Blake Coleman in line for career-best season with Flames

It’s flying under the radar, but Blake Coleman has been excellent for the Calgary Flames through the first quarter of the 2023-24 season.

Coleman has quietly gone about his business through each of his two full seasons as a Flame, providing solid secondary scoring while being defensively sound. That said, the jury was out on whether or not he was living up to his $4.9 million cap hit. Thanks to his play this season, that debate has been cast aside.

Through 22 games, Coleman’s six goals lead the Flames, while his 12 points are just three shy of Elias Lindholm’s 15 for the top spot. Those numbers may not blow anyone away, but they are very impressive after realizing that the 32-year-old didn’t have his sixth goal until game 38 of the 2022-23 season.

The solid start to the year has Coleman on pace for 22 goals, which would tie a career-high he set back in 2018-19 as a member of the New Jersey Devils. Meanwhile, the 44-point pace he is playing at would mark a career-best, as he has yet to surpass the 40-point total in a single season throughout his 486-game career.

Further proving how solid Coleman has been is that he is doing all of this without receiving any time on the power play. All 12 of his points have come at even strength, which has him tied with Andrew Mangiapane for the team lead in that regard. It also shows that there is a real argument to be had that he has been the Flames’ best forward at 5v5 play this season.

Though Coleman was held off the board in the Flames’ most recent game versus the Vegas Golden Knights, he has been hot as of late with a goal and three points over his last three outings. He’ll look to continue putting points on the board tomorrow night, as the Flames prepare to take on the Dallas Stars.

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