Flames’ Matvei Gridin Showing Great Development

Even with speculations regarding his physicality and defensive attributes, the Flames selected him in the first round. Spending the next season in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) with the Shawinigan Cataractes, Gridin again excelled with 36 goals and 79 points in 56 games. 

Gridin’s talent is evident and his ability to score is elite. He has already displayed it at the professional level. Last season, he split time between the Flames and the Calgary Wranglers, the Flames’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate. Playing 37 games for both teams, he recorded six goals and 20 points in the NHL and 10 goals and 30 points in the AHL. 

Heading into this season, the expectations for Gridin were high. Throughout the preseason, he had been deployed on the top six and also given a lot of time on the first power-play unit. After improving his game quietly all of last season, all the arrows were pointing to him taking a big step towards bringing his high-end scoring full time to the Flames.

Gridin Picking it Up After Slow Start

The Flames’ egregiously bad start — in fact, a franchise worst — has been the subject of much media attention. The offence was not scoring, the goalies were seemingly letting every shot in, and the team looked broken five games into the season. 

Gridin, rightly so, was taking some blame for the lack of production offensively. Head coach Ryan Huska made some crucial adjustments to the lineup, which saw Gridin drop to the third line with Martin Pospisil and Ryan Strome while continuing on the first power-play unit. 

Since these adjustments, among others, the Flames have been one of the hottest teams over the past week. They have picked up wins over the Maple Leafs, Minnesota Wild, and Carolina Hurricanes. 

Over the last four games, Gridin has six points, including three goals and four goals and eight points overall. The stretch has also seen Giridn playing the most minutes of his career, a sign that Huska is beginning to trust the young winger more.

Gridin’s play over this stretch has shown a complete change from the player the Flames saw last season. His ability to find the soft spots, as well as fire and elite snap shot on the rush past one of the league’s best goalies, is something not many players are doing, yet alone doing in their first full season. With the Flames still deep into the rebuild, it will be important for Gridin to continue producing consistently to prove his worth.