5 Players to Watch During the Calgary Flames Preseason – The Hockey Writers –

The Calgary Flames open their training camp with a split-squad set of games against the Edmonton Oilers on Sept. 21, only two weeks away. The upcoming season is due to be a pivotal one in the Flames’ trajectory, so let’s take a look at some of the players who are going to be worthy of paying extra close attention to during the preseason.

5. Hunter Brzustewicz

Hunter Brzustewicz was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in 2023 and traded to Calgary in the move that brought him north with Andrei Kuzmenko in exchange for Elias Lindholm. He’s one of Calgary’s many right-handed defencemen under contract. He has played most of his games under team control so far in the American Hockey League (AHL), with just one for the Flames – their 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings at the end of the season.

After spending his past season with the Calgary Wranglers, he will be fighting for a spot with the big club, so he’s likely to play a lot of minutes as he climbs the rankings and strives to start the season in the NHL. He’s a good player in transition and on both sides of the puck, and only two seasons removed from a 92-point season as a defenceman in major junior.

4. Matt Coronato

Matt Coronato, Calgary’s first-round draft pick in 2021, is about to enter his second full season with the Flames. A smaller forward who’s had to fight for every inch of ice he’s gotten, he’s put up 56 points so far in 112 NHL games and should be looking to increase his points-per-game rate dramatically as he ages and gets more ice time. During training camp and preseason, as one of the younger and less established members of the forward group, he’ll probably be playing a lot.

Over the past two preseasons, Coronato leads the NHL in points, with 12 points in eight games – a sign that he’ll get a lot of ice time and that he can do well with what he has. Coronato has established himself as a legitimate NHL player, but he’s now looking to move into a spot in Calgary’s top six, and a quality performance in the preseason should help him move up the depth chart.

3. Etienne Morin

Etienne Morin was drafted in 2023, nearly a full round ahead of Brzustewicz. He’s a left-handed defenceman and also an offensively skilled player. He most recently played for the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), where he and his team won the QMJHL…