logo
FlamesNation has no direct affiliation to the Calgary Flames, Calgary Sports and Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA
Flames report cards: Grading each forward a month into the season
alt
Photo credit: © Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images
Robert Munnich
Nov 7, 2024, 12:00 ESTUpdated: Nov 7, 2024, 01:10 EST
Comments
The Calgary Flames are off to an impressive start to the 2024-25 season, especially when you consider expectations for the team from fans and media around the NHL.
Through 13 games the Flames are 7-5-1 which is good enough to have them in the first wild card spot in points percentage.
We know the team game has been pretty good for the most part. But how about individual performances? Let’s determine that by giving out some letter grades.

I’ll give letter grades based on how the players have performed this season relative to their expectations heading into the year.

I’ll be giving letter grades to player who have played in at least 8 games this season.
We’ll take a look at the forwards today and the defence and goalies tomorrow.

Justin Kirkland: A+

10GP – 1G – 4A – 5P
82 game point pace: 8G – 33A – 41P
The best story of the first month of the season was the emergence of Justin Kirkland. He’s come out of nowhere and become one of the more effective players for the Flames.
He has 5 points in 10 games, all of them coming at 5-on-5. He’s tied for first among Flames forwards in that stat.
The Flames have outscored their opposition 6-2 with Kirkland on the ice at 5-on-5. High danger chances are 19-15 in favour of the Flames when he is on the ice.

Connor Zary: A

13GP – 3G – 5A – 8P
82 game point pace: 19G – 32A – 51P
There is no such thing as a sophomore slump in Connor Zary’s world. He has been fantastic this season. He has been the Flames most dynamic forward this season with his ability to make high end plays and create scoring chances for he and his teammates.
He is sitting at 8 points on the season. But that number could be a lot higher if he and his teammates could bury more scoring opportunities that Zary has created.

Matt Coronato: B+

8GP – 4G – 0A – 4P
82 game point pace: 41G – 0A – 41P
Matt Coronato has had an impressive start to the season despite being put in all kinds of different spots in the Flames lineup and getting sent to the American Hockey League.
He’s scored 4 goals in 8 games, two of them being clutch game tying and winning goals against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.
His days in the AHL are over. He is a full time NHL player.

Mikael Backlund: B

13GP – 2G – 3A – 5P
82 game point pace: 13G – 19A – 32P
Mikael Backlund has been Mikael Backlund. And that’s a good thing. The Flames captain continues to be the most reliable forward on the team. And it shouldn’t surprise anyone to see guys like Zary and Matt Coronato have success on his wing.
He takes on all the hardest match-ups defensively. He starts in his own end and finishes his shifts in the offensive zone. He is still an incredibly important player to this Flames team even at the age of 35.
You’d like to see Backlund score at a higher rate. But what he lack in offence he makes up in being a great 200 foot player.

Blake Coleman: B

13GP – 3G – 4A – 7P
82 game point pace: 19G – 25A – 44P
What I just said about Backlund can be applied to Blake Coleman. He is doing everything you expect from him. He’s good defensively. He plays on the PK. He’s physical. And on top of that he’s chipping in with some points. He is doing what is expected of him.

Ryan Lomberg: B

13GP – 0G – 1A – 1P
82 game point pace: 0G – 6A – 6P
The Lombergini has come as advertised. He’s brought a ton of personality, leadership, and edge to the Calgary Flames dressing room.
On the ice, he is an energizer bunny. He is one of the hardest working players on the ice. He hits. he stands up for teammates.
You’d like to see a little more production from him offensively as he only has one assist in 13 games. But he wasn’t brought to Calgary to be a point producer.

Anthony Mantha: B-

13GP – 4G – 3A – 7P
82 game point pace: 25G – 19A – 44P
What you’ve seen from Anthony Mantha is exactly what we were told we were going to get. A guy with a tantalizing skillset who lacks consistency. We’ve seen Mantha take over games. Look no further than wins early in the season in Vancouver and Edmonton. And then we’ve seen games where you don’t even know he’s playing.
However, he has put up some decent numbers. He’s on pace to score 25 goals. He is tied for 1st in 5-on-5 points among forwards. And he leads the team in +/- with a plus-6.

Jonathan Huberdeau: B-

13GP – 5G – 3A – 8P
82 game point pace: 31G – 19A – 50P
Huberdeau was the most difficult forward to grade because we’ve seen a couple different versions of him this season. First, we saw Florida Huberdeau in the first four games where he put up 6 points.
Since then he’s been back to the 2022-2024 version of Huberdeau. In the last 9 games, he’s only produced 2 points. The Flames don’t know what they’re going to get from Huberdeau on any given night and that’s the most frustrating part of his game.
The reason he’s not graded lower is because of his goal scoring. He leads the Flames in goals with 5. That’s been big for a team that struggles to put the puck in the back of the net.
Having said that, the point production is lacking. His 8 points in 13 games is good for a 50-point pace over 82 games. That would be his worst production in his three seasons in Calgary.

Nazem Kadri: C+

13GP – 4G – 3A – 7P
82 game point pace: 25G – 19A – 44P
It’s been an interesting start to the season for Nazem Kadri. There are aspects of his game that are at a grade A level. For example, he leads the Flames in every single shooting metric. Shots on net, shot attempts, high danger shots. He has a shoot first mentality. It makes him one of the more dangerous players on the ice.
But his production is not where it needs it to be with only 7 points in 13 games which is good for a 44 point pace over 82 games. Only 3 of his points have come at 5-on-5 which ranks tied for 9th on the Flames.
On top of that his defensive numbers are dreadful. He ranks dead last on the team in +/- with a minus-10. The next closest Flame is Yegor Sharangovich at minus-4. The Flames have been outscored 9-3 with Kadri on the ice at 5-on-5. High danger chances are 40-29 for the opposition at 5-on-5. It’s just not good enough for one of Calgary’s most talented forwards.

Martin Pospisil: C+

13GP – 1G – 4A – 5P
82 game point pace: 6G – 25A – 31P
It’s been a bit of a rocky start for Martin Pospisil. He was hot out of the gates with 5 points in his first 3 games. But Pospisil has zero points in his last ten outings.
He has been a physical presence as he leads the Flames with 43 hits this season. But we haven’t seen him get under opponents skin like he did last year. You’d like to see that element of his game return.
But he’s also been asked to do a lot. Play centre. Play the wing. Be aggressive. Play on the edge. Don’t take penalties. Produce offence. That’s a lot of put on the plate of a second year NHLer.

Andrei Kuzmenko: C-

13GP – 1G – 6A – 7P
82 game point pace: 6G – 38A – 44P
Kuzmenko has been the most disappointing Flame forward this season. I had high expectations for him based off his finish to last season and the chemistry he showed with Nazem Kadri. But he hasn’t come close to being the offensive play driver the Flames need him to be.
Kuzmenko has one goal in 13 games. He’s struggled to produce on the power play. The most concerning part of his game is his skating. He has no separation speed and has a difficult time beating defenders wide. His skating is not putting him in good shooting positions. That’s why he only has 18 shots on net this season.
What letter grades would you give the Flames forwards this season? Let me know in the comments section. 

Editorials

Breaking News