Report: Flames Settle With Colborne

Because nobody ever really wants to go forward with an arbitration hearing and publicly bury one of their players, the Calgary Flames have reportedly come to terms with center Joe Colborne on a new deal.

The deal sounds about right. I mean, if I’m Colborne’s agent, I go into the hearing and say “Hey, you’re paying Brandon Bollig $1.25 million.” And that’s probably my entire argument.

Colborne played 80 games for the Flames last season after being acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a fourth round pick rather than the Leafs risking losing him on waivers for nothing. Splitting time between being a depth center and a top-nine right-wing, Colborne put up 28 points – double Brandon Bollig’s 2013-14 total – and was actually pretty great as a shootout specialist because of his freakish reach.

The Calgary Sun’s Wes Gilbertson recently got an update on Colborne, who mentioned he’s up to 220 pounds via some muscle gain, which should help him in those corner battles.

We’re awaiting official confirmation from the club on the deal, as everyone else is.