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With less than a handful of trips to Eastern Canada every year, it’d be tough to fault Canadiens, Leafs, and Senators fans if they hit up HockeyDB when they look at the current Calgary Flames roster.

As the Flames embark on a season that’ll see them play an unprecedented 27 times against those teams, here are six under-the-radar Calgary players that Eastern Canadian hockey fans should get to know. There’s a good chance they’ll have a significant impact on how things unfold in the North Division.

David Rittich

It’s funny to write that an all-star is unknown, but Rittich is exactly that. Coming into Flames camp, he’s penciled in as the clear No. 2 goaltender behind Jacob Markstrom. Last season, the 28-year-old was 10th in the league in wins (24), one more than Markstrom.

He says he’s looking forward to working with Markstrom and made a couple of changes this off-season. During the extended pause, Rittich, known for being emotional and wearing his heart on his sleeve, used a mental skills coach and incorporated virtual reality into his training. With such a compressed schedule, Rittich will still be playing fairly often for Calgary and could be a dark horse key to their season.

Rasmus Andersson

With Mark Giordano’s impressive career winding down, his heir apparent on the Flames’ blueline appears to be the 24-year-old Swede, a 2015 second-round pick who’s cemented himself as a key part of the team’s future. Andersson spent most of the off-season in Calgary with his fiance after signing a six-year, $27.3 million extension last January.

He’ll start the season paired with Giordano and quarterback the team’s top powerplay unit. Geoff Ward wants more shots from the back end and will rely heavily on Andersson for that. At the 2018 AHL All-Star Game, Andersson clocked a 101.5 mph slap shot - putting him in some elite company.

Juuso Valimaki

The Finnish blueliner has had some bad injury luck early on in his career but looked mobile and confident so far in training camp. During the fall, the 2017 first-round pick was a point-per-game player with Ilves Tampere. The rookie has been open about his Calder Trophy aspirations and will start the season on the Flames’ third defensive pairing with Nikita Nesterov.

Andrew Mangiapane

On a roster last season with the likes of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Matthew Tkachuk, Elias Lindholm, and Mikael Backlund, it was actually the Toronto-born Mangiapane who was third with 17 even-strength goals. All that production despite starting just 46 per cent of his shifts in the offensive zone while getting the seventh-most ice time among the team’s forwards.

According to Natural Stat Trick, his on-ice even-strength goals for percentage (52.94) was third among Flames regulars last season, behind only Giordano and Derek Ryan, while his expected goals for percentage (53.4) was second only to Giordano. Mangiapane could move up and down the lineup and get more opportunities to contribute as the team moves towards a balanced attack this season.

Dominik Simon

Simon played the majority of his minutes with Sidney Crosby last season in Pittsburgh. He’s again being given a chance to play with high-end offensive players, this time in Calgary with Gaudreau and Monahan. Crosby commended Simon’s ability to win puck battles in the corners, a skillset that should complement the Flames’ two talented forwards.

Dillon Dubé

Again, a bit ironic to list a recent Team Canada World Juniors captain as under-the-radar, but it suits Dubé. After winning gold in 2018 in Buffalo, he’s turned in a couple of solid professional seasons both with Calgary and in the American Hockey League with the Stockton Heat.

Last season, he teamed up with Milan Lucic and Sam Bennett to form an extremely effective third line for the Flames. Dubé plays with grit and sandpaper, and it’s not out of the question that he ends up getting an extended look with Gaudreau and Monahan at some point this season.

SPARKS OFF THE FIRE

-We’ve talked about Dubé perhaps getting a top-six look this season, but he cautioned about using a fantasy pick on him. "I think my buddies should take Monny and Johnny," he joked after practice on Saturday.

-When asked about similarities between Crosby and Gaudreau, Simon said that they’re both high-IQ players who think the game really well. Simon also said he learned from Crosby about work ethic and playing a full 60 minutes – not the first time someone’s gleaned that from Sid.

-Sunday’s big waiver dump means the Flames’ taxi squad is coming into focus. Likely on it is goalie Louis Domingue, blueliner Alex Petrovic, and forwards Buddy Robinson, Byron Froese, and Justin Kirkland (provided they all clear). Two candidates for the second defenceman spot on that taxi squad: former Flame Michael Stone and college free agent signing Connor Mackey.

-On Sunday, Geoff Ward emphasized the importance of that taxi squad. That group will travel with the team and allow for tailoring lineups to opponents, as well as giving regular roster players maintenance days during practices.

-Ward also noticed Rittich’s use of a mental coach. He called the goalie’s approach this training camp "more business-like" than it has been in the past.

-Flames fans will be able to watch Monday’s intrasquad game on the team’s website. There’s a chance that World Juniors medalists Jakob Pelletier, Connor Zary, and Dustin Wolf see some action.