Four Flames Re-Sign, Heat Add A Trio

The theme of Wednesday was signings, as the Calgary Flames (and Stockton Heat) announced seven signings at various levels of the organization to go along with the previously-announced signing of Oliver Kylington from earlier in the day.

The Flames announced that in addition to the previously reported signings of Bill Arnold and Bryce Van Brabant, they’ve also come to terms with Drew Shore and Kenny Agostino. All four men have accepted their qualifying offers and have been signed to one-year deals. Today was the deadline for players to accept (or reject) their qualifying offers.

The Heat announced that they have signed goalie Kent Simpson, defender Dustin Stevenson and forward Mitchell Heard to AHL contracts. They join Louick Marcotte as the first four players signed to Calgary’s newest AHL squad.

For the curious, all four guys would have gotten qualifying offers worth 105% of their Paragraph One (non-bonus) NHL salary from 2014-15, so we’re looking at deals somewhat like this (2014-15 salaries via NHL Numbers):

Shore is waiver-eligible, meaning he’s most likely headed to a job in Calgary this fall after coming over in a mid-season trade from Florida. The other three still have waiver exemptions left. Expect to see a lot of Bill Arnold at training camp, perhaps trying to rekindle some old chemistry with former NCAA linemate Johnny Gaudreau, who has become a player of note in NHL circles. Right now, Van Brabant and Agostino are depth guys on the farm, though Agostino might have some upside based on his limited NHL engagement two seasons ago.

Of the farm additions, Simpson is arguably the biggest name. An Edmonton native, he’s probably going to be either the back-up in Stockton or the starter in Adirondack of the ECHL. He played a single period in the NHL back in 2013-14 for the Blackhawks, but otherwise has bounced around minor-pro with stops in Rockford, Toledo, Bridgeport, Colorado and Stockton. The Flames and the Stockton organization have some familiarity with him, but at 23 years old it seems like he’s destined to be a Danny Taylor-esque goalie; good enough to be a good AHL veteran, but probably not much more.

Stevenson comes over from Adirondack, where he came in as a try-out guy, worked hard in main camp and AHL camp and stayed all year. He’ll be a good veteran body in the room that knows the coaching staff and the system. Heard joins the Heat from the Colorado Avalanche organization, where he’d spent time with Lake Erie and Fort Wayne, mostly as a depth guy.