For guys like Boyd, Moss, Glencross and Bourque, it's a question of where they will land in the Flames line-up next season. Not so with Cammalleri. With only a few established offensive difference makers, he's destined to get top 6 - if not top 3 - minutes in Calgary. The question is how effective he'll be in that role.
The 26 year-old will be heading into just his 4th full season come October. He's already broken the 20 goal barrier twice (three times had he not been injured last year) and was an 80 point getter in 06/07. He began 07/08 as the hottest scorer in the league, managing 10 goals and 12 points in his first 10 games. He slowed considerably over November and December however, scoring just 5 more times before being injured in January (hmmm...who does that sound like?). Mike returned in February when the Kings were well out of the play-off hunt. He would go on to score just 4 more goals in his final 27 games.
Comparisons to Tanguay are inevitable given the manner in which Cammalleri was acquired, though (as mentioned here previously) there's little chance of him replacing Tanguay's contributions at ES. The latter is an established difference maker and outscorer at 5-on-5. His ESP/60 rate is routinely in the top 3 for whatever team he plays on, regardless of the circumstances. In two seasons in Flames colors, Tanguay had a cumulative ES +/- of +33. He also posted the 2nd best ESP/60 on the Flames two years running, trailing only Jarome Iginla.
Cammalleri, on the other hand, is yet to establish himself as a consistent threat at even-strength. During his career season two years ago, he managed an ESP/60 of 2.41 (decent) and was +5 (meh). Last year, his ESP/60 rate fell to 1.91. He was also in the red by a large margin at ES (-14), due mainly to a team worst GAON/60 rate of 3.56. This was despite seeing some cherry minutes (QUAL COMP -0.04) with decent teammates (+0.14).
The majority of Cammalleri's damage-doing comes on the PP. Forty-one of his 79 goals over the last 3 seasons have come with the man-advantage. In 06/07, he scored nearly half of all his points (37) in about 377 PP minutes, giving him a team leading PPP/60 rate of 5.89. That same season, Kristian Huselius scored 34 PP points with 322 minutes of ice for a rate of 6.33. Get my drift?
There's some question as to whether Cammalleri will play at center or the wing. Considering there's more centers than wingers in Calgary and the two glaring holes on the left hand side in the top 6, it's almost a sure bet he won't be taking many draws next season. I think the chances are good that, like Juice, he'll be skating with Iginla at ES and the first unit PP given that's how Keenan rolled last year. If Jarome ends up going power v. power, Cammalleri might be shuffled to the 2nd line if he can't handle the tough sledding. Who could possibly take his place is another question altogether. Probably one that will only be answered by trial and error as the season rolls along...and potentially one that won't be answered effectively from the Flames internal ranks if at least one of "musings" subjects doesn't take a generous step or two forward.
