- Speaking with reporters today including Ryan Pike of Flames Nation (Twitter link), Calgary GM Craig Conroy stated that he’s hoping to have a new AHL head coach in place within the next week or so. Mitch Love was the reigning two-time Louis AR Pieri Memorial Award winner for Coach of the Year but after being passed up for the top job in Calgary, he accepted an assistant coaching role with Washington earlier this summer.
Flames Rumors
Evening Notes: Vladar, Avalanche, Desnoyers
David Pagnotta of the NHL Network is reporting that the Calgary Flames will likely continue to hold onto goaltender Daniel Vladar until they get an offer that forces them to make a move. Pagnotta adds that the Flames have fielded offers from several teams but have yet to get an offer that they deem as suitable.
Vladar didn’t have a particularly strong season this past year by traditional statistics or analytics. He posted a 14-6-5 record with a .894 save percentage and a 2.87 goals against average. Taking a deep dive, he also posted -8.4 goals saved above expected in just 27 games putting him well below the average. However, Calgary is dangling Vladar at a time when the goaltending market is very thin and there are several teams who would love to add a young goaltender with size to their depth charts.
The 25-year-old is signed to a very affordable two-year deal with an average annual value of $2.2MM making him a solid bet as a backup with some upside for a team looking to take some pressure off their starting goaltender.
In other evening notes:
- The Colorado Avalanche have announced that the head coach of their AHL affiliate the Colorado Eagles will be Aaron Schneekloth. The Calgary, Alberta native has been on the Eagles staff for a decade now and led the club to two ECHL titles in 2017 and 2018 prior to the team transitioning to the AHL. Schneekloth was retained by the Eagles after moving up a league and became an assistant coach to then-head coach Greg Cronin. With Cronin now the head coach of the Anaheim Ducks it was a natural transition for Schneekloth to take the reins of the Eagles, a club he’s coached with and played on for nearly two decades.
- Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic is reporting that Philadelphia Flyers prospect Elliot Desnoyers was injured yesterday at development camp after crashing into the boards hard during a battle drill with a teammate. Desnoyers was unable to put weight on his right leg but appears to have avoided serious injury. The 21-year-old was a fifth-round selection of the Flyers in 2020 and is coming off his first professional season in the AHL where he posted 23 goals and 21 assists in 65 games with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He dressed in four additional games with the Flyers but was held pointless. Desnoyers wasn’t drafted for his offense, but the Flyers have to be pleased with his development on the offensive side of the puck.
Calgary Flames Re-Sign Ben Jones, Mathias Emilio Pettersen
The Calgary Flames have retained the services of a pair of depth forwards, Ben Jones and Mathias Emilio Pettersen, by re-signing them to one-year, two-way contracts. Both contracts come with a cap hit of $775K. Jones and Pettersen were restricted free agents.
PuckPedia later reported Jones’ AHL salary as $120K, while Pettersen will earn $80K in the minors.
Jones, a center hailing from Waterloo, Ontario, wrapped up his first season with the Flames organization as a key contributor for the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers. In 71 games, Jones tallied 17 goals and 37 assists for a total of 54 points, placing him third in team scoring behind Matthew Phillips and 2020 first-round pick Connor Zary.
The 24-year-old has NHL size at 6 feet and 190 pounds, and he does have some upward mobility in the Flames’ organization as a potential call-up candidate. He was selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the seventh round as part of their inaugural 2017 draft class before joining the Flames organization as a free agent in 2022.
Joining Jones in re-signing with Calgary is Pettersen, a center from Manglerud, Norway. Pettersen just completed his third season with the Flames organization, a teammate of Jones with the Wranglers. In 61 games, the 23-year-old also posted nice offensive totals, accumulating 44 points and ranking fifth in team scoring.
Standing at 5-foot-10 and weighing 170 pounds, Pettersen does have somewhat longer odds of cracking the NHL lineup but is one of the speedier and more creative players offensively in the Flames’ farm system. Drafted by the Flames in the sixth round of the 2018 NHL Draft, Pettersen has made international appearances for Norway, most recently at the 2021 IIHF World Championship, where he recorded a goal in six games.
Both are likely destined for AHL assignments again out of the gate in 2023-24.
Michael Stone Retires, Joins Flames In Front Office Role
After a distinguished 12-year career in the NHL, Calgary Flames defenseman Michael Stone has officially announced his retirement. However, his departure from the ice does not mark the end of his involvement in the NHL – he immediately joined the Flames as the newest member of their player development team.
The older brother of Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone, Michael finishes his career with 552 regular-season games under his belt. The 33-year-old had this to say about his career and future:
I feel very happy to be able to leave the game the way I have and directly into this role with the Flames organization. I believe it would have been a lot more difficult had this opportunity not been available. I’m excited to learn and gain some new experiences in a different capacity in the NHL. I’m looking forward to working with the young defencemen and help them achieve their ultimate goal of playing with the Calgary Flames.
The Flames’ director of player development, Ray Edwards, also expressed his satisfaction with Stone joining the team:
The combination of Michael just finishing his NHL playing career and that his specialty is defensemen specific was exactly the role that we have been trying to fill. After drafting Etienne (Morin) and Axel (Hurtig), that’s a good area for Mike to jump into immediately and assisting with our Wranglers defensemen prospects. It’s a perfect fit.
Stone had played the last six-and-a-half years of his NHL carer in Calgary, only the second NHL organization he played with. His final NHL game came on April 12, a 3-1 win against the San Jose Sharks in which he registered four shots on goal. He recorded 11 points in 48 games in 2022-23, his highest offensive total since joining the Flames.
Injuries largely plagued Stone’s tenure in Alberta, but he was at one point a true top-four threat during his time with the Arizona Coyotes. Drafted 69th overall in 2008, Stone had a breakout season for Arizona in 2015-16, recording a career-high 36 points in 75 games while playing over 22 minutes a night.
Prior to his professional career, the Winnipeg-born Stone enjoyed a successful junior career with the Calgary Hitmen, culminating in a WHL championship in 2010. He then made the leap to the Coyotes’ AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, to start his professional career.
In total, he wraps up his NHL career with 41 goals and 104 assists for 145 points.
Calgary Flames Sign Brady Lyle
The Calgary Flames have signed defenseman Brady Lyle to a one-year, two-way contract carrying a $775k AAV and a $140k AHL salary.
Lyle is a 24-year-old right-shot defenseman who offers above-average size and is coming off of a breakout season with the Springfield Thunderbirds of the AHL.
A high-scoring undrafted defenseman in the OHL, Lyle began his pro career with the Providence Bruins but eventually made his way to Springfield. He was a member of the Springfield team that made it all the way to the Calder Cup Finals last season, acquired by St. Louis for future considerations in a midseason trade.
Lyle held down a top-four role for the Thunderbirds and ranked second among team defensemen in scoring with 31 points in 51 games.
The Flames have a crowded defense at the current moment but are a bit thin on the right side of their defense in the AHL with only veteran Nick DeSimone as the only right-shot blueliner currently penciled into the Wranglers’ lineup.
Now they’ve added another top-four AHL blueliner with some offensive upside to their mix, and seeing as he only just turned 24 perhaps the Flames believe Lyle can make a push for an NHL call-up.
Calgary Flames Sign Jordan Oesterle
The Calgary Flames have signed defenseman Jordan Oesterle to a one-year, $925k AAV deal.
With trade winds blowing heavily around the Flames’ top left-handed defenseman, Noah Hanifin, adding a capable left-hander to the organization is an important step to take to protect the team’s depth in the event Hanifin is dealt.
Oesterle is exactly that, a capable veteran defenseman who has over 300 games of NHL experience. He’s spent the last two years with the Detroit Red Wings, where he’s scored a combined 19 points in 97 games, averaging nearly 17 minutes of ice time per night along the way.
While he won’t be effective if asked to play a minutes-eating role for the Flames, he should be able to capably handle a bottom-pairing role and provide some valuable veteran competition for the Flames’ crop of up-and-coming blueliners.
While it might be a preferred scenario for a young defenseman like Jeremie Poirier to beat out Oesterle for a job, this signing gives the Flames a solid option in case one of their young defensemen disappoints and can’t earn an opening-day job.
Calgary Flames Sign Three Players
The depth signings continue for a few teams on day two of free agency, and the Calgary Flames have now joined the fray. The team has announced a two-year, $1.55MM, two-way contract with forward Dryden Hunt, as well as separate one-year, $775K, two-way contracts with Martin Pospisil and Colton Poolman.
Hunt headlines the group, as he was brought over as a trade deadline acquisition from the Toronto Maple Leafs last season. It would end up being Hunt’s third team of the season, as he originally started the 2022-23 campaign off with the Colorado Avalanche. It’s not a surprise that Calgary wanted to keep him, as Hunt got off to a torrid start with Calgary Wranglers of the AHL. In 17 games played following his acquisition, Hunt scored five goals and 10 assists as well as chipping in another six points in nine playoff games.
Unfortunately for Pospisil, he wasn’t as big of a factor in the Wrangler’s season last year. Only suiting up in 20 games, Pospisil scored four goals and six assists, failing to appear in any playoff games. The Zvolen, Slovakia native has gotten more playing time in the past with the Stockton Heat, but figures to be a depth scorer at the AHL level at best.
Much like Pospisil, Poolman doesn’t put up earth-shattering offensive numbers but has shown to be a very disciplined shutdown defenseman. The former captain at the University of North Dakota, Poolman put up two goals and 12 assists last year for the Wranglers, carrying a +18 rating and serving only eight minutes in the penalty box. The ability to defend against the opposing team’s top players will always serve as a benefit in any league.
Latest On Noah Hanifin
The Pittsburgh Penguins just spent the last two days re-stocking their relatively thin prospect pool at the 2023 NHL draft, and with that process over their new front office’s focus shifts to improving their roster for next season. One of the ways new hockey operations boss Kyle Dubas can improve the Penguins is by revamping their defense, which could mean adding a top blueliner on the trade market such as Noah Hanifin. The Athletic’s Rob Rossi reports that “the Penguins are on a short list of teams to which Hanifin would approve a trade,” and that “Hanifin would be willing to sign an extension with the Penguins if acquired.” (subscription link)
Adding a top-end left-shot defenseman to pair with Kris Letang is a priority for Pittsburgh, especially seeing as head coach Mike Sullivan “repeatedly pushed” for the team to acquire Jakob Chychrun from the Arizona Coyotes last season. The issue the Penguins face in acquiring Hanifin is twofold: firstly, one wonders if Pittsburgh has enticing enough assets to be able to win a bidding war with other teams to secure a trade with Calgary, and secondly it could be a tight fit for the Penguins to be able to sign Hanifin to a pricey long-term extension given the current money on their books.
Some other notes from the Metropolitan Division:
- As Pittsburgh contemplates acquiring and then ideally extending a top-end player like Hanifin, they’re looking to move money out in order to be able to do so. Defenseman Jeff Petry underwhelmed in his first season in Pittsburgh, and set to turn 36 years old he remains under contract for the next two seasons at a $6.25MM cap hit. Rossi reports that Dubas “has tried to trade” Petry, but “found few interested parties” and Petry’s modified no-trade clause to be a barrier to the possibility of a trade getting completed. The Athletic’s Josh Yohe confirmed his colleague’s report, writing in his own piece that Pittsburgh is “dangling” Petry “pretty heavily in trade offers” but that “there isn’t considerable interest in the veteran.” (subscription link) It would certainly help Pittsburgh more dramatically reshape its blueline if they were able to trade Petry, but given the league-wide lack of cap space among contending teams a Petry deal seems unlikely.
- Another trade that seems extremely unlikely is one involving Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson, at least according to Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan. MacLellan told the media, including The Washington Post’s Bailey Johnson, that the team “we haven’t had one discussion about” trading Wilson this summer. Some have speculated that Wilson, a 29-year-old winger with a $5.16MM AAV deal that expires in a year, could be a player Washington dangles in trade talks, but it appears in actuality the team has zero interest in dealing the three-time 20-goal scorer, despite an injury-plagued 2022-23 campaign.
Florida Panthers Showing Interest In Noah Hanifin
For the past few weeks, it’s seemed a matter of when, not if, the Calgary Flames would trade defenseman Noah Hanifin. The left-shot blueliner made it known earlier this month he wasn’t particularly interested in signing an extension, and he’ll likely join Tyler Toffoli as players slated for unrestricted free agency in 2024 finding their way out of the organization a year early.
It’s also been clear that the Florida Panthers are seeking another puck-moving defenseman for their top four, mainly to help buoy the group, while Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour are sidelined with injuries to start the season. They’ve inquired with Calgary about Hanifin to fill that gap, says Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic, confirming some speculation earlier in the week about a potential fit.
Hanifin to Florida is far from a sure thing, though, as LeBrun notes trade interest is high in the 26-year-old, who has one season remaining at a $4.95MM cap hit. As LeBrun notes, a potential trade could see winger Anthony Duclair heading the other way, who the Panthers have been shopping to clear some additional cap space. It would still be a tight salary cap dance for the Panthers, depending on what other moves they make in free agency, and they don’t have many other assets on the block the Flames would be particularly interested in. The potential is high here for Florida to get outbid.
If he does end up in the Sunshine State, though, Hanifin would be an immeasurable upgrade in the team’s top four on pending UFA Marc Staal, who’s posted middling advanced numbers despite an increased role alongside Montour. The 26-year-old has averaged over 20 minutes per game in each of the past five seasons, and he’s totaled 86 points and a +29 rating in 162 games since 2021-22.
Duclair would also be a solid addition to a deep Flames top nine, although it’s poised to potentially lose some talent by way of Elias Lindholm and Mikael Backlund. For now, he’d replace the top-six spot vacated by Toffoli after dealing him to New Jersey yesterday. Duclair notched 20 points in 40 combined regular-season and playoff games in 2022-23 after recovering from a severe Achilles tear sustained during off-season training.
Calgary Flames Sign Yegor Sharangovich
After arriving in a trade yesterday, Yegor Sharangovich has quickly agreed to a new two-year contract with the Calgary Flames. The contract will extend through 2024-25 and carries an average annual value of $3.1MM.
Sharangovich, 25, was a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights. With this new deal in place, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2025.
The young forward saw his numbers drop significantly this season, scoring just 13 goals and 30 points in 75 games after a breakout 24-goal campaign in 2021-22. That was due to several factors, perhaps most importantly Timo Meier essentially taking his job down the stretch.
With the New Jersey Devils ready to commit long-term to Meier, Sharangovich was a player without a spot, meaning this swap to Calgary should benefit him. He’ll likely get a chance to play big minutes, and head into UFA status with significant offensive numbers.
That’s what both sides are hoping for and what this cap number represents. The Flames can’t be giving out $3.1MM deals to just anyone, given how tight they are to the ceiling. They now project to be slightly over the cap for the start of the season, though there is still plenty of time to work that out.
The guard is changing in Calgary, with rumors swirling about several high-profile players. Sharangovich will likely not be the last newcomer this summer, as new GM Craig Conroy puts his stamp on the roster.