The Flames announced that they have signed prospect forward Matthew Phillips to a three-year, entry-level contract. Financial terms were not disclosed. Phillips was Calgary’s sixth-round pick (166th overall) back in the 2016 draft. Since being selected, the diminutive forward has been a dominant scorer at the junior level, recording a 50-goal season last year while putting up 59 points in just 39 games so far in 2017-18. The timing of this announcement is noteworthy. Today was the last day that the Flames could sign Phillips and still have the contract slide a year (so that it won’t begin until 2018-19). That will result in Phillips’ cap hit ultimately being lower than it is currently as his signing bonus that he receives today won’t count against his cap hit next season.
More from the West:
- Stars center Martin Hanzal is set to resume skating on Tuesday as he works his way back from his latest lower-body injury, reports Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News. There is no timetable for when he may return to the lineup. This is Hanzal’s fifth different minor injury since the start of training camp which has limited him to just 26 games on the season. He has yet to be overly effective when he has played either as he has just six points on the year while averaging a career-low 14:28 of ice time per game. Suffice it to say, this isn’t what Dallas was expecting when they handed him a three-year, $14.25MM contract at the beginning of free agency back in July.
- The Wild have yet to decide if winger Zach Parise will participate in a second game on his AHL conditioning stint, notes Megan Ryan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. The veteran suited up with Iowa on Thursday in his first game action of the 2017-18 season as he continues to work his way back from a back injury, picking up an assist along the way. If Minnesota decides to activate him, they won’t have to make a roster move as they are only carrying 22 players and they have just enough cap space to transfer him off LTIR without any issues.