We were right when we predicted that a first-round pick from 2024 would be the biggest story of the pre-season for the Calgary Flames.
We just had the wrong guy.
While there have been lots of eyeballs on Zayne Parekh, the one rookie who will undoubtedly crack Calgary’s initial roster, Matvei Gridin has become the talk of the town and that will continue to be the case after he buried another goal during the final audition.
The only negative Friday for this fast-as-all-heck forward was that he was foiled during the shootout, with the Winnipeg Jets ultimately notching a 5-4 victory via the skills competition.
The 28th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, selected on the same night that the Flames welcomed Parekh at No. 9, Gridin didn’t show any sign of nerves in his six preview opportunities this fall. In fact, the 19-year-old finished as Calgary’s top lamp-lighter in the exhibition portion.
He could, however, be feeling some nerves over the next couple of days as he waits to find out if it was enough to secure an opening-night gig. The Flames must make one more cut before Monday’s deadline.
Here are three takeaways from the pre-season capper, with a sharp focus on the young’n in No. 51 …
Matvei Gridin puts the puck past Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck on Friday.
Performance to be proud of
Gridin was beelining toward the net during Friday’s opening period when he corralled a bouncing puck — Kevin Bahl’s point shot was losing steam after it had been deflected — and calmly tucked a backhand through Connor Hellebuyck’s five-hole.
Yes, the same Connor Hellebuyck who won the Vezina Trophy in each of the past two campaigns.
It was Gridin’s third marker of the fall — all of those against established netminders, not minor-league filler. That count doesn’t include his shootout snipe in Seattle, although he’s now only 1-for-2 on what he considers to be his signature move.
“Obviously, I’m happy because I score goals and build my confidence and I feel like I could make a team,” Gridin said Friday when asked about his overall pre-season performance.
This is a team, of course, that could use some more scoring pop and playmaking skill.
They could use more speed, and Gridin can absolutely fly.
The fan base will be furious if this teenage winger isn’t headed north for Wednesday’s regular-season opener against the arch-rival Edmonton Oilers. And we get it.
“You can always do more,” said Gridin, who averaged 1.41 points per game last winter with the QMJHL’s Shawinigan Cataractes. “If coaches think I’m ready to go, I’m ready.”
Flames forward Mikael Backlund battles Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck on Friday.
Is there a spot for the kid?
During Friday’s post-game presser, Ryan Huska fielded a grand total of nine questions and four of those were about Gridin.
The shortest answer was the most telling.
Asked if the kid had made this a difficult decision, the Flames’ bench boss replied: “For sure. For sure.”
After such a convincing case, what could be working against Gridin during the final deliberations?
One consideration is that his spot in Friday’s lineup likely won’t be available on opening night. He was working alongside Morgan Frost and Matt Coronato, but Jonathan Huberdeau will round out that trio as long as his injury doesn’t linger. He’s officially day-to-day.
Gridin is also an easy target for demotion because he doesn’t need to clear waivers to be reassigned to the AHL’s Wranglers. (To keep the kid, the Flames would need to place a veteran on waivers. Daniil Miromanov, currently eighth on the defence depth chart, would be the most obvious candidate.)
Huska stressed Friday that “we need whoever is going to give us a chance to win,” but also reiterated that he’d rather not keep an up-and-comer around as one of his extras.
“If you’re a young guy, you need to play,” Huska said. “So for me, if he’s here, he’s going to play. If he’s not here, or if he’s not playing, he’s going to play somewhere else. I think for a young guy, it’s so important that they’re in the lineup. But for me being around him for this length of time, he does a lot of things right. He makes the simple plays with the puck at times, but he has high-end skill, as well.
“We know we’ve got a really nice young player there. He’s going to do some really nice things. He played really well, so he’s given himself an opportunity, and that’s all we could ask of him.”
Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf and prospect Zayne Parekh defend against Jets prospect Parker Ford on Friday.
Ready or not …
The next one counts.
The Flames wrapped their pre-season slate with a 3-4-1 record. With a much better performance against the Jets, even if they frittered away a third-period lead, they put a lopsided loss earlier this week in the rearview mirror.
“We’re ready, I think,” said Flames centre Nazem Kadri, who potted a pair in the final dress rehearsal. “Each of those pre-season games are a build-up to the real thing. I know as a veteran, you kind of approach it that way. Tonight, by far, I think our best effort, our best game. And that’s good to see heading into opening night.”
“There was a lot more that we like about today’s game,” Huska agreed, contrasting it to Wednesday’s 8-1 shellacking from the Vancouver Canucks. “I feel you could actually teach on it and build on some of the things that we saw today, so it leaves me feeling better about where we’re at heading into the season.”
Friday’s ending was, well, wacky.
In the seventh round of the shootout, Wolf stopped Tanner Pearson with his blocker but the puck ricocheted high in the air and Calgary’s star goalie accidentally knocked it into his own net as he tried to snag it.
“I haven’t seen that before,” said Wolf, who was credited with 31 saves through 65 minutes and certainly looks ready for Game 1. ”It’s frustrating, but I’d rather have those happen now than when there’s two points on the line. That’ll be on a weird clip here soon.”
Flames forward Nazem Kadri (back right) celebrates one of his two goals on Friday, with Joel Farabee and Adam Klapka.