The Calgary Flames have added another player to their training camp roster on a professional try-out. Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and subsequently confirmed by the Flames, the club has invited forward Sonny Milano to camp on a PTO.
#Flames Roster Update: Forward Sonny Milano has been signed to a PTO.
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) September 19, 2022
Milano, 26, wasn’t qualified by Anaheim as a restricted free agent, likely due to concerns about what he’d land in salary arbitration. He’s a left shot winger who’s played a good amount of hockey as a pro, with 14 goals and 34 points in 60 games with the Ducks last season.
In his NHL career with Anaheim and Columbus, Milano has 36 goals and 81 points, with last season representing a big step forward for him offensively – and one that probably priced him out of Anaheim. But to this point he hasn’t landed anywhere else, perhaps due to his membership in the NHL’s murky middle class and how his development has progressed.
Per Evolving Hockey’s Goals Above Replacement model, Milano was a replacement level (or slightly above) player for a few seasons before his breakout last season, when he was worth 7.3 goals above replacement. The spike in his performance probably gave a few pro scouts pause, in that until a player is able to deliver a performance for multiple seasons, often teams are a little bit skeptical in terms of whether that’s a player’s actual level or just a one-off.
Nevertheless, Milano’s showed a good amount of promise and the Flames are undoubtedly familiar with him due to his time with the Ducks. He played with Noah Hanifin at the Under-18 Worlds in in 2014 and the World Juniors in 2015, and Blake Coleman at the World Championship in 2018, all with the United States.
The Flames report for main training camp medicals on Wednesday.