Flames' Matvei Gridin looks like he's finding his game

The opening days of the NHL season have not gone how Matvei Gridin or any of the Calgary Flames would have wanted.

For Gridin, in particular, though, Saturday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks offered hints that things may be turning around.

Moved to a new line and playing with Martin Popsisil and Ryan Strome, Gridin was more involved in the game than he’d been in the Flames’ four previous outings, recording three shots and creating a few solid opportunities for his linemates.

There’s still room to improve, but it was a step in the right direction.

“That was his best five-on-five game that he’s played this year, so far,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “He played more like an NHL player. The earlier couple games he was trying really hard to generate offence and was causing himself some problems, a little bit because things were high-risk and that risk-reward ratio wasn’t where it needed to be.

“I thought he played much better this last game; I think he was moving his feet more and played simpler, more effective plays with the puck.”

Gridin set lofty goals for himself coming into this season, his first as a full-time NHLer after appearing in 37 games last year. A slower start — he’s recorded one assist in five games — doesn’t mean he isn’t going to have a good year.

Like just about every one of his Flames teammates not named Matt Coronato or Kevin Bahl, though, it hasn’t come easy in the early days of the year.

With Frost as their centre, Coronato and Gridin went on a bit of a tear to end last season and there were hopes they’d pick up right where they left off and provide the Flames with a dynamic, offensively-minded first line.

It didn’t quite work out that way, prompting Huska to shuffle his lines a bit and put the 20-year-old with Pospisil and Strome, a veteran leader who should be able to help Gridin with some of the finer points of the game.

“He’s great,” Gridin said when he was asked about playing with Strome. “He’s obviously been around the league for a long time and he’s played with great players and I can learn a lot from him and he’s skilled and sees the ice well, that’s going to help our line for sure.”

The admiration is mutual.

“He’s super skilled, right?” Strome said. “As a young player he probably wants to have more points but he sees the game really well. There wasn’t a time when I was open and he didn’t see me. As a player of his calibre, as long as he’s seeing those plays, it’s going to come.”

It would be entirely unfair to place much, if any, of the blame for the Flames’ slow start on Gridin. He’s still only 20 years old and has less than half a season of NHL experience, so there’s still a learning curve he has to go through.

There are reasons to believe the points are going to come soon after Saturday’s game, though, and that would be a very welcome development for these struggling Flames.