It’s still early, and Aydar Suniev is only three games into his season, but combining his preseason performance with what we’ve seen through three games, it looks like Suniev could be one of the Calgary Flames’ most productive players this season. On a Flames team that struggles to score goals, Suniev could easily be among the team’s top scorers. But could he lead the team come April?

We knew entering this season that goals were probably going to be few and far between. Early on, it looked as though things might be even worse than we thought. Before the Flames’ 4-2 win over Anaheim, they had scored just eight goals in five games.

There just hasn’t been much production, especially from the guys you’d expect it from. When everyone at Daily Faceoff Calgary made our season predictions, it wasn’t unanimous, but only a couple of names seemed to be in contention to lead the team in goals and overall scoring.

Matt Coronato has found the back of the net just once this year, and while his play has looked a lot better over the last couple of games, he still doesn’t look very dangerous in the offensive zone.

Zayne Parekh has looked brilliant at times, but the points haven’t started to flow. He hasn’t really been set up for success playing with Jake Middleton on the third pairing. We’ll see if changes are finally made there and perhaps the points will follow.

Morgan Frost’s two points this season are both goals. He, too, just hasn’t looked dangerous and, at times, even looks disengaged from the play. Frost has the ability to go on a run, but there’s a good chance he gets moved this season, which decreases his odds of finishing atop the Flames’ scoring list.

Then there is Matvei Gridin. Expectations for him were pretty high coming into the season, and he had the confidence to make us believe he could meet them. He has yet to find the back of the net this season and seems to have replaced Connor Zary in Ryan Huska’s doghouse. With a player like Gridin, it only takes one goal to get him rolling. Hopefully, he gets on a roll soon, but it’s been a tough start for the young forward.

The only player in the Flames organization who has looked solid since the beginning of training camp has been Suniev. He was lighting the lamp in the pre-season and made a really strong case to start the season in the NHL. In the end, it was decided he’d start in the AHL, but boy, do things change fast. We knew we’d see him in a Flames jersey sooner or later, but maybe we weren’t expecting it so soon. After two games, though, it’s clear the call-up was long overdue.

Two goals and an assist puts him in a tie for the team lead with three points. And it’s not like his two goals came on textbook, set plays. He’s simply shown that he’s always ready for the puck and has a wicked shot. Suniev brings creativity to the offensive zone. He just finds ways to score — something this team has really lacked over the last couple of years.

Now, will this point-per-game production last throughout the season? Probably not. But Suniev looks dangerous, and if he can keep his head above water, he’s going to emerge as a serious scoring threat, not just on this team but across the entire league. It’s still very early. There are 78 games left to play. But when there’s a bright spot on this Flames team, it’s worth fanning the flame. Hopefully, Suniev is given a full runway to find success — he is must-watch hockey right now.