Coronato says his intention is to sign with Flames when ready

[sureLoss]

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article...ub-when-ready/

“For now, my focus is on winning a national championship at Harvard and I believe we have a strong chance to do it,” said the native of Greenlawn, N.Y., whose Ivy League squad just wrapped up its regular season with a 21-6-2 record.

“Once my season is over, my family, my advisers and I will listen to what Darryl Sutter and Brad Treliving have to say about where they see me fitting into the organization, and then make our decision about whether to sign.

“My intention remains to sign with the Calgary Flames when I’m ready, and I would find an opportunity to play in the NHL attractive.”

Flames assistant GM Craig Conroy went out east to watch and chat with Coronato last weekend, and Flames director of player development Ray Edwards is at almost every game the 20-year-old righty plays.

The Flames would obviously like Coronato to join the team for the final handful of games, see how he measures up as a pro and eliminate the risk of him returning to college for a third year, which would leave him a fourth year away from being a free agent.

“We love the player, we think he’s had great development over two years -- we’ll see what happens at the end of the year,” said Flames GM Brad Treliving, tip-toeing around a delicate issue, as expressing overt interest in signing him could be a distraction for the player and his Harvard program.

“We communicate with him regularly. We’ve been around him all year, lots of feedback for him.”

Coronato is certainly aware of the way Sutter handled young players like Matthew Phillips and Jakob Pelletier early on this season, which had many in the hockey world wondering if other prospects with potential options would shy away from Calgary.

“We paid attention to the Pelletier thing, but Sutter didn’t say anything about Matt Coronato or players like Matt Coronato,” said a person close to the situation.

“Matt is Matt. He’s very confident in himself and there’s lots of variables involved here.”

[btimbit]

Sounds good to me, finish your season and get the hell up here

[gilligans_off]

Well that’s fantastic to hear

[iggyloob12]

Maybe I'm reading too much into a teen's soundbite but it's interesting that he mentioned Darryl before Brad.

[Dion]

Finally some good news on the Flames front.

[CalgaryFan1988]

Originally Posted by iggyloob12

Maybe I'm reading too much into a teen's soundbite but it's interesting that he mentioned Darryl before Brad.

I'd imagine a player deals a lot more with a coach than a GM.

[N-E-B]

Sutter has put Pelletier in a position to succeed and has been playing him with our two best forwards (or, at least the guys who are supposed to be our best forwards). That trumps whatever silly comments he made in the media. Coronato is likely looking at that and not whatever jerk comment was made in a press conference. Come in, play the right way, and you will be put in a position to succeed.

[Reggie Dunlop]

How can you say "no" to Craig Conroy?

[Vinny01]

This is another reason for the Flames to do a sell off at the deadline. Open up some spots for the kids

[Ashasx]

hopefully that time is this spring

[FlamesAddiction]

If I was Coronato, I'd be looking at the Flames favourably for an opportunity. The Flames need a guy on an entry level cap hit who can step in and play RW. He certainly doesn't need to worry about Flames depth at the position holding him back from jumping right into the NHL.

[devo22]

looking forward to getting him signed so we can put this somewhat irrational fear of many fans to bed.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

How can you say "no" to Craig Conroy?

You can’t even say yes though because you can’t get a word in.

[Reggie Dunlop]

The Flames can say they'll start him in the NHL, but after that, it's up to him to stay. Fair deal.

[Macho0978]

Trade Backlund and Toffoli and call up Zary and sign Cornonato. Let them finish this season.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Good to hear.

Also sounding the alarm bells about Sutter and how he speaks in the media about young players and being overly negative people notice.

[GreenLantern2814]

Huberdeau-Kadri-Coronato. LFG.

[mile]

Sounds like he has been playing a quite a bit of centre this season. Any chance he could be a long-term option there in the NHL?

[Hockey_Ninja]

I have a feeling Coronato and Pelletier are gonna be key core players in a few years

[theslymonkey]

He's a RHS shoot first RW. The Flames have exactly zero of those. He'd be crazy to not sign here. Opportunity trumps almost anytihng.