As fans enjoy their summer, their favourite NHL players and teams are likely gearing up for the beginning of another season. The 2023-24 preseason is just under two months away, with the league playing two exhibition games in Melbourne, Australia for the first time ever on Sept. 23 & 24 to kick things off. The first puck drops for the Calgary Flames on Sept. 24 in the first of six preseason matchups, then gets the regular season going with a home game against the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 11. The team of course finished outside of the playoff picture in 2022-23 with a 38-27-17 record.
With a new season comes new hope for success. The Flames will hope to maintain competitiveness in another chapter of potential mass turnover. Last season’s scoring leader Tyler Toffoli has already been sent to New Jersey and pending unrestricted free agents Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin are frequented in trade discussions. Regardless, like any other season, there are bright spots on the horizon. A great deal of these come in the form of individual achievements. Every fan loves to see their favourite player hit big milestones like games played, goals, assists, points, etc. Some examples from last season were Mikael Backlund cracking the top ten in all-time franchise points and hitting 900 games played and Lindholm hitting both 200 goals and 500 points, among many others. In this spirit, let’s now have a look at what’s on the docket for player milestones in 2023-24.
Games Played Achievements
First, we want to look at some of the Flames players who will be approaching landmarks in games played. Going off of the aforementioned Backlund, the Swede won’t be hitting 1,000 games this season as he sits at 908. However, the current longest-tenured Flame needs to suit up in only 42 matches to reach second place in franchise history. This spot is currently occupied by former captain Mark Giordano, who played 949 contests in a Flames uniform. Jarome Iginla will likely keep the top spot for a long time as he has a whopping 1,219.
The next wave is led by forward Blake Coleman, who has a high potential of reaching 500 games played in 2023-24. He currently has 464 to his name meaning he needs just 36 to start celebrating. In addition, Chris Tanev has 717 career games played, meaning he should get to 750 this season. Hanifin (598 games) and Nikita Zadorov (567) are sure to get to 600, while Lindholm (743 games) and Jonathan Huberdeau (750 games) are likely to break the 800 mark. Nazem Kadri has participated in 821 games in his 13-year career, so he’ll challenge for an even 900 this upcoming season. Other notables close to a big number include MacKenzie Weegar (387 games), Rasmus Andersson (377 games), Jordan Oesterle (349 games), Andrew Mangiapane (342 games), Dillon Dube (282 games), and Adam Ruzicka (75 games).
Goals, Points, and the Like
Now let’s look at some offense. Every hockey fan loves goals and comparing counting stats, after all. Sticking with Backlund, he is up for some more doozies. He presently has 185 goals and 492 points, so presumably he will hit 200 goals and 500 points for his career this season. He scored 19 times in 2022-23 and has potted 15 or more goals six times in his NHL tenure. Netting just six will get him past Joe Mullen and into the top ten in franchise goals, however. After his next 17 points, he will again move past Giordano and into seventh in all-time points by a Flame.
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Coleman is also in line for yet another achievement as he is just three points shy of 200 for his career. Hanifin has to score one goal to get to 50, 10 assists to get to 200, and 11 points for 250. Weegar has the opportunity to get to 200 points but it would require a career-high 48 this season. Andersson needs 39 to reach the same mark. Newcomer Oesterle could get to 100 points if he can total 16 in 2023-24, a number he has only hit once in six seasons. Mangiapane is remarkably close to 200 points (currently 175), 100 goals (95), and 100 assists (80). After a meager seven goals, Kadri will have 250, and if “Big Z” Zadorov can snipe another nine, he’ll have an even 50. Some other accomplishments are Huberdeau getting to 700 points (currently 668) and 500 assists (445) and Kadri eclipsing 600 points (568).
All Other Notable Milestones
How could we forget the goalies? While the duo of Jacob Markstrom and Dan Vladar didn’t quite perform up to the standard last season, they had their moments and still both posted winning records. For 2023-24, both men are in store for some more personal triumphs. Markstrom, for example, is just eight wins away from 200 in his career. Furthermore, if the 33-year-old can put up two shutouts this season it would give him 20. Just one more blank slate in a game would also break his current tie with Mike Vernon for second in Flames history. For Vladar, with three more starts he will get to 50, and one more win will give him a nice even 30. Whether or not American Hockey League standout Dustin Wolf will stick with the big club and take away some playing time for Markstrom and/or Vladar will remain to be seen.
We dug deep for some other very interesting feats that sometimes go unnoticed as they are not as substantial as the others listed. For example, if Lindholm wins 669 faceoffs in 2023-24 he will have 5,000 total wins in his career. After 1,338 more minutes played, the 28-year-old will have been on the ice for a total of 15,000 minutes all-time. Here’s to hoping he accomplishes all available feats in a Flames sweater. Keeping with the minutes played trend, Kadri needs 957 to also get to 15,000 and Tanev is only 653 minutes away from the same achievement. The defensive-minded Tanev also is just 55 blocked shots clear of 1,500 and has a chance to crack the top 30 all-time. Forward Yegor Sharangovich, acquired in the Toffoli trade, is also just 13 blocks away from 100 in his three-year career.
I will be the first to admit that I may be overlooking some other important milestones, but I deem these as the most meaningful. The biggest hope is that the Flames team as a whole does well in 2023-24, which will make all of the other individual achievements the proverbial icing on the cake.