Matthew Tkachuk, LW/RW (NHL.com rank: 31) -- Tkachuk surpassed left wing Johnny Gaudreau as the most valuable fantasy player from the Flames after finishing 39th in standard leagues last season and way ahead of Gaudreau, who was 110th. Tkachuk led the Flames with 61 points (23 goals, 38 assists) in 69 games, was tied with forward Elias Lindholm for first on the Flames in power-play points (19) and provides strong coverage for hits (1.8 per game last season).
Johnny Gaudreau, LW/RW (50) -- After scoring 99 points (36 goals, 63 assists) in 82 games in 2018-19, tied with Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche for seventh in the NHL, and scoring an NHL career-best 27 power-play points, Gaudreau took a step back last season, scoring 58 points (18 goals, 40 assists) and 18 power-play points in 70 games. A staple on the top line with Lindholm and center Sean Monahan, Gaudreau is a candidate to bounce back with a top 20 overall and top five left wing ceiling if his shooting percentage of 8.6 percent last season reverts to at least his NHL career average of 12.1 percent.
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Jacob Markstrom, G (82) -- Markstrom was one of the most valuable workhorse goalies in fantasy last season with the Vancouver Canucks and will look to replicate his success after signing a six-year contract with the Flames on Oct. 9. Among the 22 NHL goalies who played at least 40 games last season, Markstrom was fourth in save percentage (.918), his best in the six seasons he's played at least 23 NHL games. Markstrom has a chance to remain a top 10-15 fantasy goalie this season, especially after defensemen Chris Tanev joined him in Calgary on a four-year contract he signed Oct. 9; they had been teammates with Vancouver since 2013-14.
Elias Lindholm, C/RW (94) -- Lindholm is one of the most underrated goal-scorers in the NHL with 56 during the past two seasons, tying him with Monahan and San Jose Sharks forward Evander Kane for 25th in the League. Lindholm led the Flames with 29 goals last season and benefited from Geoff Ward replacing Bill Peters as coach Nov. 29. After the change, Lindholm led the Flames with 17 goals and tied Tkachuk for the lead with 13 power-play points. Lindholm averaged 0.83 points per game after the coaching change (35 points in 42 games) after averaging 0.68 points per game before (19 points in 28 games).
