Pacific Notes: Flames, Raanta, Persson

On the surface, Matthew Tkachuk’s $7MM AAV on his bridge deal with the Flames appears to put Calgary in a situation where they will need to clear out some salary.  However, GM Brad Treliving told Sportsnet’s Eric Francis that the contract should allow the team to avoid having to do what he calls a “distressed transaction”, a move that would have forced a player out for salary cap reasons or made Calgary add an incentive to move a player.  CapFriendly currently projects them at being more than $650K over the cap at the moment.  LTIR for Juuso Valimaki (torn ACL) would get them back into compliance while carrying less than the maximum 23 players would also free up some space although it wouldn’t leave much wiggle room for in-season movement or injury replacements.  It’s doable but it’s safe to say that the Flames will be tight to the Upper Limit all season long.

Elsewhere in the Pacific:

• Coyotes goaltender Antti Raanta is dealing with a lower-body injury, the team revealed (Twitter link). The netminder has dealt with several injuries over his tenure with Arizona so this has to be a little concerning, even if the problem is believed to be a minor one given his day-to-day designation.  In the meantime, they announced that they’ve recalled rookie goalie Ivan Prosvetov from AHL Tucson to serve as a third goalie in camp behind Darcy Kuemper and Adin Hill.
• Oilers defenseman Joel Persson will miss the next week to ten days with a shoulder injury, notes Postmedia’s Jim Matheson. The 25-year-old is coming off his second straight strong season with Vaxjo of the SHL and was considered to be a contender to break camp with the team.  Instead, the injury will open up a spot for someone like Ethan Bear or William Lagesson to break camp with Edmonton.