Calgary Flames reportedly had concerns their top prospect would refuse to sign with the team due to this reason
On Sunday, the Calgary Flames made an announcement that fans had been eagerly awaiting: after top prospect Matthew Coronato and his Harvard University teammates saw their NCAA season come to an end on Friday night, it meant that Coronato was finally eligible to sign an NHL deal. The Flames made short work of the negotiations signing Coronato to a 3-year entry level deal.
Prior to his signing, there were rumors and concerns among fans that he may not have wanted to sign with the team. If he had decided not to sign, he would have eventually become free to sign with any other team as a College Free Agent. But according to Elliotte Friedman, members of the Flames' management team also shared these concerns, as he revealed in this week's 32 Thoughts Podcast.
Friedman added that if the negotiations with Coronato had dragged into the week or longer, he would have felt those concerns might have been justified. Since Harvard lost on Friday and he signed on Sunday, there is confidence in him that he was told he was going to play. #Flames
In his career Sutter has coached 1471 career games and holds a record of 732-529-101-109. In his career Sutter has also won 2 Stanley Cups, but despite his winning ways, he has a reputation for being apprehensive to play young players and prospects. This created some concerns for Flames' management who felt this could scare Coronato off.
This season at Harvard Coronato scored 20 goals and added 16 assists in just 34 games. The 20-year-old right winger was selected 13th overall in the 2021 NHL Draft by the Flames.
| POLL | ||
MARS 28 | 185 ANSWERS Calgary Flames reportedly had concerns their top prospect would refuse to sign with the team due to this reason Will Darryl Sutter be back as the Flames' Head Coach next season? | ||
| Yes, he will | 40 | 21.6 % |
| No, he won't | 107 | 57.8 % |
| It'll depend on who the GM is | 38 | 20.5 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mikko Rantanen | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jake Debrusk | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Dylan Guenther | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Connor McDavid | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Jack Eichel | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Brock Nelson | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Valeri Nichushkin | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Clayton Keller | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jonathan Drouin | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Roman Josi | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kirill Marchenko | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kyle Palmieri | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Artemi Panarin | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Sebastian Aho | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Evan Bouchard | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Leon Draisaitl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matt Duchene | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 21 | 17 | 4 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 20 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 30 | |
Devils | 23 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 30 | |
Hurricanes | 20 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 29 | |
Golden Knights | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 20 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 27 | |
Flames | 21 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 27 | |
Stars | 19 | 13 | 6 | - | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||