Why Flames Matvei Gridin Could Be Ready for a Big Second Season

You watch some young players and think, well, maybe someday. Then there are young players who make you think, wait a minute, maybe someday is already starting. Matvei Gridin is starting to look like one of those guys for the Calgary Flames.

The Flames drafted Gridin 28th overall in 2024, and in his first season in the organization, he became one of its better prospect stories. He put up 30 points in 37 AHL games and then came into the NHL and scored 20 points in 37 games. Do the math on that last number, and you get roughly a 45-point pace over a full 84-game season. That's pretty interesting for a young player who had just turned 20.

The interesting part is what comes next for Gridin and the Flames.

What makes Gridin particularly intriguing is that the offence doesn't appear to be a one-trick pony. He has a shot. A real shot. He can make plays in traffic. He sees the ice well. He's got enough hands to make something happen when the space disappears, and he has speed, too. In other words, this player has plenty of ways to hurt you.

And now comes the fun part. Gridin doesn't have to suddenly become a completely different player to have a breakout season. He just has to become a little more comfortable being an NHL player. That's a big difference. Last season, his five-on-five play-driving numbers weren't particularly good. Calgary controlled only about 38 percent of high-danger chances when he was on the ice, the lowest mark among the Flames' forwards.

But let's take a breath here. He was 20. There is a pretty big difference between knowing where to put the puck and knowing where to put yourself when everybody on the other team is bigger, stronger and faster.

Gridin’s second season with the Flames could be the fun one.

Gridin has already shown that he can score at this level. He has already had a taste of NHL life. Now he comes back with a little more experience, a little more strength, and, presumably, a much better understanding of what the league is asking of him. That can change things pretty quickly.

Maybe the defensive side gets better. Maybe the puck starts coming out of his own end a little quicker. Maybe he learns when to make the fancy play and when to make the simple one. And if all of that happens while the shot and playmaking continue to develop? Well, then we might have something.

The Flames need Gridin to take his offensive talent another step while the rest of his game catches up. If that happens, he could move from an interesting young player to a key part of Calgary's future. Sometimes a breakout season isn't about discovering something new. Sometimes it's just a young player figuring out how good what he already has might be.