Welcome to free agency season
By Ryan Pike
5 years agoLadies and gentlemen, happy July 1! Not only do we commemorate Jarome Iginla’s 41st birthday and the passing of the British North America Act today, but the National Hockey League’s unrestricted free agents can sign new contracts as of 10 a.m. MT.
The introduction of the free agent “courting period” has changed things quite a bit, to the point where there are several contracts that are all but signed league-wide. What this boils down to is a lot of things will be announced in the period immediately following 10 a.m.
What’s already happened
News broke from the usual sources yesterday on three new contracts for 2018-19:
- Dalton Prout re-signing for one year on a one-way deal worth $800,000
- Derek Ryan signing for three years with a $3.125 million AAV
- Austin Czarnik signing for two years with a $1.25 million AAV
None of these deals have been officially announced by the team – Ryan and Czarnik can’t be filed with the league office until 10 a.m. – but all indications we’ve been given are that they’re signed, just not sealed or delivered yet.
Players under control
The Calgary Flames currently have 32 players under active NHL contracts for 2018-19 – which includes Juuso Valimaki’s deal, which could slide – and nine restricted free agents. Presuming all the RFAs re-sign, that leaves them with nine available spots under their 50-contract limit.
Goaltenders
- Signed [4]: Mike Smith, Tyler Parsons, Mason McDonald, Nick Schneider
- RFAs [2]: David Rittich, Jon Gillies
Defensemen
- Signed [10]: Mark Giordano, TJ Brodie, Travis Hamonic, Michael Stone, Dalton Prout, Juuso Valimaki, Josh Healey, Rasmus Andersson, Oliver Kylington, Marcus Hogstrom
- RFAs [2]: Noah Hanifin, Brett Kulak
Forwards
- Signed [18]: Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Mikael Backlund, Troy Brouwer, Michael Frolik, Sam Bennett, Curtis Lazar, Matthew Tkachuk, Austin Czarnik, Derek Ryan, Spencer Foo, Dillon Dube, Glenn Gawdin, Matthew Phillips, Yasin Ehliz, Brett Pollock, Ryan Lomberg, Andrew Mangiapane
- RFA [5]: Elias Lindholm, Garnet Hathaway, Mark Jankowski, Hunter Shinkaruk, Morgan Klimchuk
Counting only the players who are locks to be on the NHL roster, the Flames have $20.1 million in available cap space but still need to re-sign Lindholm, Jankowski, Hathaway, Hanifin, Kulak and one of their RFA goalies.
Signing rumours and chatter
There’s a lot going on, so we’ll break it down position by position.
The goaltending jobs are sewn up, pending a trade. There are six pro jobs for six pro goalies, most likely with Rittich and Gillies duking it out in September for the backup job.
With 12 defensemen under team control and seven NHL jobs – plus Stockton positions – the Flames likely continue to sniff around for depth or help for the farm team. They had 13 players under active contracts on the blueline last season, if that’s any indication. Word is talks continue on Hanifin’s extension, but nothing seems imminent.
The Flames’ interest in both Ryan and Czarnik was fairly well-documented – especially Ryan – and their signings broke late last night. Try to look surprised when the press releases come out at 10 a.m.
In terms of other possibilities: the Flames are said to be one of several teams with interest in Tobias Rieder, and players like Michael Grabner, David Perron or James Neal could be fits but they’d be difficult to get under the cap or fit into the scheme of their lineup given who they’ve already added. (In other words: they could sign them, but where would they play?)
The Flames are also still working on a new contract for Lindholm but, as with Hanifin, nothing seems imminent. In addition to Lindholm, the Flames presumably will try to get Jankowski sewn up quickly so they can turn attention to Tkachuk’s extension – his deal expires at the end of this season, so he can sign an extension at any time.
In our experience, either Brad Treliving gets all his re-signing work done quickly and early – within the first week of July – or things will drag on into late August or early September. There’s never been a middle ground with him.
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