Losing Michael Frolik has hurt the Flames.
Well, yeah; injuries to top six forwards tend to hurt most teams. And though Frolik wasn’t quite playing on Mikael Backlund and Matthew Tkachuk’s level – certainly not points-wise, though that had been starting to turn around – his absence has resulted in a depleted lineup.
Troy Brouwer has been moved up in Frolik’s stead, from fourth line to top six forward. There is a certain logic to it: with the first and third lines rolling, there’s no need to want to disrupt those. And amongst fourth liners, Brouwer has both the most experience and most potential to score.