Ryan Huska Will Lead The Calgary Flames in 23-24

Huska Was Assistant Under Darryl Sutter for Five Seasons.

June 14, 2023 134 2 minutes readNHL Picks & Parlays

Ryan Huska Will Lead The Calgary Flames in 23-24 — DEREK CAIN / GETTY IMAGES

Flames Offense, Confidence, Offseason Focus
Is Ryan Huska The Long-Term Solution?

Former assistant Ryan Huska is the Calgary Flames next head coach. He’ll inherit a team that finished the regular season NHL standings with 93 points, they missed the playoffs by two points after a 6-2-2 late run made it closer than it was for most of the season. Calgary was a major disappointment for bettors (-1294 units) after two straight winning seasons for the public. We’re a few months away from another round of NHL picks, but it’s never too early to start our focus on moves that will shape next season. Let’s look at one way the Calgary Flames next head coach can find immediate success with a team full of talent.

Flames Offense, Confidence, Offseason Focus

A team can’t finish 19th in the league in offense and expect to be escorted into the postseason. Calgary averaged 3.13 goals per game, the leading reason for their less-than-stellar 34-48 record against the puck line. That goals-per-game number doesn’t seem great, but it’s not that far off from where the better teams in the league are.

The Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights finished just 14th with 3.26 goals per game, while the Panthers were sixth with an average of 3.51 goals per game in the regular season. In order to climb back into the playoffs next season, the Calgary Flames next head coach will be relying on guys like Jonathan Huberdeau to elevate his point total back to the 90-point level. The 2-time all-star had a 60-point decline (55) from his 21-22 total of 115 points. Elias Lindholm had a career year in 21-22 with 82 points but found production dropped 18 points after barely crawling over the 20-goal mark with 22, a 20-goal drop.

In addition, Jacob Markstrom was playing as if the Edmonton Oilers had sucked the soul out of the 33-year-old after ending their season in 21-22. Markstrom finished 23-21-12, with just one shutout to go with 2.92 goals against average and a .892 save percentage. It seemed like this season’s edition of the Calgary Flames was a team that played with a lack of confidence, all factors that led to the firing of Darryl Sutter.

Is Ryan Huska The Long-Term Solution?

If there is one thing we’ve learned anything from watching NHL hockey through the years, it’s that a head coach is there to maintain various aspects of the regular season. The goal is to create a seasoned team with depth and health. It’s the postseason where your head coach can make a massive difference. The chess game really begins in the second season where experience is everything. Bruce Cassidy’s Boston Bruins lost to the St. Louis Blues in the 2019 Stanely Cup, you can bet he used that experience to help the Golden Knight win a Cup this season.

That brings us to Ryan Huska, who has been a long-time NHL assistant, but his head coaching experience is at the AHL level with Adirondack/Stockton. Huska, 47, has one game of NHL experience under his belt as a player with the Chicago Blackhawks in 97-98. We’re not suggesting that the Calgary Flames next head coach won’t find themselves in the playoffs next season, but it may be a few years before Huska and the Flames finds themselves deep into the postseason.