The Calgary Flames enter their matchup with the Seattle Kraken on March 4th riding an impressive five-game winning streak, but now, one of their key forwards has gone down, and is replaced by another impressive young name.
On Monday, the Flames announced that rising star Connor Zary is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury, and as a result, former first-round pick Matthew Coronato has been called up to the Flames once again.
Matt Coronato ➡️ 🆙
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) March 4, 2024
The forward has been recalled from the @AHLWranglers!
Connor Zary is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.#Flames | @original16beer pic.twitter.com/59HFXzcUIE
In 40 games with the AHL's Calgary Wranglers this season, Coronato has been absolutely red-hot tallying 15 goals and 27 assists over that time, and now will seemingly get his chance alongside Nazem Kadri and Martin Pospisil. It's clear that the Flames are being patient with Coronato's development, but putting him on the fourth line and opting to shift either Andrei Kuzmenko or Jakob Pelletier to the Kadri line would be an interesting possibility as well, but not the right move.
In 16 NHL games, Coronato has tallied just 1 goal and 2 assists playing with several different linemates, but if he can find chemistry on whatever line he finds himself on, he may just win himself a regular NHL spot if he can stand up and impress in the coming days.