One of the longest-tenured Calgary Flames will have a chance to continue his career in southern Alberta. Today, the team announced that they’ve signed veteran defenseman Michael Stone to a professional tryout.
Stone, 32, would be entering his 10th full NHL season (11th overall) next year, the past five and a half of which have been spent in Calgary. He’s played just 180 games since joining the team in 2017 though, serving nearly exclusively as the team’s seventh defenseman from 2018 onwards. After playing all 82 games during his first full season in Calgary in 2017-18, he’s played just 14, 33, 21, and 11 games respectively in the following seasons.
He did have six points in those 11 games last season, however, largely fueled by an unsustainable 8.3% shooting clip from him. He finished the year averaging 17:27 per game, his most since 2016-17. In his career with the Flames and Arizona/Phoenix Coyotes, Stone has played 504 NHL games, scoring 35 goals, 99 assists, and 134 points.
There are worse options to have as a roster extra to play in a pinch. It’s also a role that Calgary needs to be filled, especially with Chris Tanev not available to start the season as he recovers from a shoulder injury. Their sixth and seventh defensemen are minor-league journeyman Nicolas Meloche and youngster Juuso Välimäki, who played just nine NHL games last year. If Calgary opts to turn his PTO into a contract, he’d provide insurance that prevents Calgary’s blueline depth from being stretched too thin in case of another injury.
Another year, another Michael Stone return to Calgary.
You could do worse then him for a 7th Defenseman Treveiling with a great off season
10-11-12th of September he’s signed with the flames
I *knew* my calendar was right – Michael Stone stays in CGY! Some things really are still right with the world. He just belongs there.
Quality third pairing.
Nah. You have to give props to a veteran who keeps trying so hard to come back, but he’s had only one decent season in his career, and that was back in 2016. Other than that, he hasn’t put points on the board, and his possession and rate metrics have sucked every single year. I’d just as soon my 7th guy be some young stud on a two-way league-minimum who’s healthy, hungry and has a future.