Heading into the 2022-23 NHL season, the Calgary Flames seemed like a pretty sure bet to make the playoffs. The Flames were coming off a first-place finish in the Pacific Division the year prior, and the expectation was they'd be right back in the hunt again.

Calgary also ended up having an eventful summer, which saw a lot of turnover in terms of key personnel. With Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk departing, the Flames changed the look of their team on the fly. They added both Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar from the Florida Panthers in the Tkachuk trade, before signing Nazem Kadri in free agency and trading away longtime assistant captain Sean Monahan.

However, the year obviously didn't go as expected. Calgary missed the playoffs, finishing ninth in the Western Conference, and parted ways with general manager Brad Treliving. It was a hugely disappointing result, after what was viewed as a surprisingly strong offseason for the Flames.

Heading into next year, there will be some questions as well. A handful of key players will be entering the final year of their respective contracts, with Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin, Tyler Toffoli, Chris Tanev, Mikael Backlund and Nikita Zadorov all set to become unrestricted free agents in 2024.

But while the long-term direction of Calgary remains somewhat up in the air, we can likely expect the team to at least attempt to bounce back next season. The Flames' underlying stats point towards them deserving a better result, and the team also dropped 17 extra points from overtime and shootout losses.

For Calgary to bounce back, though, there are a few players who will be counted on to rebound themselves.

Jonathan Huberdeau

Huberdeau's first season with the Flames was a disaster.

Coming off a 30-goal, 115-point season with the Panthers in 2021-22, the winger immediately stepped in as the team's top forward. However, he struggled right from the start and by the end of the season, his numbers had declined in unimaginable ways. His 15 goals and 55 points this season was about half his production from the season before.

While the numbers he posted during his final year in Florida were an outlier, he had still been scoring at a pace of roughly 30 goals and 90 points per 82 games through the previous three seasons. His numbers with the Flames marked his lowest totals since the 2014-15 season.

Huberdeau did spend a lot of time playing on his off-wing, which didn't help. He also had a slightly better end to the season, managing 13 points in his last 16 games.

With his eight-year deal at a $10.5 million cap hit only just kicking in next season, the Flames desperately need the winger to return to form.

Jacob Markstrom

Few goalies recently have been as inconsistent from year to year as Jacob Markstrom.

The season prior to joining the Flames in 2019-20, Markstrom posted a .918 save percentage with the Vancouver Canucks. However, his first season with the Flames didn't go quite as well, managing just a .904 save percentage in 2020-21.

The netminder turned things around in a major way last season, posting a .922 save percentage across 63 games en route to a second-place finish in Vezina Trophy voting. Once again, though, he took a step back with the Flames, posting a terrible .892 save percentage this season. While his counterpart, Dan Vladar, wasn't any better, Calgary was counting on Markstrom being a key to success.

So while there's a strong chance we do see Markstrom rebound next season, who really knows? The netminder is now 33 years old, and his tenure in Calgary has been too inconsistent. However, Markstrom still has three seasons left on his contract at a $6 million cap hit. If the Flames are going to rebound next season, he needs to be a big part of that.

Andrew Mangiapane

Perhaps expectations were too high for Mangiapane. The winger was coming off a great 2021-22 season, which saw him score 35 goals and 55 points. He was then awarded with a relatively pricey three-year extension, carrying a $5.8 million cap hit.

Unfortunately, Mangiapane wasn't able to replicate that production this season. He managed just 17 goals – only half as many as the year prior – and 43 points in a full 82 games.

A main factor was that his shooting percentage took a nosedive, also ending up only around half of his 2021-22 rate. For a player who has averaged a shooting percentage of 15 percent across nearly 350 career regular-season games, we can expect it to recover next season, at least to an extent.

While 35 goals may be an unrealistic target, his production in 2021-22 wasn't a complete outlier. The year before, he had scored at a pace of 26 goals and 47 points per 82. Looking ahead to next year, reaching 25 goals and 50 points should be more realistic and would go a long way to helping the Flames bounce back.