Aydar Suniev made a strong enough case in the preseason that the Calgary Flames should keep a long look on him once the games count for real.
The 21-year-old winger is coming off his first full season at the pro level, and he didn’t waste any time showing he can handle a higher stage. In two preseason games, Suniev scored three goals, which tied him with Matvei Gridin and Joel Farabee for the team lead.
Farabee also appeared in two games, while Gridin played in three. Across the NHL, Suniev finished tied for second in preseason goals.
What stood out was how consistently he popped on the ice. In his first preseason game against the Seattle Kraken, Suniev finished second on the Flames in Individual Chances For with five, trailing only Zayne Parekh. His two High Danger Chances For also tied Rory Kerins for the team lead, and he did all of that in just 10:13 of ice time.
Game two brought more of the same. Suniev generated two Individual Scoring Chances For and added some bite without the puck, recording three hits and two blocked shots. Head Coach Ryan Huska gave him more ice time after that performance, a sign the winger kept earning trust every shift he took.
That production matters because there is room for a player like Suniev to force his way into the mix. On the fourth line, the current wing spots belong to Adam Klapka and Maxim Tsyplakov, but Suniev and Brennan Othmann would make those jobs more interesting. Othmann had been a healthy scratch until last night.
The age difference is part of the argument, too. Klapka is 26 and Tsyplakov is 28, while Suniev is 21 and Othmann is 23. For a team in a rebuild year, the choice points toward the younger players who fit the timeline better and still have room to grow.
That’s where Suniev comes in. He brings youth, speed, and the kind of preseason showing that should keep him in the conversation for more than just a cameo.
In Other News...
Flames Loss In Vancouver Exposed A Familiar Problem Again
The Flames left Vancouver with another reminder of how thin the margin can be in a tight, physical game. The Canucks did not exactly light up the scoreboard, but they did enough in a patchy contest to keep Calgary chasing, with Vancouvers calm work in goal helping stabilize a game that never found much flow.
For Calgary, the frustration came from a familiar place: a game that was there to be grabbed, then slipped away as the tone turned heavier and the details got messier. Vancouver brought the kind of edge that can tilt a night like this, while the Canucks still had to survive through a power play that never really found its rhythm. [Read more 🡒]
Flames Send An Early Message With Lineup Changes After Ugly Opener
After a 6-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken to open the season, the Calgary Flames wasted little time making a point about accountability. On the road against the Vancouver Canucks, the club went with two lineup changes and handed season debuts to Brennan Othmann and Joel Hanley as part of an early response to a rough start.
Ryan Huska said the adjustment came down to puck management, a clear sign the staff is looking for cleaner decisions after the opener went sideways. The shuffle gives Calgary a chance to reset quickly, and it also sends an early message that the margins for error are going to be thin as the Flames try to get back on track. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks Suddenly Have A Goalie Decision They Did Not Expect
Leevi Merilinen has given Vancouver something it did not necessarily expect this early in the season: a goalie who has looked poised in limited action. Claimed off waivers from the Ottawa Senators, the 23-year-old has stepped into two games and handled the assignment with a 1.32 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage, numbers that suggest the Canucks may have found more than just a stopgap while Thatcher Demko was out.
The bigger question now is what happens when Demko is ready to return. Vancouver will have to sort through its goalie picture at a time when Merilinen has made a strong early case to stay in the mix, and that kind of unexpected depth can quickly turn into a roster puzzle. For a team that had been watching him since the summer, the timing has only made the conversation more complicated. [Read more 🡒]