At this point in the prospect rankings, we’ve reached the players that are young and could be making significant impacts in the NHL during the 2023-24 regular season. With Ryan Huska coming into the fold as the new head coach, the hope is that the young players in the Calgary Flames’ system will be able to flourish and make a big impact in a Flames lineup that has undergone some resetting over the offseason. Matthew Coronato is one of those players that every fan has their eyes on.
As he was in 2022, Coronato is in second spot on the FlamesNation prospect rankings.
Matthew Coronato
Right-handed winger
Born November 14, 2002 (Age 20) in Huntington, New York, USA
5’10”, 183 pounds
Drafted in the first round (13th overall) by Calgary in 2021
Coronato started to make his mark in 2018-19 with the Salisbury School in the USHS-Prep league, where he scored 32 points in 30 games, and with the Yale Jr. Bulldogs 16U Triple-A team, where he was also a point per game with eight points in eight games. In 2019-20, he moved to the USHL, where he began his career with the Chicago Steel. At 17 years old, he scored 40 points in 45 games, which was sixth on a team.
Next season, Coronato’s draft year, he took a major step forward in his development and showed us the kind of player he can be. In 51 games he scored a total of 85 points. That number was second on the Steel that year, only behind Sean Farrell, who was one year older and thus farther into his development. Coronato played two fewer games and scored 16 fewer points, but his 48 goals was the best on the team and the most in the entirety of the USHL. In the playoffs, he also made a huge impact, scoring 13 points in 8 games with 9 goals as well. It was the highest total in the postseason as well.
From the USHL, Coronato moved to the NCAA and played with Harvard University for two seasons. In 2021-22, he scored 18 goals and registered 18 assists for 36 points in 34 games. And in 2022-23, he scored 20 goals and 16 assists, for the same 36 points total in the same number of games: 34. In 2021-22, he played for the United States in the U-20 World Junior Championships, scoring seven points in five tournament games. In 2022-23, he also donned the red, white, and blue in the World Championships, scoring 8 points in 10 games, which was tied with names like Alex Tuch, Conor Garland, Drew O’Connor, Scott Perunovich, and one point behind Cutter Gauthier, who was third on the team in scoring.
Coronato played one game in the NHL with the Flames, and he was very good. There weren’t many things about his NHL debut that wouldn’t be encouraging to fans that tuned in, and that leaves us with hope for the upcoming season.
Expectations for 2023-24
Coronato will have an interesting role as the season slowly approaches. The expectation for the upcoming season is to be a consistent contributor to the Flames. Whether that’s through his natural goal scoring ability and offensive prowess, or it’s through being reliable in both ends of the ice, the only expectation for the 20 year old should be to see improvement, just as we saw consistently from his seasons with the Steel to the seasons with Harvard. He plays the kind of game that can translate well to the big show, so the hope is the we’ll see him make a big impact along with the other young players that will make the roster.
More must-reads: