winter.

"I think every year he's raised his level, I do think that," head coach Ryan Huska said of Kuznetsov's game. "And I mentioned it before, and you could put (Ilya Solovyov) in that same category that this is a big (camp) for them, because they want to try to separate themselves and they want to try to push someone out of the job. Kuzy’s progressed along the way, and the last game that he played against Seattle, I thought he was very good for us, so it's a matter of consistency and being a hard player, someone that's difficult to play and uses size to his advantage.

As much chatter as there has been about the offensive talent on the right side of the blue line, defenders like Kuznetsov and Solovyov have the type of skill-set, the defensive acumen that proves invaluable in tight games.

And Kuznetsov doesn't have far to look for a perfect role model on the Flames' NHL roster.

"I look at Kevin Bahl. He's not the most physical guy, but he's miserable to play against, because he's in your face all the time," said Huska. "He's got a great stick. So there's different ways to be hard to play against.

"Kuzy’s got to find that and he's got to find it consistently."