The Calgary Flames have dipped into the college free agent market. On Monday morning, the club announced that they’ve signed goaltender Owen Say to a one year entry-level contract worth $872,500 at the NHL level. The contract kicks in next season.

The 23-year-old netminder just completed his junior year in the NCAA with the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish, going 10-15-0 with a 2.82 goals against average and .920 save percentage in 27 appearances. He spent his first two seasons in college with Mercyhurst University, where he posted a combined 12-23-4 record while posting a .903 save percentage as a freshman and .913 as a sophomore.  Prior to heading to college, Say played two seasons in the BCHL with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks and went 23-10-6 over 38 games in his second season there and was named the circuit’s top goaltender.

Say is listed at 6’2″ and 185 pounds, and he’s originally from London, Ontario. Before heading to the BCHL, he played most of his hockey within his home province.

You could fill an arena with what we don’t know about goaltending. But Say’s performances thus far have shown some promise: he progressed quite nicely over two seasons in the BCHL, then did the same thing in college, with his numbers improving markedly as he moved from the Atlantic Hockey conference to the more competitive Big 10 conference. His play during the recent Big 10 tournament and down the stretch for Notre Dame drew him praise from people that know things about goaltending, and considering this deal is for just a single season, it’s a pretty low-risk, high-reward gamble on a promising young goalie.

Say is 23 currently but turns 24 in June, so for the purposes of the CBA he’s signing as a 24-year-old, so he’s limited to a one-year deal. He’s the third goaltender the Flames have under contract for 2025-26, along with Dustin Wolf and Devin Cooley. (AHLers Waltteri Ignatjew and Connor Murphy are eligible to become restricted free agents at the conclusion of this season.)

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