1 point! only 1 point away !

The Calgary Flames came within 1 point away of making the playoffs in a very disappointing end to the season. The Anaheim Ducks won their very last game of the season to surpass the Flames in what was a very hard heartbreaker for this young and upcoming club. 

Before the trading deadline, GM Belanger was active in making some last minute acquisitions to his club with the arrivals of pending UFAs Sean Couturier, Kiefer Sherwood and Josh Manson. It's been rumored that he was also in many other discussions that did not pan out. Back in November, GM Belanger also pulled a deal to acquire veteran Ian Cole to help out this young defensive core. GM Belanger believes in keeping his young core intact and he did not move away from that plan at all. 

1st line center Chandler Stephenson had an amazing season with 41 goals, 46 assists for 87 points in 78 games played which was good for 10th best in the league. Owen Tippett also had a very good season with 31 goals, 43 assists for 74 points in 82 games played. Young and upcoming big winger Juraj Slafkovsky was 3rd in scoring with 23 goals, 38 assists for 61 points in 82 games played. 

On the backend, Kaiden Guhle led the way with an impressive +22 plus and minus while accumulating 4 goals and 20 assists for 24 points in 78 games. His defence partner Ian Cole amassed 3 goals and 19 assists for 22 points in 77 games played. 

In nets, Filip Gustavsson and Joel Hofer shared the load with 47 games for Gustavsson and 37 games for Hofer. Gustavsson showed he was the undisputed #1 goaltender of this team with a decent 25 wins, 18 losses, a goals against average of 2.66 and .912 save percentage. 

In this year's draft, the Flames are currently holding 2 1st round draft choices at the very end of the 1st round. They will be looking at finding some hidden gems who may slip and fall down from their lists. 

It will be a busy off-season for GM Belanger since he needs to negotiate many contracts on Restricted Free Agents. Filip Gustavsson and Owen Tippett are both looking to break the bank. They are rumored to wanting 8 year deals at over 6 million each. Cole Perfetti is looking for a bridge deal before breaking the bank on a long term extension. Jake Bean, Cole Koepke, Nikolas Matinpalo, Alexander Holtz, Arber Xhekaj and Alex Turcotte will likely be signed to short term deals as well. As of this writing, GM Belanger has not decided yet who he wants to re-sign as his 1-own UFA. Dmitry Orlov, Sean Couturier are both likely candidates. Calgary is currently looking at a log jam on offence and it's rumored that Dmitry Orlov might be the UFA re-signed...

Calgary will be looking for young forwards Mason McTavish, Cole Perfetti and Kent Johnson to step up and reach another level this next season. GM Belanger is confident that his up and coming young team will take another step in the right direction next season and make the playoffs.