Flames' Andrew Mangiapan headed to World Cup – Hockey Writers – Calgary Flames

After the 2023-24 NHL season, the Calgary Flames and their fans are licking their wounds. It was their second straight season of missing the playoffs. Many players now spend their time rehabbing, playing golf or spending time with their families, but not Flames forward Andrew Mangiapan. The 28-year-old will travel across the world to the Czech Republic for the 2024 IIHF World Championship to represent Team Canada on the ice. A native of Barrie, Ontario, Mangiapan joins a youth group that includes NHL Rookie of the Year Connor Bedard, as well as 2024 first overall draft pick Maclin Celebrini, among others. He will join teammate Martin Pospisil in the tournament, who was recently assigned to the Slovak national team.

Related: Calgary Flames' best players to play in World Juniors

“Mang” has had another relatively down year for the Flames in the midst of a rebuild and will be looking for some success on the ice before resting for his eighth NHL campaign. The 166th overall pick of the Flames in the 2015 draft matched his 400th NHL contest this season, along with his 100th goal, 100th assist and 200th point. Let's take a look at his 2023-24 game as well as his experience with Team Canada.

Steady but lacks production

The 2023-24 season was a mirror image of last year for Mangiapana. In the 2022–23 season, he scored 17 goals, 43 points and 26 assists in all 82 games. This year, he scored 14 goals and had 26 assists in 75 games. To his credit, he accomplished the aforementioned feats while also setting career highs in hits and strikeouts in 2023-24. Despite playing the same 16 minutes of ice time he averaged over the last four seasons, he was less on the scoresheet. His 122 shots on goal and 271 shot attempts were his lowest totals since the 2020-21 campaign, which was shortened by COVID-19.

Now, those numbers may not seem scary to hockey fans in general or those who don't follow the Flames. However, Mangiapane has slightly higher expectations; he recorded a career-high 35 goals and 55 points as an unrestricted free agent in 2021-22 and immediately signed a three-year, $17.4 million contract. As such, he is paid to be a 30-plus goal scorer and hasn't done so since signing. Some rumors started swirling around the concept of trading Mangiapane during the offseason. With his contract set to expire after the 2024-25 season, Mangiapane will want to quickly return to his old ways to maximize his value.

Team Canada brings out the best

As mentioned above, Mangiapan has previously worn the Maple Leaf on international ice. His only appearance came when he participated in the 2021 IIHF World Championship in Riga, Latvia. In this case, he played the best hockey of his young career. Mangiapane joined the team late; When he arrived, Canada played and lost in a three-round competition. After he hit the ice with them, the team went 6-0-1 the rest of the tournament en route to a first-place finish. It was Canada's first gold medal at the tournament since the 2016 Games.

Mangiapane has been otherworldly for the Reds, scoring seven goals and adding four assists in seven games. He led the tournament in the number of goals. Only teammate Connor Brown and American forward Conor Garland had more than 11 points, but both played in all 10 games. For his efforts, Mangiapane was named the tournament's star player and most valuable player. As soon as he put on the shirt, he seemed to shift his game to another rail. This year, he will be one of the team's veterans, but may not be tasked with carrying the same offensive load due to the abundance of young firepower. Mangiapan can instead get the lead and second points like he did with the Flames.

We hope to see Mangiapane show his shades in 2021 at this year's World Cup. That would be an amazing sign and bring some hope to Flames fans. His last two seasons didn't live up to his contract and sparked trade rumors. If he can perform well on the international stage, he could take him with him to the 2024-25 season in Cowtown.