Yegor Sharangovich knows the Calgary Flames need a lot more from him next season, and he’s treating this summer like a reset.
The 28-year-old forward, who was acquired from the New Jersey Devils ahead of the 2023-24 season, followed a 31-goal campaign with back-to-back years that fell well short of that level. He finished with 17 goals and 32 points in 2024-25, then dipped to 15 goals and 29 points in 2025-26.
The scoring drop is only part of the issue. Sharangovich has also drawn criticism for not doing enough away from the puck, including his work in battles and some shaky defensive play. He said he understands those concerns and has spent the offseason targeting exactly those areas.
“There are also areas of my game that I need to improve,” Sharangovich said in an interview with the Russian Hockey Heritage Network (translated by Calgary Puck website user “gvitaly”). “As my head coach and the Flames management have pointed out, one of those areas is winning battles.
“If you look at my last two seasons, that part of my game really dropped off. I want to improve on it.
I want to add more muscle and become stronger. That is a very important part of the game because if you don’t win puck battles, then you have to play without the puck and chase a lot more.
When you win those battles, recover pucks, and hold onto them, then you create more chances for yourself and your teammates.”
Sharangovich didn’t go into every detail of what he’s been doing, but he did lay out the structure of his offseason work. Mondays and Tuesdays have him in the gym before an on-ice session.
Wednesdays are generally lighter. Then comes more gym time, followed by skates on Thursdays and Fridays.
He said August brought an even heavier workload, with more skating to make sure he’s ready.
“This year I changed almost everything,” Sharangovich explained. “I changed my fitness coach. I started working with a completely different training program and changed some things about my on-ice workouts.”
After finishing dead last in scoring last season, Calgary needs offense wherever it can find it in 2026-27. If Sharangovich can get back to the 31-goal form he showed in 2023-24, that would go a long way, and he’s clearly putting in the work to chase that level again.
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