Calgary Flames Sign Michael Stone, Place On Waivers

Jan 19: Stone has cleared waivers and can be assigned to the taxi squad for Calgary.

Jan 18: The Calgary Flames have finalized a contract for Michael Stone, as the veteran defenseman has been placed on waivers today. Stone had been in camp with the Flames on a professional tryout, but like Brett Ritchie has now signed a one-year, two-way contract for this season. The deal will carry an NHL salary of $700K.

Stone’s tenure with the Flames is an interesting one, if only because it continues. He arrived in a trade from the Arizona Coyotes in 2017, a year removed from his outstanding, career-season of 36 points in 2015-16. That offense never materialized in Calgary, but the team still decided to sign him to a three-year, $10.5MM contract in June of 2017. While he played the entire 2017-18 season, injuries and inconsistencies plagued him thereafter, resulting in a 2019 buyout of the final year of his contract.

Just a month later though, Stone would be back with Calgary on a one-year deal worth the league minimum of $700K. Once again he struggled to find much consistency, scoring seven points in 33 games last season. Now, after a PTO, he’s back on another one-year deal with the team that bought him out less than two years ago. Should he clear waivers, he will likely be assigned to the taxi squad as additional depth.

The 30-year-old has played in nearly 500 games at the NHL level, quite the luxury to have sitting around in case of injury.