The list of leading goal scorers on the Calgary Flames may be a bit surprising to some fans of the team. Currently, Yegor Sharangovich and Blake Coleman are the top two goal scorers on the team, followed by Nazem Kadri and Elias Lindholm. It’s also worth noting that with 10 fewer games played, Connor Zary is only five goals away from taking the team lead in goals. The production has been pretty spread out through the team. As a result, who will be the Flames leading goal scorer at the trade deadline? We asked, you answered.
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The fan-favourite for the Flames’ leading scorer
We presented the following poll on who’d be the Flames’ leading goal scorer at the trade deadline, with Lindholm, Sharangovich, and Kadri being named options, while leaving the final choice open for responses.
Elias Lindholm
Despite being four goals away from tying Yegor Sharangovich in goals, only 4% of voters picked Lindholm to lead the team come the trade deadline. Part of that I believe has to do with the fact that his line hasn’t been as great as the Kadri and the Kids line. On top of that, Sharangovich has been doing the bulk of scoring for Lindholm’s line recently, and they may decide to stick to those same roles if it is working. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. However, fans would love to see Lindholm become the leading goal-scorer on the team, especially if he does end up getting traded at the deadline. That would be one great way to maximize the return the Flames could get.
Yegor Sharangovich
Sharangovich has been on an absolute tear for the team. He has six goals over his past five games, tying a Flames franchise record along the way, and has collected nine points over his past game games. His production is making the Toffoli trade look much better for the Flames, and it is starting to give the team another effective line of forwards that can produce for the team outside of Kadri’s line. Sharangovich has an incredible shot, and it looks like it is starting to come together for the forward. Based on his play, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Sharangovich score more than 35 goals this year if he keeps this up.
Nazem Kadri
After Kadri’s slow start to the season, what a sight for sore eyes it is for Flames fans to see him form great chemistry with Connor Zary and Martin Pospisil. As soon as Zary was called up, he and Kadri clicked, and it has really benefited Kadri’s game as of late. Since Zary has been on Kadri’s line (November 1), Kadri has put up seven goals, 13 assists, and 20 points in 22 games. The point production has been great to see, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Kadri pick up his goal-scoring as the season goes by.
Other candidates for Calgary’s leading scorer
Connor Zary is another pick for who may lead the team in goals. He has seven goals in 21 games, which puts him on pace to score over 25 goals for the year—27 in fact. The last Flames player to score 25 goals in their rookie year was Johnny Gaudreau. Since 2000, the only Flames players to score more than 20 goals in their rookie year have been Gaudreau, Monahan, and Phaneuf. This would be an incredible company for Zary to be a part of, and he is on track to get there.
We also can’t ignore what Blake Coleman has been doing this season. He is currently second on the team with nine goals. I’m not sure if he can continue his impressive goal-scoring, but with the way he is playing so far, he can’t be ruled out.
Calgary is scoring by committee
At this point of the season, there isn’t a clear-cut leading goal scorer for the team. The optimist look at that is that the Flames have a good spread of scoring down the lineup. However, the pessimistic look is that the Flames have no elite goal scorer on their team. Whether that changes as the year goes on with the run Sharangovich is on is still to be seen. Which candidates should have been mentioned? Does Sharangovich continue his impressive production? Let us know!
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