The Most Underrated Player that Flames Win Streaks can’t be without
After just 42 games in the NHL, Martin Pospíšil has quickly and quietly become one of the Calgary Flames’ most important players. Despite scoring two goals in his last two games, including his sixth of the season in the 6-3 win over the Oilers on Saturday, he doesn’t accumulate many points or log loads of minutes. What Pospíšil lacks in point production and ice time, he makes up for in physicality, desire, and a coveted ability to get under the opposition’s skin. He must have picked up some pointers from Nazem Kadri in the five-plus months they’ve worked together.
Pospíšil also excels in hockey’s most fundamental and integral statistic: wins and losses. The Flames’ success this season largely depends on whether Pospíšil is in the lineup. Calgary is 25-13-4 when he plays, with a .643 point percentage that ranks eighth in the NHL. Compare that to the .526 point percentage in 58 games overall, the joint-tenth-from-bottom rate of return.
Without him, the Flames are a woeful 3-12-1, collecting just 20 percent of available points. That point percentage, albeit over a small sample size, is rock bottom in the league, even worse than the reeling Chicago Blackhawks (.293).
For various reasons, the Flames commit far fewer mistakes when the Slovakian plays. It’s the type of pronounced dichotomy you’d more likely associate with a superstar’s presence, someone of Connor McDavid’s unparalleled influence, not from a player as inexperienced and comparatively unknown as Pospíšil.
Pospíšil an Important Part of Flames’ Winning Formula
Pospíšil plays only 11:56 per game, the 10th most among Calgary’s forwards. He has 15 points in 42 games (six goals, nine assists), ranks 12th, and has no game-winning goals or multi-point games. And yet, his presence is arguably the most crucial element to consistent team success. He represents a rare and invaluable asset, one the hockey club has acknowledged by signing him to a two-year extension for a bargain of $2 million.
The 24-year-old played in all of the four two-game and trifecta of three-game winning streaks, including the current one. He also played in the recent four-game winning run from Jan. 9 to Jan. 16 and featured in three of four consecutive victories from Jan. 27 to Feb. 10. Pospíšil didn’t feature in the six-game losing streak near the start of the season and missed one game in each of the two four-game losing skids. He still hasn’t lost four games in a row, a notable achievement considering the Flames’ streaky nature.
He also improves Kadri’s game, which is another feather in his cap. Kadri, who leads the team in scoring, has 12 points in the last nine games playing alongside Pospíšil. The former Stanley Cup winner plays a more inspired brand of hockey with Pospíšil and Connor Zary. You only have to look at Thursday’s thrilling overtime win over Boston and Saturday’s triumph in the provincial capital to find evidence of Kadri’s effervescence with the two youngsters on either side of him.
Pospíšil Throws His Body Around with the Best of Them
The Slovakian winger has 146 hits, including six on Saturday in Edmonton, the most on the team and the second-most of all rookies. Only the New York Rangers’ Will Cuylle has more (186). The Flames’ winger has played 16 fewer games than Cuylle, averaging 3.48 hits per game compared to Cuylle’s 3.21. Pospíšil leads all rookies with 53 penalty minutes, 12 more than the Columbus Blue Jackets’ Dimitri Voronkov, the second-most penalized.
Even in his junior days, Pospíšil was known for playing on the edge, ready to make an enemy of whoever was willing. He often dropped the mitts, settling many of his on-ice disputes the old-fashioned way. However, Pospíšil, due to sustaining five concussions in four years, had to alter his hazardous style. While equally tenacious, spirited, bullish, and relentless, the 24-year-old no longer fights unless exhausting all other options. Based on what’s at stake, nobody can fault him for his recent change in tact.
His on-the-edge style has some drawbacks, such as taking an increased proportion of indisciplined penalties. That comes with the territory, though. Head coach Ryan Huska will want Pospíšil to limit the number of untimely, avoidable penalties he takes, but not if it means reining in his physically charged play. He complements his Basham-Brothers style with a heightened ability to control play. Pospíšil has a Corsi rating of 52.7%, third best behind Blake Coleman (52.7%) and Mikael Backlund (54.1%).
While the Flames, who picked Pospíšil with the 105th pick in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL draft, knew of the intangibles the Slovakian could offer, they never in their wildest dreams expected such an immediate and indisputable return. While you’d have to be mad to suggest he influences proceedings more than Jacob Markstrom, no other player can say they have more of an impact on wins and losses than Pospíšil.
