Shortly after being named a finalist for a major award, a Calgary Flames prospect has captured it. Matvei Gridin has been named the winner of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League’s Michel Bergeron Trophy as that league’s top offensive rookie. It’s a feather in the cap of one of the organization’s most interesting prospects.

A product of Kurgan, Russia, Gridin is a left shot winger who primarily plays on the right side. After playing his youth hockey in his home country, he made the leap over the Atlantic – disclaimer: he probably took a plane – and joined the United States Hockey League’s Muskegon Lumberjacks in 2022-23.

In 2023-24, his second year in the USHL and his first year of NHL Draft eligibility, Gridin led the league in points with 83 over 60 games. He was selected in the first round, 28th overall, by the Flames in the 2024 NHL Draft – using a pick the Flames acquired from Vancouver in the Elias Lindholm trade.

Amidst a bit of speculation regarding his future, particularly given he had committed to the NCAA’s University of Michigan, Gridin was selected first overall in the 2024 CHL Import Draft by the Val-d’Or Foreurs. (Players usually aren’t selected in the import draft unless teams think they’re going to report, so it led to some furrowed eyebrows in the hockey community.) While there was some chatter about Gridin meeting the NCAA’s academic entry standards, chatter that his camp denied, he signed an entry-level deal with the Flames (which meant that college hockey was no longer an option).

After his rights were traded to Shawinigan at the start of the regular season, Gridin reported to the Cataractes and ended up having a really productive offensive season. He was tied for the team lead in points (79 over 56 games) and was 12th league-wide in points. He was also the rookie leader in basically every offensive category in the QMJHL.

In addition to winning the Michel Bergeron Trophy, Gridin was also named to the QMJHL’s All-Rookie Team.

Gridin joins a couple other award-winning Flames prospects, both of which spent the season in college. Trevor Hoskin was Atlantic Hockey America’s rookie of the year and was named to that conference’s second all-star and all-rookie teams. (He was at Niagara University, but has transferred to Merrimack College for his sophomore season.) Meanwhile, netminder Arsenii Sergeev was a finalist for the Big 10 conference’s goalie of the year award and was named to his conference’s second all-rookie team. (He’s subsequently signed his entry-level deal with the Flames, leaving Penn State after a single season after back-stopping them to the Frozen Four.)

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