According to Darren Dreger, the Flames are close to re-signing Kris Versteeg to a one-year, $1.75M contract. If true, his new salary would represent a modest raise over his “prove it” contract of just $950k from last year.

Assuming this gets done [update: it is done], it represents a tremendous value for Calgary. For less than $2M, the team gets to keep one of its most effective even strength scorers from last year, with the added bonus of not having to commit long term. Versteeg’s underlying numbers took a big dip in Flames colours, but it’s safe to assume that was mostly due to the Brouwer effect. Versteeg spent a lot of time with the big right winger which likely tanked his possession rate. Away from him, Versteeg’s outshooting jumped back up above 50%.

More good news: this contract’s low dollar amount gives the Flames the flexibility to go after another scoring winger or a quality depth defender.

Of course, nothing is certain until the deal is confirmed, but if Dreger is in the ballpark with the numbers, it’s a big a win for Brad Treliving.