Lesser-lights push for chance to shine
Trio of ‘depth’ players get lost in glare of Flames’ major free-agent signings
With every cha-ching on GM Brad Treliving’s free-agent shopping spree, Calgary Flames fans excitedly fiddled with potential forward combinations, pondering the many options for where to slide the new guys into the lineup.
Is perennial 20-goal man James Neal a no-brainer to join Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan on the top trio? Or should he skate on the second line to spread the scoring wealth?
Does Derek Ryan — finally, a right-handed centre! — man the middle on the third or fourth unit?
And what about Austin Czarnik? Treliving and head coach Bill Peters travelled to Michigan to present their pitch, so they must have big plans for the minor-league scoring standout, right?
Tyler Graovac’s name likely wasn’t included on many of those long-weekend lineup projections, but the lesser-light addition is anxious to make his case.
“You can never really promise anyone anything in hockey. That’s something I’ve learned over the last couple of years,” said the 25-year-old Graovac, who dressed for five games last fall with the eventual Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals after parts of three seasons with the Minnesota Wild. “I think the brass in Calgary, they like my size, they like my speed. And they want competition at camp, and I think that pushes everyone as a group.
“I know in Washington last season at training camp, there were three or four guys just fighting for the same spot and it really pushed me to be better. With me coming into Calgary, I could be a depth player but also could prove something this year.”
With the focus on Czarnik, Ryan and ‘The Real Deal,’ there wasn’t much fanfare about the other long-weekend news from the Saddledome, that Graovac and fellow forwards Alan Quine and Buddy Robinson had each inked two-way contracts with the Calgary-based club. A quick intro.
The 25-year-old Quine has the most NHL experience of this unheralded trio. Listed at 6-foot and 203 lb., he’s counted seven goals and 20 assists in 94 career contests with the New York Islanders, which includes 10 playoff dates.
Graovac has scored seven times and added two helpers in 62 showings at the highest level. A former minor-lacrosse and junior-hockey teammate of Monahan, he measures up at 6-foot-5 and 208 lb.
Robinson, 26, is a big dude at 6-foot-6 and 232 lb. He has two points to show for seven appearances on hockey’s biggest stage.
Graovac and Quine are both left-handed, capable of working at either centre and on the flank. Robinson is a right-shot winger.
All three seem likely to start the season with the American Hockey League’s Stockton Heat. All three have something else in mind.
“I think it’s great to get a fresh start,” said Quine, who was limited to just 21 appearances with the Isles last season due a couple of significant injuries — a broken hand and a high-ankle sprain — and was not tendered a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent. “I’m coming there with a chip on my shoulder and fully expect to be a factor playing with the Flames. Calgary obviously believes in me, so I’m fully ready to step into whatever role they give me and fully excel in it.”
If Quine’s name rings a bell, it’s because he made the highlightreel — and made history — with his double-overtime snipe in Game 5 of an opening-round series against Florida in 2016. (With just two regular-season outings on his resume at that point, he became the least experienced marksman to ever bury an overtime goal in the Stanley Cup playoffs).
“That was a whirlwind of a month. I got called up for the last two games of the season, then sent back down and then I got the call that I was going to join them for the playoff run,” Quine said, reminiscing about that spring stint as an unlikely sidekick to John Tavares, now the new hometown hero for the Toronto Maple Leafs. “I had no expectations of playing — I was just happy to be along — but from Game 1, they had me on Johnny’s wing, which was cool. And then to score that goal, I can still see it. It will be in my memory forever. It was obviously an unbelievable moment for me.
“That’s my only pro taste of playoffs, and it was just as thrilling as anyone could imagine,” he added. “I was there, I did it and I thought I did a pretty good job when called upon. Obviously, the goal is to get back in that same situation, that same spot, and be a factor.” Graovac is shooting for the same. He cracked the Capitals’ roster last fall but was demoted in December, spending the rest of the campaign with the AHL’s Hershey Bears and watching their Stanley Cup celebration from afar.
“I’d love to be a part of that one day,” Graovac said. “That’s what I’m working my way through, trying to stick somewhere.”