Daniil Miromanov never once complained or made excuses.
The reality, though, is that when the Russian defenceman arrived in Calgary after being acquired by the Flames in the trade that sent Noah Hanifin to the Vegas Golden Knights, he was way short of 100 per cent physically.
A brutal knee injury in late March of 2023 had required surgery for his ACL and meniscus. He’d miss Golden Knights training camp and required a long conditioning stint before returning to NHL action in early February of this year.
He’d go on to play 20 games for the Flames after the trade, scoring three goals and adding four assists. That stretch might not have revealed exactly who Miromanov can be as a player, though.
“You’re coming back from the knee injury he had and we threw him right into the fire, if you will, putting him against top lines,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “He had a full summer of working and getting stronger and feeling good about where he’s at.
“I see a different guy on the ice. I see a little more pace to his play, for sure, and that’s a real positive for us.”
The Flames are clearly high on Miromanov. They signed him to a two-year extension right after they acquired him and have him paired with MacKenzie Weegar. That means he’s playing top-four minutes on the blueline this season, which is a solid indication of how the team views his potential now that he’s healthy.
While he’s not going to be a physical, shutdown defenceman, he’s a good skater who has a great eye for a pass. Being back to speed after recovering from his injury and getting a full summer in of actually working on his body and his fitness should help him unlock his potential, and having Weegar next to you on the blueline is only going to make a d-man better.
“Miro’s great, Miro’s awesome,” Weegar said. “We have great chemistry on and off the ice, he’s a funny dude, a bit goofy but I have a blast with him. He wants to get better, he looks a lot better, he talks about his body feeling a lot better and you can notice it on the ice.
“He wants to be a better player, he wants to be one of the best defencemen in the league and he’s ambitious to get better and for me as a D partner, that’s what you want. For me, I just get to try to help him in different situations and he helps me in different situations and as a D partner, that’s how you become great.”
So far through pre-season, Miromanov’s scored a goal and added an assist in two games. He’s a plus-three, too, and while it’s only pre-season, he’s moving well and there does seem to be some pre-existing chemistry with Weegar.
There’s an opportunity for him to play big minutes for the Flames this year, and he seems to be doing the right things to take advantage of it.
“I’m feeling better and better every day, I’m very fortunate,” Miromanov said. “I waited for that for a long time, so I’m using this opportunity to implement my game and I’m just trying to take care of my body. Being away from the game for so long taught me a lot about my body and taking care of my body. If you take care of your body, it will take care of you, that’s kind of the mentality.
“I feel like where I was at the time (last year), I tried to do my very best and I felt great but now I’m feeling even better. Everybody can expect my game to elevate from that point, there’s a lot more to come.”
Waiver wire
Both Martin Frk and Justin Kirkland cleared waivers on Monday. They’d been placed on the waiver wire on Sunday and will now report to the Calgary Wranglers.