Flames Sign Devin Setoguchi

In a bit of an odd-ball late August move – odd in that nobody of note usually gets picked up in August – the Calgary Flames announced that winger Devin Setoguchi has signed with the club.

A native of Taber, Alberta born on New Year’s Day in 1987, Setoguchi was picked 8th overall in 2005 by the San Jose Sharks. He’s been a consistent 30-40 point scorer in the NHL (with 20 goals and 20 assists) aside from his second year in the league, where he scored 30 goals and 65 points. That was clearly an aberration, but he’s got good speed and a decent nose for the net and doesn’t take a lot of dumb penalties. And he’s not tiny, either, listed as 6′, 200 pounds. He had 27 points in 75 games last season with the Winnipeg Jets.

And at $750,000, he’s either a good complementary piece….or if he’s awful, he’s a player the Flames can bury in Adirondack without his deal counting against the cap while a younger player takes his spot. In essence, Setoguchi inherits the “local boy in top 9” spot vacated by T.J. Galiardi when he left town to go to Winnipeg (where Setoguchi came from). Weird.

We’ll have a Reasonable Expectations piece for Mr. Setoguchi up later this week.