After a disappointing 2023-24 NHL season, the Calgary Flames and their fanbase are licking their wounds. This was the second consecutive season in which they missed the playoffs. Most players will now spend their time recuperating, golfing or being with their families, but not Flames forward Andrew Mangiapane. The 28-year-old is taking his talents across the globe to Czechia for the 2024 IIHF World Championships to represent Team Canada on the ice. A native of Barrie, Ontario, Mangiapane joins a youth-laden roster that features top NHL rookie Connor Bedard as well as probable 2024 first-overall draft selection Macklin Celebrini, among others. He joins teammate Martin Pospisil at the tournament, who was recently named to Team Slovakia.
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“Mang” had another relatively down year in the midst of a Flames retool and will be seeking some on-ice success before resting up for his eighth NHL campaign. The Flames’ 166th overall selection back in the 2015 draft suited up for his 400th NHL contest with the team this season and also scored his 100th goal, his 100th assist, and 200th point as well. Let’s take a brief look at his 2023-24 play, as well as his past experience with Team Canada.
Consistent, But Lacking Production
The 2023-24 season was essentially a mirror image of the previous year for Mangiapane. In 2022-23, he produced 17 goals and 26 assists for 43 points in all 82 games. This year, he totaled 14 tallies to go along with 26 assists in 75 games. To his credit, he accomplished the aforementioned feats and also set a career-high in hits and blocked shots in 2023-24. Despite playing the same 16 minutes of ice time he has averaged for the past four seasons, he was on the scoresheet less. His 122 shots on goal and 271 shot attempts were his lowest marks since the COVID-19-shortened 2020-21 campaign.
Now, those kinds of numbers may not sound terrible to general hockey fans or those who don’t follow the Flames. However, Mangiapane has a bit higher expectations; he recorded a career-high 35 goals and 55 points in the 2021-22 season as a pending unrestricted free agent and was promptly given a three-year, $17.4 million contract. Thus he is being paid to be a 30-plus goalscorer and hasn’t done so since his signing. Some rumors are already beginning to swirl around the concept of trading Mangiapane in the offseason. With said contract expiring after the 2024-25 season, Mangiapane will want to get back to his old ways quickly to maximize his own value.
Team Canada Brings Out the Best
As mentioned previously, Mangiapane has donned the maple leaf on international ice before. His only appearance so far came when he joined the team for the 2021 IIHF World Championships held in Riga, Latvia. Some of the best hockey of his young career was played in that setting. Mangiapane joined the team late; Canada had already played and lost three round-robin contests by the time of his arrival. After he hit the ice with them, the team went 6-0-1 for the remainder of the tournament en route to a first-place finish. It was Canada’s first gold medal at the tournament since the 2016 rendition.
Mangiapane was otherworldly for the red and white, scoring seven goals and four assists in seven games. He tied for the tournament lead in goals. Only teammate Connor Brown and American forward Conor Garland had more than his 11 points, but they both played in all 10 matches. For his efforts, Mangiapane was named a tournament All-Star as well as Most Valuable Player. He seemed to kick his play into another gear as soon as he put on the jersey. This year, he will be one of the veterans of the team but likely won’t be tasked with carrying the same offensive load due to the abundance of young firepower available. Mangiapane can instead provide some leadership and secondary scoring, much like he does on the Flames.
Hopefully, we will see Mangiapane exhibit shades of his 2021 self at this year’s World Championships. It would be an amazing sign and bring about some hope for Flames fans. His last two seasons haven’t lived up to his contract and have initiated trade rumours. If he can have a solid showing on the international stage, perhaps he can carry it with him into the 2024-25 season in Cowtown.
