Calgary Flames Lose Key Role Player for Battle of Alberta

The Calgary Flames will be without the services of Martin Pospisil for the next few weeks after the 6-foot-2 Slovak fell awkwardly into the boards following a skate-on-skate collision with Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews on Thursday night.

Martin Pospisil fell awkwardly into the boards. He was in a lot of pain and needed help getting off the ice.

🎥: Sportsnet | NHL pic.twitter.com/vFmHLd9QDX

— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) January 19, 2024

The 24-year-old winger left the ice with the assistance of two Flames players and appeared to be in severe physical distress.

Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff provided an update the following day indicating that the speedy product of  Zvolen, Slovakia’s injury timeline appears to be a few weeks as opposed to all season.

Sounds like relatively good news for #Flames Martin Pospisil after an ugly spill last night.

Pospisil is expected to miss a couple weeks, likely return after All-Star break.

Certainly not season-ending, which is big for a player who has helped bring out the best from Kadri.

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) January 19, 2024

Pospisil has a history of concussions that have, at points, cut seasons short. Most notable was a head injury suffered at the hands of the now-deceased Colby Cave. Pospisil was an 18-year-old rookie in the AHL at the time and missed the remainder of the season. Cave was 25.

Pospisil has four goals and seven assists in 33 games this season with the Flames.

His line of Zary-Kadri-Pospisil has outscored the opposition 13-4 at even strength for a 76.5% on-ice differential. That percentage ranks the line 6th league-wide. Per MoneyPuck’s data modeling, the line of Zary-Kadri-Pospisil ranks 20th in the league in expected goals percentage at 59%. Martin’s mix of speed and grit frequently leads to open space as the three transition up the ice and into the offensive zone.

The fourth round pick in 2018 will be sorely missed in what will undoubtedly be a high-tension Battle of Alberta on Saturday night.

Filling In

Calgary’s 13th overall pick at the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Matthew Coronato, was recalled on Saturday morning and will fill in for Martin Pospisil on a line with Nazem Kadri and Connor Zary.

The product of Huntington, New York, has 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points in 27 AHL games this season. The 21-year-old played through October with the Flames and a one-game call-up in December against the New Jersey Devils. The 5-foot-10 sniper has a goal and an assist in 11 NHL games in 2023-2024.