Free agency eve rumour round-up

Friends, tomorrow is July 1 and the official kickoff of the 2018-19 hockey season. (It’s also Jarome Iginla’s birthday, so please remember to get him a card.) Players can sign with new clubs beginning at 10 a.m. MT. In the run-up to that, players are chatting with their agents and teams are making last-ditch efforts to convince everyone to sign with them.

As a result, the rumour mill is running rampant right now. Here’s a quick rundown of how those rumours impact the Calgary Flames.

Derek Ryan: All signs are pointing to Ryan signing with the Flames tomorrow morning. However, The Athletic‘s James Mirtle is reporting that the Toronto Maple Leafs also have interest… as a Plan B in case John Tavares doesn’t sign there. Mirtle reports that the Leafs’ bid for Ryan would push his cap hit into the $3 million range. [Source; paywalled]

Patrick Maroon: Remember beloved Edmonton Oilers secondary player Patrick Maroon? He played with Connor McDavid, I’m told. Anyway, he’s a free agent and played for a good chunk of last season in New Jersey… and was featured on Geoff Ward’s power play. He’s available, and The Athletic‘s Pierre Lebrun suggested on Twitter that there may be a fit in Calgary. [Source] He’s primarily played the left side, so perhaps he could slot into a second line that would feature Mikael Backlund at center and Matthew Tkachuk on the right.

Tobias Rieder: Rieder’s camp has a lot of interest, reportedly from several western Canadian clubs (including the Flames). [Source] As many players are right now, he’s sorting through his options.

Austin Czarnik: Postmedia‘s Wes Gilbertson included Czarnik on his list of five forwards the Flames could consider. [Source] It’s a pretty smart inclusion, as the winger is young and doesn’t have a big NHL resume so his cap hit wouldn’t be too large – and if he was lousy in the NHL, he would easily fit into Stockton’s roster. The Athletic‘s Craig Custance tweeted that Czarnik was expected to sign a two-year deal with a team in the West. [Source]

Ryan Reaves: Reaves visited Calgary and chatted with Flames management, but Sportsnet‘s Elliotte Friedman tweeted that he was likely going to stay with Vegas. [Source]

Buyouts: The chance to waive players in order to buy them out is over. So welcome back to the Flames, Troy Brouwer. He will not be bought out this season.

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