The Calgary Flames just locked up former first round pick Matthew Coronato to a seven-year, $6.5 million AAV deal. For how he was trending and how he played in the second half of the season, I think it is a good deal as the cap is going up significantly over the next number of years now as well.
Contracts around the league always impact how future contracts look, so this is why Coronato is being brought up here. His contract is going to be a low starting point for what Frank Nazar's next contract is going to look like for the Chicago Blackhawks when contract talks start.
A year apart makes a difference with the cap increase projections, but not by a ton. Coronato is a 13th overall pick in 2021 and Nazar is a 13th overall pick in 2022. They both played in the NCAA and burned a year off their entry-level deals by playing in the NHL at the end of their final college season. Both former first rounders then split time between the AHL and NHL the following year and rose quickly. From a side-by-side look, I think Nazar is just a little ahead, but on a worse team.
Coronato was a full-time NHLer this season for the first time, and by the way Nazar played, he is going to be one in 2025-26 as he played out the final 53 games for the Blackhawks.
Nazar scored 13 goals and 27 points in his first 56 career NHL games. Coronato scored nine goals and 19 points in his first 56 career NHL games. That leaked into this season and Coronato finished out the final 56 games of 2024-25 with 18 goals and 37 points.
They are both impressive players and played bigger roles for their respective teams in the second half of this season. That should only increase moving forward and expect to start to hear chatter about a Nazar contract extension this summer, though it might take until the end of the 2025-26 season as well.
