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Flames Sign Young Forward to Massive Extension

The Calgary Flames lock up a key piece of their core for the long haul.

Jon Alfano

Calgary Flames right wing Matt Coronato skates during the first period against the Colorado Avalanche.
Calgary Flames right wing Matt Coronato skates during the first period against the Colorado Avalanche. / Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
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The Calgary Flames have signed forward Matt Coronato to a seven-year extension worth $45.5 million ($6.5 million AAV), the team announced Saturday.

Coronato, 22, broke out in a big way this season. In 77 games, the Green Lawn, N.Y., native scored 47 points (24 goals, 23 assists) while averaging 17:35 of ice time per night. He finished third on the team in both goals and points behind veterans Nazem Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau.

Last season, Coronato spent most of his time with the Calgary Wranglers of the AHL, scoring 42 points (15 goals, 27 assists) in 45 games with the club. He also had nine points (three goals, six assists) in 34 games with the Flames during his first "full" NHL season.

Coronato was originally set to represent Team USA at the IIHF World Championships this summer, but withdrew in order to focus on recovering from injury ahead of next NHL season.

The Flames fell just short of the playoffs this season, losing a tiebreaker with the St. Louis Blues to miss out on the final wild card spot.

Despite that, the season was still a major success for them. Not only did they outperform their very mild expectations, but they saw a young core begin to emerge with Coronato, Connor Zary and others up front, plus Kevin Bahl on the blue line.

With two first-round picks in this year's draft and a good deal of cap space, the future looks promising in southern Alberta.

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Jon Alfano
JON ALFANO

Jon is a lead writer for Baltimore Ravens On SI and contributes to other sites around the network as well. The Tampa native previously worked with sites such as ClutchPoints and GiveMeSport and earned his journalism degree at the University of Central Florida.

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