Calgary Flames 2024 first-round pick Matvei Gridin has captured the Sidney Crosby Trophy as the QMJHL’s top rookie for the 2024-25 season, the league announced Thursday morning.

Gridin, 19, ran away with the Q’s rookie scoring race in his first (and perhaps only) year with the Shawinigan Cataractes, collecting 36 goals and 79 points in 56 games during the regular season. He tacked on eight goals and 17 points in 16 playoff contests with Shawinigan.

“In his 18-year-old season, Gridin led QMJHL rookies in virtually every offensive stat, including points (79), goals (36), assists (43), plus/minus (+31), shots (236), game-winning goals (5), power-play assists (15) and shorthanded goals (4),” read the QMJHL news release announcing its award winners on Thursday.

“He also finished first in scoring for the Cataractes and 12th in the QMJHL. A first-round pick of the Calgary Flames in 2024, Gridin was selected first overall in the 2024 CHL Import Draft by the Val-d’Or Foreurs before being traded to Shawinigan.”

The Kurgan, Russia product was one of only two rookies in the Q to surpass 20 goals and 40 points. The other, Rouyn-Noranda’s Lars Steiner, is a top 2026 draft prospect who managed exactly 60 points despite being two years younger than Gridin.

Gridin beat out goaltenders Lucas Beckman (Baie-Comeau) and William Lacelle (Rimouski) to win the Crosby Trophy, which was renamed in honour of the long-time Pittsburgh Penguins captain this past February. It was previously known as the RDS Cup from 1996 to 2024, with past winners including Nico Hischier, Alexis Lafrenière, Nik Ehlers, Jakub Voracek, and Crosby himself.

The Flames selected Gridin at No. 28 overall in the 2024 NHL Draft, using the pick they acquired from the Vancouver Canucks in the Elias Lindholm trade. He spent his draft year with the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks and had initially committed to the University of Michigan before switching tracks and heading to the Q.

Unlike most 2006-born major junior players, Gridin is not directly governed by the terms of the NHL/CHL transfer agreement as he was drafted out of the USHL. As such, he is indeed eligible to join the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers as soon as the 2025-26 season, although Flames AGM Brad Pascall stopped just short of confirming that decision in a recent radio interview.

Gridin was previously named the QMJHL’s top offensive rookie for 2024-25 last month. He signed a three-year, entry-level deal with the Flames at their prospect development camp in July 2024.

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