The Flames have two goals in two games, Morgan Frost doesn't have a point, and Jason Gregor thinks the drought is just getting started.
Gregor didn't hedge. "This version of the Flames will join them. They simply don't have much offensive potential."
"Them" is a short, ugly list. Over the past five seasons, per Gregor, only the 2024 Blackhawks with 178 and the 2024 Sharks with 180 failed to reach 200 goals.
Calgary opened with a 6-1 home loss to Seattle, then fell 4-1 in Vancouver. One goal a night won't win much in this league.
Ryan Strome and Matthew Coronato have the only two goals. Coronato's came on the power play, and he still sits at -6.
Frost, second on the team in scoring last season, has no points and a -6 through two games. That's a rough start for a pending free agent the Flames hoped to sell high.
Craig Conroy's sell-off case gets stronger with every quiet night
Craig Conroy was already expected to be active on the trade market this season. A scoring drought this deep only strengthens that case.
Coronato carries a $6,500,000 cap hit, the biggest among the forwards in the lineup right now. He needs to be the one driving the offence, not chasing it.
The kids are getting looks too. Matvei Gridin, 20, and Samuel Honzek, 21, are still searching for their first points.
Gregor is right. This roster isn't built to score, and Conroy should lean all the way into the rebuild instead of hoping the goals show up on their own.
It's like trying to fill a swimming pool with a garden hose. You'll get there eventually, just not this summer.
Ryan Huska's group hosts Colorado on Thursday, against an Avalanche team that scored eight in its opener.
Two hundred goals is a long way off. At this pace, the bigger question in Calgary is how soon Frost and Strome are scoring for someone else.
Will the Flames score fewer than 200 goals this season?
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