Flames to sign NCAA free agent Spencer Foo

The Calgary Flames have given up a lot of draft picks in trades as of late. Travis Hamonic, Mike Smith, Curtis Lazar, Michael Stone – all were acquired at the expense of draft lottery tickets.

Draft picks tend to be important because, well, a lot of teams build through the draft. The Flames are no exception to that – look no further than Mikael Backlund, T.J. Brodie, Sean Monahan. Johnny Gaudreau, Sam Bennett, and Matthew Tkachuk, for example – to create a team they hope to turn into a contender.

And while it’s true the Flames have built up their prospect pool as of late, it never hurts to have more. So how does one add to their pool when they’re fast running out of draft picks? By picking up young, undrafted free agents, of course.

Like Spencer Foo, the latest addition to the Flames.

The Flames were reportedly one of four teams in the running for Foo, and it appears they’ve won. He can be officially signed on July 1.

Foo is coming off of an explosive 62-point season over 38 games for Union College. He scored 25 points his previous two years, but the 23-year-old appears to have turned a corner in his junior year. By signing with the Flames, he will forego his senior year, and likely play for the Stockton Heat.

That said, Foo is a right-shooting right winger, and if he’s able to even further build off of his impressive final college season, it’s entirely possible he could force the Flames’ hands into finding room for him on the NHL roster sooner rather than later. After all, a reason he picked the Flames is probably because he sees an opportunity for him that other teams can’t provide, and it is true the Flames are rather shallow on the right wing.

The last time the Flames saw Foo was at their 2016 development camp, and it appears the next time they’ll officially see him will be at the 2017 edition – this time with a contract in hand. Where he goes from here remains to be seen, but it never hurts to add more talent, so this is a win for Calgary.