Flames Need a Big Season From Matt Coronato – The Hockey Writers – Calgary Flames

The 2026-27 season could be one with plenty of lows in the win-loss column for the Calgary Flames. This young, rebuilding roster will enter this coming season worse on paper than they were one year ago, largely due to trading away some key veterans in Rasmus Andersson, MacKenzie Weegar, Nazem Kadri, and Blake Coleman.

Keep in mind, this is a team that finished dead last in the NHL for goals scored last season with just 208. After moving out some of their best offensive contributors, that total may dip even further in 2026-27 unless some of their younger talent is able to step up. Cue Matt Coronato.

Coronato Needs to Make a Jump

While the Flames have many promising young prospects that have fans excited for the future, there are a number of players who no longer fit the prospect label who are also big pieces of the future. Leading that list would be none other than Coronato.

Expectations have been quite high for Coronato ever since the Flames selected him 13th overall in the 2021 draft. He was viewed at the time as having one of the best shots in his entire draft class, and has shown that ability through his first 192 NHL games. That said, it hasn’t been on display as much as the fan base would like.

While Coronato did appear in 39 games with the Flames during the 2023-24 campaign, his first full season came in 2024-25, and he didn’t disappoint. The now 23-year-old put up an impressive 24 goals and 47 points in 77 games and appeared to have true star potential. General manager (GM) Craig Conroy believed that to be the case, signing Coronato to a seven-year, $45.5 million deal last offseason.

Coronato followed that extension up with a step in the wrong direction, managing 18 goals and 45 points in 80 games. By no means was it a terrible season, but it wasn’t what most had expected. Now, there is some pressure for him to put together a big 2026-27 campaign.

Based on just his shot alone, Coronato seems to have the makings of a 30-goal scorer. That was far from the case last season, due largely to the fact that he scored on only 9.1 per cent of his shots. That was a significant drop off from 2024-25, where he found the back of the net on 13.3 per cent of shots he threw on goal.

In Coronato’s defence, he hasn’t had much of any offensive help. That was proven by the fact that his 45 points led the Flames in scoring last season. With a few more talented pieces to work with, he likely would have surpassed the 20-goal mark with ease.

The situation around Coronato will be similar this season, though it’s crucial that his numbers take a jump. He’s approaching the prime years of his career, and the organization is relying on him to be the main guy to create the offence, not just a beneficiary.

In order to do so, Coronato will need to find some more consistency this upcoming season. In late February to mid March of last season, the American-born winger went 14 games without finding the back of the net. He also scored just two goals in the Flames’ final 12 games of the season. Those types of cold stretches aren’t uncommon for a player of his age, but now is the time for him to move past those.

Jury Still Out on Coronato

While there is plenty of promise in Coronato’s game, it’s still hard to project exactly what his ceiling is at the NHL level. Both the Flames fan base and the organization as a whole are hopeful he can turn into a consistent 30-goal scorer, though this upcoming season will be a big indicator as to whether that can be the case.