Friends, it hasn’t been a banner year for the local sports team.

Through 20 games, the first quarter of their 2025-26 regular season schedule, the Flames have posted a 5-12-3 record and captured just 32.5% of available points. Both their record and their points percentage have them ranked 32nd in a 32-team league.

With that in mind, we’re going to be handing out individual report cards to players for their work thus far. And we must warn you: we’re not going to necessarily punish the players for their record. Anyone who played four games in the quarter gets a letter grade, and we’re basing in each player’s role, expectations and performance relative to their role and expectations.

We’re breaking this into two halves. Up first, the forward group.

Kerins played on a top nine line on the wing for two games. He was quite good in the first game and merely okay in the second. [0 goals, 0 points in 2 games]

The Flames looked completely adrift offensively during Huberdeau’s five game absence to start the season. We don’t think it’s a coincidence that their five-on-five play seemed to start clicking once he returned to the lineup. We are dinging him a bit for the club’s special teams challenges, though. [4 goals, 9 points in 15 games]

The (Swedish) king remains the king. Backlund remains the team’s two-way ace. He’s largely been off the power play units this year, but his work on the penalty kill has been pretty solid as the team navigates through the new PK scheme. [3 goals, 9 points in 20 games]

Last season, Frost looked a bit lost. This season he’s found a good rhythm offensive thus far. We’re dinging him slightly for the power play’s challenges, but Frost’s game has taken a step forward this season. [3 goals, 10 points in 20 games]

Sharangovich has been all over the place this season. When he’s in the lineup, he’s alternated between being virtually invisible and occasionally noticeable. Given his rather hefty contract, which he’s in the first year of, he’s way below expectations. [2 goals, 4 points in 16 games]

Playing on the shutdown line with Mikael Backlund and Sam Honzek, Coleman has scored goals at key times and been on the right side of the puck more often than not. We can’t really quibble too much with his performance. [7 goals, 8 points in 20 games]

Playing as fourth line centre intermittently, Kirkland didn’t really impact games very much. He’s currently with the Wranglers. [0 goals, 1 point in 9 games]

Our main criticisms of Coronato’s game this quarter has been (a) the power play has been bad and (b) he’s been hot and cold offensively. When he’s on, he’s been excellent. But he’s also been a healthy scratch because he was pressing arguably too much for offence and the rest of his game was suffering. [5 goals, 9 points in 19 games]

Honzek hasn’t set the world on fire offensively, but he’s impressed with his details in all three zones. The fact that he’s been playing on the checking line with Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman and hasn’t looked a bit out of place is quite impressive. [2 goals, 4 points in 18 games]

Klapka hasn’t had a huge role this season. The fourth line hasn’t been spectacular. But he’s had a nice impact when he’s made appearances higher up the rotation. [2 goals, 4 points in 19 games]

Zary hasn’t had a consistent role and he’s lacked the pace and dynamism that he had before his knee injuries. We’re hoping that a more consistent role could help him find his game again, but we’ll see if that happens for him. [1 goal, 2 points in 18 games]

Lomberg has played in every single game this season and hasn’t really significantly hurt or helped the team. [0 goals, 1 point in 20 games]

Farabee has generated a ton of chances so far this season. He hasn’t put up scary good numbers, but his play has taken a bit step in the right direction. As with most offensive players, we’re dinging him slightly for the power play’s challenges. [2 goals, 7 points in 20 games]

Kadri is what he’s been for awhile: a really smart, consistent offensive player, and the Flames’ top producer. We’re bringing his grade down a little bit due to the power play’s struggles. [4 goals, 11 points in 20 games]

Gridin played four games and generally looked quite good before being sent to the AHL when Jonathan Huberdeau got healthy. [1 goal, 1 point in 4 games]

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