Feels like people are underrating Coleman based on perception of him being a bottom-six guy. Like Backlund, this guy is defensively gifted and is firmly a middle-six player who will fit on the second line OR the third line depending on how they're deployed (and could play spot duty on the 1st, but won't provide the level of offence you might want from that role).
On an absolutely stacked Tampa team, Coleman was the 6th most deployed forward at even strength in the playoffs and the 3rd most deployed on the PK. In terms of shift counts, he was second, taking more shifts than Point and Kucherov.
During the regular season, he was 7th and 2nd respectively.
If you go back to the year previous with New Jersey, he was the 3rd most deployed forward at even strength and the 2nd most deployed on the PK.
This isn't a guy you're going to see much on the powerplay, but his usage elsewhere shows that calling him a "bottom six" guy doesn't do him justice... at all. On a stacked back-to-back championship team he might be a third liner... barely... but he's a guy you can absolutely trust (and absolutely has been trusted) right up the lineup.
This is a good acquisition. The term might not be great, but Coleman makes the Flames better immediately.
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