'Has A Lot Of Impact In Our Room'

The winds of change blew into the Flames front office last week.

But despite being in Florida at the time, one move in particular sent chills down the spine of the team’s leading goal-getter.

“I called him right away after the trade and welcomed him to the team,” Yegor Sharangovich said of his longtime friend Nikita Okhotiuk, who was acquired by the Flames at the deadline and reported directly to Calgary.

“The first thing I did was ask if he bought a winter jacket.

“San Jose … Calgary … A little bit different, right?”

Au contraire, young pup.

Sharangovich clearly didn’t check the forecast, which calls for highs in the upper teens later this week to bring us on par with the balmy climes of Northern California.

Soon, we’ll be packing away our parkas and gearing up for spring.

But unlike Okhotiuk, Sharangovich won’t need a few days to acclimatize as the Flames kick off a four-game homestand tonight.

He’s already embroiled in a scorcher of his own.

“Yeah, of course, my game has changed a little bit this year. It’s better, I think,” said Sharangovich, who has goals in three straight and six, total, in as many appearances dating back to Feb. 27. “The goal is always to help your team, to win games. This year, my role has changed a little bit playing on top-six lines with top-six players. I get to play with a player like Jonathan Huberdeau and not everybody gets an opportunity like that. He makes so many good plays, all I have to do most of the time is put the puck in the net.”

When you consider that Sharangovich tallied his team-leading 27th goal of the season and – on the same play – established a new career high with his 47th point of the campaign, comments like that give you an inside look at the humble attitude ‘Sharky’ approaches the day with.

His game, though, is anything like the shy and unassuming guise he greets the media with.

“We knew he was a shooter coming from (New Jersey),” Head Coach Ryan Huska said when asked about the expectations he had for him offensively this year. “When you watch the video and see how a guy plays the game, you had an understanding that he had a different skill-set. Some of that comes from the shootout goals that he scored in the past, where you know he's got the ability to make plays. Then, you get him around here and the first couple of practices we had in training camp, there were a lot of small little area plays that he would make with his linemates.

“So, you could see the skill that he did have.

“I think it just took him a little bit of time to get used to his surroundings and now that he has, I think he understands that he's valued and a player that has a lot of impact in our room right now.”

High praise.

For a player in his first year with his new team and who – in large part due to the language barrier – is on the quieter side to begin with, Sharangovich is clearly more comfortable in his new sweater and a result, has developed into a bit of a clubhouse leader.

Part of that could be due to the influx of Russians such as Andrei Kuzmenko, Daniil Miromanov and, yes, his buddy Okhotiuk being brought in via trade. But when goals come, the confidence does, too, and it’s clear Sharangovich is only just scratching the surface when it comes to his offensive potential.

The Flames, after all, went out and targeted this player from the Devils last June not just because of that – but because they knew he had dabbled at centre in the past and needed the opportunity to showcase his ability in variety of roles in order to reach it.

And it's clearly paying off now.

Sharangovich's 27 goals are three more than his previous career high, set during the 2021-22 season as a member of the Devils. With 18 games left on the schedule, 35 isn't out of the question. Neither is the 60-point plateau, which often a benchmark when ranking pivots, relative to those around the league.

So, what is the ceiling? Can we even say with any certainty at this point?

For now, Sharangovich's play is doing the talking.

“I like centre a lot,” Sharangovich said. “I played quite a bit of centre about five years ago in the KHL. When you play centre, you're always in the game. You have a lot of (responsibility) and you're always playing with the puck and focusing on the d-zone first.

“The first couple of games were hard for me - and even now, I still need to work on my faceoff numbers, because my percentage as dropped... so bad - but I like the (responsibility). It's a challenge.

“And I feel like in the last seven, eight games, I've gotten a lot more comfortable.”

Now, he’ll look to do the same, as he helps integrate a new member of the team and become part of the Flames family.

“We’ll get together soon,” Sharangovich said of Okhotiuk, who took part in his first skate with the Flames on Tuesday at the Scotiabank Saddledome. “I didn’t get a chance to (on Monday) because it was an off day and I missed all that time with my little guy when we were on the road.

“We've always been friends. We were close in Jersey and I’m always on the phone with him. Our wives are friends, too. He's a great guy, great teammate, great player.

“(He’s not into) Lego. But that’s OK.”