Over the past many seasons, there’s been a pretty common refrain: if a player is in need of a boost or needs to learn the ropes of two-way hockey, you stick them on Mikael Backlund’s line.

Dating back to roughly 2015-16, Backlund has been the Calgary Flames’ two-way ace. If there’s a lead to be protected, a penalty to be killed, or an opposition star to be stymied, it’s usually #11 going over the boards first. Since 2021, the other guy relied upon heavily in that situation has been Blake Coleman, who joined the Flames as a free agent that summer after winning back-to-back Stanley Cup championships with Tampa Bay.

Over the past three seasons, as the Flames have transitioned away from the Johnny Gaudreau/Matthew Tkachuk contention window and into a retooling process, most of the younger players that have been inserted into the Flames’ lineup have spent a considerable amount of time playing with Backlund and Coleman.

For much of 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24, the Flames had Andrew Mangiapane or Jonathan Huberdeau playing on the left side with Backlund and Coleman. But Matt Coronato and Martin Pospisil both cut their teeth as NHL rookies with the checking duo in 2023-24. In 2024-25, Coronato, Connor Zary and Joel Farabee saw the most time with Backlund and Coleman. And so far this season, the most-used players on that line have been Sam Honzek, Zary and Coronato.

When young forwards get brought into the NHL, there are two common paths to integrating them into the lineup. There’s sheltering them with offensive zone deployments and weaker opposition, which can boost their confidence and their offensive numbers. The Flames have tended towards an alternate approach: tougher opposition, but stronger linemates – when you’re playing with Backlund and Coleman you’re facing the other team’s top lines, but because they’re so effective, they end up having the puck more often than not.

According to data from Natural Stat Trick, since Coleman joined the Flames in 2021-22, he and Backlund have played nearly 3,500 minutes together at five-on-five. They’ve out-shot their opponents in each of the past four seasons (and so far this season) and out-scored them in three of the past four seasons (and so far this season). Coleman and Backlund, and their rotating linemates, have produced a +24 goal differential together at five-on-five. The remainder of the Flames lineup combined has produced a +22 goal differential.

Back during the Flames’ trip through Ontario at the end of October, we chatted with Coleman about the unique qualities of his tandem with Backlund, and how they’re able to help young forwards play against top opposition and produce offensively. (At the time, Coleman and Backlund were lining up with Honzek.)

“Yeah, well, I think it’s, you know, naturally you’re going to get a decent amount of ice time because you’re playing against a lot of top lines,” said Coleman. “And, you know, I think that gives you a lot of confidence when you can go play against the other team’s best and out-chance them or out-produce them. And, you know, I think it helps you realize as a young guy in the league that you can compete and contribute against the best. And, you know, we’ve seen a lot of our prior line mates go on and start scoring a lot of goals. And we call it ‘give them a little seasoning and send them up to the top.’ But, yeah, Honzy’s no different. And, you know, we’ve got a lot of really good young players that can slot in and do a great job there.”

Coronato used his time with Backlund and Coleman as a springboard to playing on the Flames’ top scoring lines. Honzek effectively cemented himself as an NHL regular with that duo prior to suffering an injury that ended his season in mid-November. And Zary has started to look like his dynamic, confident self since re-joining the Backlund/Coleman line. With the Flames prospect pool brimming with talented young wingers, Backlund and Coleman remain a huge developmental asset and one of the most consistently effective two-way duos in club history.

The Flames are back in action on Tuesday night when they face the Nashville Predators.

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