Flames' 2021 First-Round Pick Frustrated by Veteran's Ice Time as Agent Hits Back Over Recent Benching

Matt Coronato has been one of the more promising young prospects for the Calgary Flames this season, and a recent demotion to the AHL hasn't gone over too well, at least not for his agency. His agent, John Kofi Osei-Tutu, was one of the many within the agency who managed to retweet some pretty frustrated posts regarding the move. It seemed like the tweets called out a specific Flames teammate, which means some internal drama is brewing within the organization.

The controversy is rooted in the perceived prioritization of veteran Anthony Mantha, signed as a free agent this past summer, over the development of Coronato at the NHL level. Original tweets and subsequent retweets by Coronato's agency called that decision into question, and many immediately jumped to the conclusion that the team was favoring experience over the development of young talent. Though the reposts have since been removed, the damage to team morale may already be done.

Although the Flames were off to a great start this season, things have taken a bit of a rough turn for them now, with two games dropped consecutively. Given the situation, it couldn't come at a worse time. Elliotte Friedman, a pretty well-connected insider on the NHL, said it might cause friction between Coronato and his veteran teammates, particularly with Anthony Mantha, on his "32 Thoughts" podcast.

At 21 years young, Coronato has shown flashes in his limited NHL career so far. He tallied two goals in his first five games this season and had a very respectable plus/minus rating of +3. Last season, he wasn't as hot, however, with just nine points in 34 games and an ugly -15 rating. Now back with the AHL's Calgary Wranglers, Coronato hopes to regain his form like he did last year when he recorded 42 points in 41 games.

The Matt Coronado demotion has only added to the flames, no pun intended, around Calgary's potential roster moves. The young man gets another crack at proving himself in the AHL but misses out on NHL experience. It remains to be seen whether this bump is a minor short-term glitch or a longer-term concern, but this will go along with all the other internal issues that will need to be smoothed over if this team is going to stick together down the stretch and make a deep run.