Matvei Gridin Is Bringing Much-Needed Playing Style to the Flames

Following another round of cuts from Flames training camp, the Flames are down to just 15 forwards, with the 19-year-old Russian being one of them. Coming into camp, Gridin had an outside chance of cracking the roster, but since camp has started, he is looking like the type of player the Flames are in desperate need of.

The Flames Need More Goal Scorers

Last season, the Flames scored the fourth-fewest goals in the NHL and were also a bottom-10 offense in terms of expected goals for.

The main reason for this was a lack of depth scoring. Nazem Kadri‘s 35 goals, Jonathan Huberdeau’s 28, and Matt Coronato‘s 27 accounted for 39.5% of their goals last season, and all posted new or neared career highs in goals. But that’s something the Flames can not expect again, at least from the veterans.

Kadri surpassed the 30-goal mark for the first time since 2017-2018 season and it was the third time in his 16-year career he reached this plateau. While the underlying numbers suggest that Kadri could repeat this type of season, he will turn 35 before the regular season begins, and you have to start to wonder if the mileage on his body will start to slow him down.

Then, Huberdeau’s career-high 28 goals was the most he had scored since he put 30 in the back of the net in the 2021-22 season. After that season, he joined the Flames and scored 15 goals or fewer in two-straight seasons. His 28 goals last season came on a shooting percentage that was 5.5% better than his career average and eight percent better than the league average. For some, this shooting percentage may be sustainable, but for Huberdeau, it’s unlikely due to his ranking at or below the league average in quality scoring chance metrics per 60 minutes among forwards, such as scoring chances and high-danger chances.

Outside of Coranoto and potentially Connor Zary, the Flames don’t have returnees expected to make significant offensive strides. The bottom line is that the Flames need more goal-scoring threats.

Matvei Gridin Fitting Right in With Flames

In addition to his two goals this preseason, Gridin has been creating scoring chances all over the ice. In four games, he has 19 shot attempts, seven shots on goal, seven scoring chances, and three high-danger chances. He has been one of their most productive offensive players, averaging the second-most goals, fourth-most expected goals, and fourth-most shot attempts per 60 minutes among Flames players this preseason.

However, this kind of production is nothing new to Gridin. Before being drafted by the Flames, he scored 38 goals for the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the United States Hockey League (USHL). The following season, he played in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), where he scored another 36 goals.

No one has ever questioned his offensive ability. Since being drafted, his ticket to the show was always based on the development of other aspects of the game and gaining some strength to compete with at the highest level.

Gridin has demonstrated significant development in these areas. He looks poised with the puck in traffic along the boards. He leads the Flames in takeaways per 60 minutes this preseason, and while on the ice at five-on-five, Gridin has the best shot on goal share, third-best expected goal share, and third-best high-danger chance percentage among Flames forwards.

The Flames have several highly-physical forwards who bring little impact to the score sheet. Having a player like Gridin, who can slot in either the top- or bottom-six, could give the Flames a little more offensive depth to help address their goal-scoring deficiencies, along with some more flexibility to deal with injuries if one of their impactful offensive players gets hurt.

To keep Gridin around this long, it’s clear the Flames have an interest in keeping him. If he maintains this level of play throughout the remainder of the preseason, he should be on the opening-night roster.

Stats via Natural Stat Trick