Report: Arnold and Van Brabant Accept Qualifying Offers

In a bit of minor news that was reported last night by our pal Renaud Lavoie over at TVA in Quebec, the Calgary Flames have reportedly tied up a couple of restricted free agents for another season.

Bill Arnold turned 23 in May, after the completion of his first professional season. He was Calgary’s fourth round pick in 2010. The Boston College graduate rose to NCAA prominence as a solid 200-foot player, but his production exploded in 2013-14 playing alongside Johnny Gaudreau and Kevin Hayes – 53 points in 40 games. Arnold missed 11 games due to injury this season, but emerged as a pretty solid AHL center as a rookie. His best stretch in Adirondack came as center on a line between Sven Baertschi and Emile Poirier.

Bryce Van Brabant turns 24 in November. He signed with the Flames in the spring of 2014 as an undrafted college free agent out of Qunnipiac University. The native of Morinville, Alberta has size, but never really blew the doors off in Adirondack last season, putting up just 16 points. He was a pretty decent depth option down the stretch, helping fill out the club’s bottom six, but we’ll see if he emerges as something beyond that.

The signings give the Flames 39 players under contract for the 2015-16 season (including Mason McDonald’s deal, which will slide a year). They have eight restricted free agents remaining: Drew Shore, Josh Jooris, Kenny Agostino, David Wolf, Micheal Ferland, Lance Bouma, Paul Byron, and Turner Elson.