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Michael Stone

Michael Stone Retires, Joins Flames In Front Office Role

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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.

Injury Notes: Chychrun, Zadina, Tanev, Stone

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Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen is reporting that Jakob Chychrun of the Ottawa Senators is doubtful to play Saturday against the New Jersey Devils. Ottawa head coach DJ Smith was quoted by TSN’s Claire Hanna as saying that Chychrun, “tugged something there a little bit, we’ll see how he reacts to treatment here.”

Chychrun left Ottawa’s 7-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning yesterday after taking a hit in the third period. He was in obvious discomfort as he skated to the Senators bench before heading down the runway to the locker room. Smith said after the game that he didn’t believe it was an injury, but rather that it was cramping.

Since coming over to Ottawa in the March 1st trade, Chychrun has two goals and three assists in 12 games while averaging 21 minutes of ice time a game. Ottawa can ill afford to lose their prized trade deadline acquisition as they are running out of runway with just ten games left in the season. Ottawa sits five points back of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference and will be in tough tomorrow as they do battle with the Devils in New Jersey.

Other injury notes from around the NHL:

  • The Detroit Red Wings announced today that Filip Zadina is day-to-day with a lower body injury and will not be available for Saturday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Zadina also missed over three months earlier this season with a lower body injury after blocking a shot in early November against the New York Islanders. It’s been a tough season for the former Halifax Moosehead, he has struggled to stay on the ice, and when he has played, he has been largely ineffective with just seven points in 30 games. The 23-year-old had a career year last season with 24 points in 74 games but has yet to live up to the expectations the Red Wings had for him when they took him sixth overall in 2018.
  • Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg is reporting that Chris Tanev didn’t practice with the Calgary Flames this morning after missing their previous two games with a lower body injury. The 33-year-old Toronto native has 13 points in 61 games this season and has averaged over 20 minutes a night in ice time. Calgary is a long shot to make the post season with just nine games remaining on the schedule. They sit six points back of Winnipeg for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference and would need to leapfrog Nashville who have 12 games remaining. Calgary can ill afford to lose Tanev’s defensive prowess as they battle down to the wire.
  • In a bit of good news for Calgary, injured defenseman Michael Stone has started skating on his own. Stone has missed the Flames last 17 games with a lower body injury that he suffered in late February. Stone has five goals and five assists in 46 games this season while averaging just over 13 minutes a night in ice time. He is hardly an option to replace Tanev should his injury be long term, but Stone could offer some additional depth for the Flames as they head into the final pivotal weeks of the season.

Calgary Flames Recall Walker Duehr; Move Michael Stone To IR

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After being seen in a walking boot recently, Calgary Flames defenseman Michael Stone has been moved to injured reserve. To fill his spot on the roster, Walker Duehr has been recalled from the minor leagues.

Stone, 32, has been a regular in the Flames lineup this season after playing just a handful of games in each of the last four seasons. With 46 appearances and ten points, he has played and scored the most since 2017-18, even if he only averages a little over 13 minutes in those games. The veteran defenseman has been rather effective in that depth role, one he now cedes to Dennis Gilbert for the time being.

Both Stone brothers are now on injured reserve, as Vegas Golden Knights forward Mark Stone was also recently shifted there. Their next meeting, which would have been on Thursday, will have to wait.

Duehr, 25, has appeared in eight games this season for the Flames, scoring two goals. The undrafted forward has 15 goals and 26 points in 41 games with the Calgary Wranglers of the AHL, enough to earn him a little more time in the NHL. With three road games coming up this week, the Flames needed an extra body. He’ll get some nice bonus pay, even if he doesn’t get into the lineup on a regular basis.

Injury Updates: Stalock, Holloway, Stone, Dowd

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Alex Stalock is practicing with the Blackhawks again, and the team hopes he’ll join their upcoming four-game road trip. As reported by Charlie Roumeliotis of NBCS Chicago, Stalock is returning from ocular dysfunction that has kept him out of the lineup since January 14th.

Although Stalock’s steady presence in the crease would be a boon for most teams in the Blackhawks position this season, it likely spells a return to the minors for Blackhawks’ goalie Jaxson Stauber. In his five starts since Stalock’s injury, Stauber has accrued four wins, including a 32-save win against the Maple Leafs on Sunday night. Stalock will now take over in net for the struggling Blackhawks with a 6-6 record with a .918 SV% this season.

Some other injury updates:

  • The Edmonton Oilers will be missing young forward Dylan Holloway for “about a month” according to Jason Gregor of The Nation Network. After a very productive college hockey career, Holloway has failed to replicate his production in college to the professional level. Playing primarily in Edmonton’s bottom six, Holloway has scored nine points in 51 games this season. Due to the activation of Kailer Yamamoto off the injured reserve on February 17th, Holloway was sent down to Edmonton’s AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors. Although he’s now rostered in the minors, losing Holloway could be a significant hurdle in Edmonton’s upcoming trade deadline plans.
  • Calgary Flames defenseman Michael Stone was seen today entering Scotiabank Saddledome in a boot with crutches. Noted by reporter Eric Francis of Sportsnet, Dennis Gilbert appears to be the likely replacement for Stone’s lost minutes.
  • Nic Dowd is on the verge of returning to the Capitals lineup, according to Tarik El-Bashir for The Athletic. Dowd, who has been out of the lineup since the Capitals’ January 16th game against the New York Islanders, will be a welcomed return to the Capitals’ bottom six. Scoring 19 points in 44 games this year, Dowd’s performance this season has made him a valuable depth center for Washington.

West Notes: Jets, Vaakanainen, Avalanche, Stone

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Despite dealing with multiple injuries up front, the Jets enter play today sitting in second place in the Central Division thanks to a resurgent season from Connor Hellebuyck and some improved defensive play from some of their veteran blueliners under new head coach Rick Bowness.  Accordingly, Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press wonders if instead of moving one of those veteran rearguards to make room for a youngster, they instead turn around and move one of those younger defensemen to acquire some help up front.  Ville Heinola is just now getting his feet wet this season after starting the season in the minors while Logan Stanley has been out for a month and might have a hard time getting back into the lineup when healthy.  Both players carry cap hits under $1MM which would be enticing to cap-strapped teams while Winnipeg has a little over $1.7MM in cap room at the moment per CapFriendly which would give them some extra flexibility to take on a more expensive forward in return.

More from the West:

  • Ducks defenseman Urho Vaakanainen has resumed practicing as he works his way back from an injury sustained late in the preseason, relays Lisa Dillman of the Orange County Register. He was injured at the end of September when he went crashing into the boards where he had to be stretchered off the ice.  There’s still no firm timeline for his return but the fact he’s now skating with the team suggests he should be back sooner than later.  He’d be a welcome addition to an Anaheim back end that has struggled so far this season; the 23-year-old logged more than 19 minutes a game after joining them at the trade deadline a year ago.
  • As expected, the Avalanche have recalled wingers Sampo Ranta and Anton Blidh from the minors, per the AHL’s transactions listing. Colorado has been shuffling waiver-exempt players back and forth all season long in an effort to try to bank some extra cap space, something that is harder to do with the team currently in LTIR.  Ranta and Blidh have played in three and four games respectively with the Avs so far this season.
  • Flames defenseman Michael Stone has been activated off injured reserve, reports Sportsnet 960’s Pat Steinberg (Twitter link). The veteran has missed the last ten games due to an undisclosed injury after putting up two goals and three assists in his first ten contests this season.  Calgary had an open roster spot so they didn’t need to make any corresponding move to activate Stone.

Calgary Flames Place Michael Stone On IR

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Per the Calgary Flames twitter, the team placed defenseman Michael Stone on IR today. In a corresponding move, the team has recalled defensemen Nick DeSimone and Dennis Gilbert from the Calgary Wranglers of the AHL. The team did not disclose the nature of Stone’s injury and no word is available on the length of time he could miss. Prior to the transactions, the team had only been carrying 22 of 23 possible skaters, allowing them to call up both defensemen. The team now carries 13 forwards and eight defensemen.

It’s unclear how exactly the defenseman sustained his injury, however he did play just one 25-second shift in last night’s overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils before leaving the game. The 32-year-old has been a reliable piece of the recent Calgary build, filling the role as a seventh-defenseman in recent years. In fact, he played in just 11 regular season games last season while never going on IR or otherwise leaving the roster. The veteran had been off to a surprisingly hot start in 2022-23, receiving regular minutes. Through 10 games, he had a pair of goals and three assists.

DeSimone, 27, is a longtime AHL veteran, making his pro debut with the San Jose Barracuda back in 2016-17. Prior to his pro career, DeSimone spent three seasons at Union College. DeSimone, like Stone in the NHL, was off to a hot start this season on the blueline, recording six points in eight games with the Wranglers. Should he play with the Flames, it would mark his NHL debut.

Meanwhile, Gilbert, who just turned 26, hasn’t been around as long as DeSimone, but he has spent some time in the NHL, including 25 games with the Chicago Blackhawks, most recently in 2020-21. He’s not off to quite as hot of a start as DeSimone is, having yet to record a point in eight games in the AHL, but his NHL experience should be appreciated as Calgary tries to plug holes on the blueline as they embark on an east-coast road trip.

As a result of losing two players of their own, the Wranglers have recalled two players from the Rapid City Rush of the ECHL: forward Rory Kerins and defenseman Simon Lavigne.

Calgary Flames Sign Michael Stone

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6:34 pm: CapFriendly reports the AHL salary for Stone’s two-way deal is $400K. He’s set to receive $450K guaranteed.

1:26 pm: As suggested by their placement of Nicolas Meloche on waivers today, the Calgary Flames have signed veteran defenseman Michael Stone to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will pay him $750K in the NHL.

This is Stone’s fourth consecutive one-year deal with the Flames at the league minimum, following a buyout of his previous three-year contract with the club. He will continue a relationship with the organization that started in 2017 and become the latest player to convert his PTO.

It’s not like Stone has been a regular during that time. He has played just 79 regular season games over the last four seasons combined but during last year’s playoffs he showed exactly why it is so important to have capable veterans available. In nine postseason games, as the Flames dealt with injuries on the back end, Stone registered five points including two goals.

Adding him as the extra body makes sense, especially if he is fully healthy. The 32-year-old does have more than 500 games of NHL experience and a familiarity with the coaching staff, meaning he’ll be a useful piece to put in and out of the lineup as necessary.

Michael Stone Signs PTO With Calgary Flames

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One of the longest-tenured Calgary Flames will have a chance to continue his career in southern Alberta. Today, the team announced that they’ve signed veteran defenseman Michael Stone to a professional tryout.

Stone, 32, would be entering his 10th full NHL season (11th overall) next year, the past five and a half of which have been spent in Calgary. He’s played just 180 games since joining the team in 2017 though, serving nearly exclusively as the team’s seventh defenseman from 2018 onwards. After playing all 82 games during his first full season in Calgary in 2017-18, he’s played just 14, 33, 21, and 11 games respectively in the following seasons.

He did have six points in those 11 games last season, however, largely fueled by an unsustainable 8.3% shooting clip from him. He finished the year averaging 17:27 per game, his most since 2016-17. In his career with the Flames and Arizona/Phoenix Coyotes, Stone has played 504 NHL games, scoring 35 goals, 99 assists, and 134 points.

There are worse options to have as a roster extra to play in a pinch. It’s also a role that Calgary needs to be filled, especially with Chris Tanev not available to start the season as he recovers from a shoulder injury. Their sixth and seventh defensemen are minor-league journeyman Nicolas Meloche and youngster Juuso Välimäki, who played just nine NHL games last year. If Calgary opts to turn his PTO into a contract, he’d provide insurance that prevents Calgary’s blueline depth from being stretched too thin in case of another injury.

West Notes: Oilers Defense, Yamamoto, Chechelev

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It has been speculated over the past few weeks that the Oilers are likely to bring a right-shot defenseman on a tryout basis for training camp.  It appears they have a couple of targets in mind as Postmedia’s Jim Matheson pegs veterans Michael Stone and Jason Demers as the likeliest candidates to sign one of those deals with Edmonton.  Stone is no stranger to the PTO route having been on one with Calgary last year before ultimately signing a two-way deal where he got into 21 games with the Flames and four more with AHL Stockton.  Demers hasn’t been in that situation before but after a tough year with Arizona that saw him dropped to a third pairing and reserve role, he may have to settle for a tryout at this stage of free agency.

More from Western Canada:

  • In an interview with 630CHED (audio link), Oilers GM Ken Holland provided a small update on negotiations for RFA winger Kailer Yamamoto. He indicated that both sides took a break from discussions for most of August but recently resumed discussions with more scheduled for early next week.  With Edmonton’s cap space being limited, a short-term bridge deal is likely all they’ll be able to afford barring a trade that opens up some extra room.
  • The Flames announced that 2020 fourth-round pick Daniil Chechelev has signed a one-year AHL deal. The 20-year-old goaltender spent last season split between the VHL and MHL in Russia, suiting up in 40 games along the way.  He joins Dustin Wolf, Adam Werner, and Tyler Parsons as those that will be battling for time with AHL Stockton next season and as a result of that battle, Chechelev may find himself with ECHL Kansas City if they want to give him ample playing time.

Calgary Flames Sign Michael Stone, Place On Waivers

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Jan 19: Stone has cleared waivers and can be assigned to the taxi squad for Calgary.

Jan 18: The Calgary Flames have finalized a contract for Michael Stone, as the veteran defenseman has been placed on waivers today. Stone had been in camp with the Flames on a professional tryout, but like Brett Ritchie has now signed a one-year, two-way contract for this season. The deal will carry an NHL salary of $700K.

Stone’s tenure with the Flames is an interesting one, if only because it continues. He arrived in a trade from the Arizona Coyotes in 2017, a year removed from his outstanding, career-season of 36 points in 2015-16. That offense never materialized in Calgary, but the team still decided to sign him to a three-year, $10.5MM contract in June of 2017. While he played the entire 2017-18 season, injuries and inconsistencies plagued him thereafter, resulting in a 2019 buyout of the final year of his contract.

Just a month later though, Stone would be back with Calgary on a one-year deal worth the league minimum of $700K. Once again he struggled to find much consistency, scoring seven points in 33 games last season. Now, after a PTO, he’s back on another one-year deal with the team that bought him out less than two years ago. Should he clear waivers, he will likely be assigned to the taxi squad as additional depth.

The 30-year-old has played in nearly 500 games at the NHL level, quite the luxury to have sitting around in case of injury.

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