Matt Coronato’s extension could set the tone for busy Flames off-season

The Calgary Flames got a big piece of off-season business completed on Saturday, announcing that they’ve signed forward Matt Coronato to a seven year deal with a $6.5 million cap hit.

Coronato was one of the big success stories of the 2024-25 season. He started the regular season with the team due to injuries, was briefly sent down when the team got healthy again, but then managed to seize on an opportunity to carve out a role for himself and he never looked back.

Coronato’s new pact is significant in a few ways, and could set the tone for a busy off-season for the club.

The Flames’ biggest RFA deal ever

Coronato’s deal commits $45.5 million to the Long Island product between this fall and the spring of 2032.

In terms of length, Coronato’s seven year deal ties Sean Monahan’s deal coming out of his entry-level contract way back in 2016. In terms of pure dollars out the door, it surpasses Monahan’s deal by $870,000 – Monahan’s cap hit was $6.375 million, a touch less than Coronato’s. And in terms of AAV, it’s surpassed only by Johnny Gaudreau’s second deal ($6.75 million) and Matthew Tkachuk’s ($7 million).

It’s not only good company for Coronato to keep, but it also shows that when the Flames brass sees a player they think can be a big piece for them, they try to lock them into a big contract right after their ELC expires.

How Coronato’s deal (and production) stacks up against the 2021 draft class

There are 10 forwards from the 2021 NHL Draft class who have played 100 NHL games or more. Coronato is the fourth of them to sign a long-term deal.

Coronato’s goal-scoring is comparable to Beniers and his points production is just a touch below his on a per-game basis, but Coronato’s cap hit is $640,000 less. When you consider that Coronato’s improved quite a bit over his season and a half in the NHL, the Flames are betting that Coronato will keep progressing. Even if he gets only slightly better offensively, his deal stacks up very nicely against the marketplace.

(And you have to imagine the Flames are happy to lock Coronato in early before we see deals for some of the players around him, such as Matthew Knies.)

How the Flames’ cap situation looks for 2025-26

The Flames have 15 NHL incumbents now signed for next season:

• Forwards (9): Jonathan Huberdeau ($10.5 million), Nazem Kadri ($7 million), Matt Coronato ($6.5 million), Yegor Sharangovich ($5.75 million), Joel Farabee ($5 million), Blake Coleman ($4.9 million), Mikael Backlund ($4.5 million), Ryan Lomberg ($2 million) and Martin Pospisil ($1 million)
• Defencemen (5): MacKenzie Weegar ($6.25 million), Rasmus Andersson ($4.55 million), Jake Bean ($1.75 million), Daniil Miromanov ($1.25 million) and Brayden Pachal ($1.19 million)
• Goaltender (1): Dustin Wolf ($850,000)

The Flames have about $63 million committed under the $95.5 million salary cap, leaving them $32.5 million in space. Assuming they carry a 23-man roster, they’re short a goaltender, two defencemen and five forwards.

The Flames have four holdover restricted free agents left to re-up: Morgan Frost, Connor Zary, Adam Klapka and Kevin Bahl. We’ll see which is the next to be locked into a new contract with the club.