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.
Elliotte Friedman on 32 Thoughts Podcast said he got the sense that there was worry in the #Flames fanbase about
Matthew Coronato possibly not signing with Calgary because young players have had a difficult time getting in the lineup.
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.
