Matt Coronato walked into training camp with a simple message for himself: keep moving forward.
That’s the mindset he’s carrying after a season that showed what he can do offensively, but also made clear where the next step has to come from. Coronato put up 18 goals and 27 points in 80 games last year, with seven of those goals coming on the power play. Now he’s focused on rounding out the rest of his game.
“I think just my main goal is just to keep getting better,” said Coronato. “There's a lot of areas I think, like finishing is one that probably sticks out to me right now. I got to be able to finish my chances and do that better than I did last year.
“But there's a lot of lot of important areas I can get better at defensively. I want to be trusted to be out there with a lead late in games.
That's important to me, and it's just little winning plays that are also really important: whether it's getting a puck out, getting off the wall when you can to help make plays easier, doing the little things that help the team win. It's what I'll be focused on.”
The same theme has come up in his talks with the coaching staff.
“Yeah, I think just the same as what I said,” he explained. “Just keep getting better as a player.
Definitely need to be a guy that's helping out with scoring and being an impact offensively. But at the same time, I think the coaches want me to become a guy they can rely on defensively, too.
Just like I want that, like it's kind of a mutual understanding how important that side of the game is for me.”
Coronato also spent part of the summer back home on Long Island, training and working alongside a small group that included Flames prospect Ethan Wyttenbach. And he came away with a strong impression of the 2025 NHL Draft fifth-round pick, who turned heads at Quinnipiac with 25 goals and 59 points in 40 games as a freshman, finishing first in the nation in scoring.
“Yeah, I mean, he's such a great player,” Coronato said after his on-ice session on Day 1 of training camp at the Scotiabank Saddledome. “He's got so much skill.
He works really hard. So, it's been a lot of fun for me to get to spend some time with him and just watch him because he's really, really good.
“He's really skilled. Like he's a really skilled player.
He looks awesome on the ice. Works hard in the gym.
Yeah, he's doing everything right.”
Because they’re both from Long Island, Coronato can be a useful voice for Wyttenbach as the young forward keeps pushing toward the NHL.
“Little bit here and there,” said Coronato. “But he's definitely on the right path.
He's doing things well. Like I said, he works so hard.
So, I think it's nice get to have a little bit of a relationship as he gets going here.”
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Flames Young Talent Could Soon Face A Real Roster Squeeze
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Simon Nemec does not really fit that conversation in the same way as the others, since the organization views him as a core defensive prospect it would not be looking to waive. For the rest of the group, the issue is less about talent than timing, NHL experience and how much room the Flames have when the roster starts to tighten, with Benning among the players most likely to get caught in that squeeze. [Read more 🡒]