Calgary Flames End of Season Awards: Most Improved

While the Calgary Flames didn’t see many elite, consistent performers over the length of the entire season, they certainly saw many players take major leaps from recent years, making this one of the toughest awards to give out. After a slow start, Andrei Kuzmenko finished the 2023-24 season on a high, Yegor Sharangovich established a career high in goals and Dustin Wolf finished out a solid stretch in the NHL that will help him going forward.

However, when it comes to most improved or biggest leap, there was one player that truly solidified himself as the favourite for the award; Blake Coleman. Sure, his first two seasons in Calgary were solid, missing just one game over that time and tallying 71 points, but in 2023-24, he took it to another level, tallying career highs in goals (29), assists (23), points (52) and +/- (+17).

Despite being 32-years old and seemingly locked into the role of third/fourth line grinding winger, Coleman never stopped improving, and with the incredible chemistry he’s got alongside Mikael Backlund and Andrew Mangiapane, he drove much of the success early in the season. After a red-hot start to the year, Coleman slowed down significantly as it became clear that the team were in no position to compete for a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Sure, Coleman’s year saw him tally the Flames single season record of empty net goals scored with 7, but given the fairly cheap deal he has signed, he’s putting together an impressive career year at 32-years of age. It’s unclear what the Flames will do with him this summer as they look to pick a direction going forward, but regardless, it’s hard to not be impressed with the play we’ve seen from him in 2023-24, as well as being a stellar role model and leader off the ice.