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Juuso Valimaki Unlikely To Re-Join Flames This Year

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While there is an ever-growing list of players previously deemed to be out for the season that are now appearing likely to be available to their respective teams at some point in the upcoming expanded postseason, don’t expect young Calgary Flames defenseman Juuso Valimaki to join the trend. Sportsnet’s Eric Francis reports that Valimaki, who has missed the whole 2019-20 season, is not likely to re-join the Flames in their qualifying round match-up with the Winnipeg Jets or at any point in the playoffs should they advance. The risk, both to the player and team, outweigh the potential gains in this situation and Francis does not believe that Calgary will take the chance.

Health continues to be the major issue at hand when it comes to Valimaki. The 21-year-old defenseman suffered a torn ACL in his right knee during off-season training last summer. He underwent surgery in late August. By all accounts, including that of Flames GM Brad Treliving, recovery and rehab from ACL reconstruction is ten months to a year. While Valimaki has been participating in voluntary skates with his teammates in Calgary, he has yet to be medically cleared by the team’s medical staff. If he is on pace for the latter end of that expected timeline, Valimaki would not be prepared for game action by the time the knockout round is set to begin and would have to prove he is up to the physical requirements of playoff hockey should the Flames advance.

However, the non-medical reason behind not playing Valimaki may be even more compelling. As Francis details, Calgary has more long-term, team building considerations to take into account in the form of the impending 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. Assuming the Flames protect seven forwards and three defensemen in the draft, they would eliminate a very difficult decision if Valimaki does not play a game this season. The young blue liner used up his first season of pro competition as a rookie in 2018-19, but will not be credited with a year of service if he does not play this year. This would make him ineligible for draft exposure, as only those with more than two years of pro service may be selected. However, should Valimaki play even one game this year, he would require protection in next summer’s draft or otherwise would be picked off by Seattle. Francise believes that Flames defenders Noah Hanifin and Rasmus Andersson are locks for protection and that Valimaki would be as well if eligible, leaving veteran captain and top defender Mark Giordano exposed and a very likely candidate to be selected.

Playing Valimaki this season is not worth that risk. The young defenseman is very talented but has not played competitive hockey in over a year and it is hard to imagine that his surgically reconstructed knee or even his conditioning would be ready for an immediate jump into postseason play. On top of that, the Flames have Giordano, Hanifin, Andersson, T.J. Brodie, Travis Hamonic, Oliver Kylington and Michael Stone to lean on, making Valimaki an expendable piece of this year’s playoff run, especially if it helps to maintain the roster for future title chances.

Calgary Flames Sign Michael Stone

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In a downright shocking move, the Calgary Flames have announced one-year contract for Michael Stone. Stone of course saw the final year of his previous contract with the Flames bought out in August, meaning he’ll not only earn the $700K on this new deal but an additional $1.17MM for each of the next two seasons from the buyout. Stone had been set to earn $3.5MM on his previous deal, meaning the Flames are actually saving more than $1.6MM in cap space this season—room they desperately need to re-sign Matthew Tkachuk.

This move screams of cap circumvention, but actually may have an innocent enough explanation. When Stone was bought out, he was an expensive luxury as a depth option given the team was expecting both Rasmus Andersson and Juuso Valimaki to step into increased roles this season. Less than two weeks later, Valimaki tore his ACL during offseason training and was ruled out for a huge chunk of the season (if not the entire thing). Stone’s buyout then may have looked like a mistake given the team’s immediate need for another defenseman with NHL experience.

As it turns out, the Flames will still receive part of the benefit from the buyout and Stone will have another chance to prove he can stay healthy enough to contribute in the NHL. The 29-year old played just 14 games with the Flames last season thanks to various ailments (including a blood clot) and struggled even before that. After contributing at a high level for the Arizona Coyotes in 2015-16, Stone has just 21 points in 115 games for the Flames.

While the optics of this move may seem less than above board, it’s important to note that the Flames are giving up $700K of the cap room (and actual salary savings) they created by moving Stone off the books in the first place. It is also important to understand that Stone had to agree to the salary on the new contract and could have taken his services anywhere else.

To clear up any confusion, there is nothing in the CBA to prevent a move like this directly. Only compliance buyouts included a provision that made a player unable to re-sign with his team for one year. This could however be investigated by the league for cap circumvention if they believe it was intentional, as they did in the case of Brooks Orpik last summer. 

Poll: Which UFA Is The Most Attractive PTO Candidate?

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It’s now September and, other than a handful of cases, unrestricted free agents who are still unsigned are likely going to have to earn an NHL contract in training camp. While the major storyline around the league remains unsigned RFA’s, there is still plenty of talent available on the open market. Some players are simply sitting on offers though, waiting to make a decision. For example, decorated veterans like  Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Niklas Kronwall and perhaps even Dion Phaneuf and Thomas Vanek are not playing on PTO’s. Neither are players rumored to have considerable interest, such as Jake Gardiner and Ben Hutton. That still leaves a lot of ability still searching for NHL employment though.

The best part of a PTO is that it mitigates risk. A player on a tryout is not (yet) taking up a roster spot or salary cap space and their injury history doesn’t matter as much, without any commitment beyond training camp. The tryout process simply allows players to show what they can bring to a team during practices and preseason games on the off chance that their performance in fact warrants a contract. Some teams may lean toward inviting a veteran, both to provide some leadership during camp but also to see what he has left in the tank. Others will invite a younger, prime-age player coming off of a down season, doing their due diligence on whether he might be worth a second chance. There’s also the frequent case of some teams simply checking available players against internal options when it comes to establishing depth for the season. With that in mind, which player would you most like your favorite team to take a look at on a PTO?

Veteran Forwards: Brian Boyle, Troy Brouwer, Drew Stafford, Jamie McGinn, Micheal Haley

Prime Forwards: Riley Sheahan, Magnus Paajarvi, Tobias Rieder, Devante Smith-Pelly, Rourke Chartier

Veteran Defensemen: Dan Girardi, Adam McQuaid, David Schlemko, Eric Gryba

Prime Defensemen: Michael Stone, Joe Morrow, Fredrik Claesson

Goaltenders: Scott Darling, Chad Johnson

Of these players, which one is most worthy of a risk-free look in camp in hopes of finding a surprise contributor for the 2019-20 season?

Mobile users, click here to vote.

Calgary Flames To Buy Out Michael Stone

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Friday: Stone has cleared waivers and was officially bought out by the Flames. He is now an unrestricted free agent.

Thursday: The Calgary Flames received a second buyout window after dealing with their arbitration cases and will use it to buy out Michael Stone. The veteran defenseman has been placed on unconditional waivers according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, which will be followed by a buyout tomorrow. Stone has one year remaining on his contract and carries a $3.5MM cap hit. The move will result in the following cap hits being applied to the Flames:

  • 2019-20: $1,166,667
  • 2020-21: $1,166,667

Stone signed a three-year $10.5MM contract with the Flames in the summer of 2017 after being acquired earlier that year from the Arizona Coyotes. The 6’3″ defenseman at that point was just a year removed from a solid 36-point campaign and looked like he could be a big part of the Flames’ blueline. Unfortunately that first full year in Calgary didn’t go according to plan and Stone was routinely limited to third-pairing duty, playing fewer than 16 minutes 40 of his 82 games. He registered just ten points on an extremely disappointing team that failed to even make the playoffs.

His second year with the team didn’t go much better, this time marred by injury and a blood clotting issue that kept him out for some time. Stone ended up playing just 14 games for the Flames all season. With the emergence of Juuso Valimaki and Rasmus Andersson as legitimate NHL options, there wasn’t a lot of room left for Stone to try and rehab his value. He’ll have to do that elsewhere.

For Calgary, a move like this was absolutely necessary in order to re-sign Matthew Tkachuk. The team currently projects to have just $4.67MM in cap space prior to a Stone buyout, leaving them little wiggle room to get the young star under contract. If they’re planning on signing Tkachuk to a long-term deal it will likely take up a huge amount of cap space and make him their highest-paid player, something that wasn’t possible without a trade or buyout of some sort.

Stone though shouldn’t have to wait around long to find work if he is truly healthy and ready for the season. The right-handed defenseman is still just 29 years old and could represent a bargain pickup if he can reclaim any of his past success. That’s obviously not guaranteed, but for cap-strapped teams looking for a defensive upgrade he may be an option.

Calgary Flames Sign Defenseman Alexander Yelesin

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Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, especially when it comes to the Flames. After weeks of speculation, Calgary has officially announced that they have signed Russian defenseman Alexander Yelesin to an entry-level contract. It is a two-year, maximum ELC for the 23-year-old blue liner, who is expected to compete for a starting job immediately next season in Calgary.

Back in April, following the Flames’ unexpectedly early exit from the postseason, head coach Bill Peters spoke vaguely about several expected import players that he believed could be factors for the team in 2019-20. NHL insiders quickly identified goaltender Artyom Zagidulin and Yelesin as two of those players. While Zagidulin had already signed, Yelesin had yet to put pen to paper on a contract, fueling the anticipation of this pact. The two sides finally got that deal done today, with Yelesin being cut from Team Russia at the IIHF World Championships likely playing a role.

In Yelesin, the Flames are adding a KHL All-Star from this past season, considered one of the most reliable defensemen in the league. Yelesin is not a flashy player by any means – his offense is modest and his size is average – but he is nothing if not consistent. The 5’11”, 195-lb. defenseman was a force on the back end on a regular basis for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl this season, playing strong, safe defense and leading all defensemen in games played, while also contributing ten points. Yelesin, who is also a valued right-shot defender, hopes that he can bring that same reliable defensive game to Calgary. If there’s a knock on Yelesin though, it is that he can get into penalty trouble, which he will have to work on as he transitions to the faster, stronger NHL.

With Yelesin in the fold now, Calgary has incredible depth on the blue line already – and the off-season hasn’t even begun. If anything, expect the Flames to potentially shed a defenseman this summer rather than add. Without any further moves, Yelesin would have to compete for a roster spot with veteran Michael Stone and fellow European youngsters Rasmus Andersson, Oliver Kylington, and Juuso Valimaki just to get play time on the bottom-pair behind a top-four of Mark Giordano, T.J. Brodie, Travis Hamonic, and Noah Hanifin. That’s likely more competition than the Flames would like to enter camp with, although too much depth never hurt anyone.

Big Money Sits As Playoffs Begin

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The NHL playoffs kick off tonight with five games including three Western Conference battles. The top 16 teams in the league have spent months preparing for this moment, fine tuning their roster and lineup card to make sure they have the very best group available to them. With that in mind, this postseason is about to kick off with an incredible amount of salary sitting in the press box. Many of the teams about to take the ice have decided to do so without some big earners, instead using breakout performers that have overtaken their veteran counterparts. Let’s take a look at the expensive names (above $2MM cap hits) on the sideline:

Tampa Bay Lightning:

Ryan Callahan -$5.8MM cap hit
Braydon Coburn – $3.7MM cap hit

Who says it’s easy to coach the best team in the league? Jon Cooper has made some tough decisions for his opening lineup, sitting veterans in Callahan and Coburn. Both players were big parts of Tampa Bay’s 2015 Stanley Cup Final run but will now find themselves watching from the press box as the action begins. Jan Rutta and Mathieu Joseph will both be making their postseason debuts tonight against Columbus.

Columbus Blue Jackets:

Alexander Wennberg – $4.9MM cap hit

When Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel were acquired earlier this season the pressure was on for Wennberg to try and get back into the lineup, but it will be Alexandre Texier that pushes him out for the first game. Texier has made an impact on head coach John Tortorella in the first two games of his NHL career and will be jumping right into the fire against the Lightning tonight. The 19-year old forward scored a goal in his second NHL game and has shown a confidence beyond his years.

Pittsburgh Penguins:

Brian Dumoulin/Jack Johnson – $4.1MM/$3.25MM cap hit

It’s not clear if Dumoulin will be ready for tonight’s game, but if he is Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweeted that it would be Jack Johnson coming out of the lineup. The idea of sitting Johnson in the first game of the playoffs certainly wasn’t the plan when the Penguins signed him to a five-year deal last summer. To be fair, this is more a situation of having too many options for the Penguins, as they currently employ six defensemen all making at least $3.25MM. If Marcus Pettersson stays in the lineup, someone expensive is coming out.

New York Islanders:

Thomas Hickey – $2.5MM cap hit

Hickey missed a huge chunk of the season with injury and while he was gone Devon Toews made a name for himself on Long Island. The veteran defenseman will find himself on the outside looking in as the playoffs begin, but he’ll likely be the first man up if the team suffers an injury against the Penguins. At least Hickey won’t be alone in the press box, as Michael Dal Colle, Ross Johnston, Luca Sbisa and Dennis Seidenberg all worked as extras today.

St. Louis Blues:

Carl Gunnarsson – $2.9MM cap hit
Michael Del Zotto – $3.0MM cap hit

The Blues went out and added some depth to the back end at the trade deadline by acquiring Del Zotto, but won’t have him in the lineup tonight when they take on the Winnipeg Jets. He and Gunnarsson will be watching and waiting for their chance to help the team while 22-year old Vince Dunn makes his playoff debut. Dunn has turned into a top option for the Blues this season and will skate next to captain Alex Pietrangelo as they try to slow down the Jets attack.

Winnipeg Jets:

Nathan Beaulieu – $2.4MM cap hit

Just like the Blues, the Jets went out at the deadline and added a pair of depth options on the blue line to give them somewhere to turn if things go awry. Beaulieu will be a restricted free agent this summer and will have to hope for a chance to prove what he can do in the playoffs. The 17th-overall pick from 2011 has played only 17 postseason games in his career, and could potentially find himself without a qualifying offer after the season is over.

Dallas Stars:

Jason Spezza – $7.5MM cap hit
Valeri Nichushkin – $2.95MM cap hit
Jamie Oleksiak – $2.14MM cap hit

The Stars have the most money sitting on the sidelines out of any team in the playoffs, and a huge chunk of that is just Spezza. The 35-year old didn’t bounce back like many had hoped this season and scored just 27 points in 76 games. Combine that with his declining defensive game and you have a player that will have to watch and wait for his chance. At least Spezza scored at all this season, something you can’t say about Nichushkin. The return from Russia has not gone well for the 24-year old, who somehow went an entire season (57 games at least) without scoring a goal or committing a penalty.

Vegas Golden Knights:

Colin Miller – $3.875MM cap hit

Though it hasn’t been confirmed yet, David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal tweets that Miller looks to be a scratch on opening night. The 26-year old has 29 points in 65 games this season but could come out for Jon Merrill who has been used more and more over the last month by head coach Gerard Gallant.

Boston Bruins:

David Backes – $6MM cap hit

Backes hasn’t been what the Bruins were expecting when they signed him to a five-year, $30MM deal in 2016. The veteran forward’s offense has completely dried up and though he tried to reinvent himself this season as a physical force, the Bruins are going with a bit more speed and skill as they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Undrafted rookie Karson Kuhlman is expected to suit up on the right side of Jake Debrusk and David Krejci, a big step for a 23-year old forward who played just 11 games this season.

Calgary Flames: 

Michael Stone – $3.5MM cap hit

It’s a testament to just how quickly Rasmus Andersson has developed that a veteran option like Stone is on the sidelines to begin Calgary’s first-round series. The team put a lot of responsibility on Andersson this season and he has responded extremely well, putting him in line to be a top option for the team down the road. Stone meanwhile is just experiencing another setback in what has been a dreadful season, marred by a blood clot in his arm early in the year. He has played in just 14 games but will have to be ready to go if someone suffers an injury.

Pacific Notes: Karlsson, Canucks, Woo, Stone

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The San Jose Sharks got some promising news as star defenseman Erik Karlsson, who has missed most of the second half of the season with a groin injury, skated for 30 minutes this morning at the team’s morning skate for the first time since he re-injured his groin on Feb. 16, according to Paul Gackle of the Mercury News. Regardless, Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said that Karlsson still is not close to returning.

“Good sign. Out there, no setbacks. No pain,” DeBoer said. “First step, obviously. We’re not close yet.”

Karlsson skated figure eights around the faceoff circles, practiced hard stops, and sprinted down the ice at full speed several times. Karlsson missed nine games after initially getting injured on Jan. 16. He returned for four games in February, but re-injured it on Feb. 23.

  • In a mailbag series, The Athletic’s J.D. Burke (subscription required) writes that he wouldn’t be surprised if the Vancouver Canucks look to be active in the free-agent defense market, suggesting the Canucks could opt to make a big offer this season on Winnipeg Jets’ free agent Tyler Myers. With the Jets expected to have even more cap problems than usual with several big restricted free agents to take care of this summer, including Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor and Jacob Trouba, the team might have to allow Myers to leave to free up some cap room. The 29-year-old Myers would be a big addition if Vancouver wants to make a big offer to the 6-foot-8, 229-pound blueliner.
  • Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal writes that the Vancouver Canucks and the representation for prospect Jett Woo have had positive talks about bringing the physical blueliner on board soon. The team’s 2018 second-round pick has had a breakout season with the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors with 12 goals, 62 points and 63 penalty minutes in 61 games this season.
  • The Calgary Flames are adding some much needed depth to their blueline as defenseman Michael Stone is expected to play tonight in his first game in 125 days, according to Ryan Dittrick of NHL.com. Stone hasn’t played since Nov. 11 since he was diagnosed with a blood clot and placed on blood thinners. Regardless, Stone expects an easier transition back to the ice since he was able to get back on the ice four days after starting blood thinners and has been able to stay in good cardio shape the whole time. Stone has played 11 games this year and has four assists. He just returned from the Stockton Heat of the AHL, where he got three games of conditioning in.

Calgary Flames To Carry Ten Defensemen

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There is a logjam on the blue line in Calgary, but the team is content to keep it that way. Sportsnet’s Eric Francis recently spoke to Flames GM Brad Treliving who stated that the team won’t be changing it’s current configuration on defense. With the recent recall of veteran Michael Stone from a conditioning stint in the AHL, Calgary currently has nine defenseman on the NHL roster. Treliving doubled down on his commitment to competition on the back end by adding that Juuso Valimaki, currently logging major minutes in the minors, will soon be recalled as well. At that point, the Flames will have ten defensemen and plan to carry that group through the remainder of the season.

With ten defensemen seeking play time, one would think multiple jobs are up for grabs. In fact, Francis writes that only one spot is really available if the Flames are at full health. The grouping of Mark Giordano, T.J. Brodie, Travis Hamonic, and Noah Hanifin are all cemented in their top-four roles and the team has no complaints with young Rasmus Andersson on the bottom pair. That leaves five rearguards to battle for the one left-side spot beside Andersson on a nightly basis, while the other four watch from the press box.

The favorite to see the most ice time the rest of the way is trade deadline addition Oscar Fantenberg. Francis notes that head coach Bill Peters prefers to have a balanced blue line between righties and lefties (even though Brodie is a natural left-handed shot who plays to Giordano’s right) and Fanteberg has fit in nicely in his natural position next to Andersson. The former L.A. King was considered more of a depth addition when he was acquired, but has settled into a starting role in the recent weeks. Of course, Stone will also get plenty of consideration as the top veteran option next to the inexperienced Andersson. However, he has also been sidelined since November and may take some time to get back up to speed. Stone is also a right-shot, which isn’t preferred. Oliver Kylington is a left-shot and has played more games for the Flames this season than any of his competitors. At the same time, the 21-year-old has averaged the least ice time per game of the group and may not have the full trust of the coaching staff just yet. Kylington has shown flashes, but is still susceptible to defensive mistakes. The same can be said for Valimaki, who is just 20, but the recent first-rounder has looked strong in recent weeks with the Stockton Heat and logged 22 games with Calgary earlier this season. Finally, there’s stay-at-home defenseman Dalton Prout, who has been used primarily as an extra man over the past few years, but can be a dependable presence in his own zone and a physical threat, albeit with limited offensive ability.

Treliving tells Franics that he feels the numbers on the blue line are not a detriment to the team, but an opportunity for competition to make everyone better. Without a clear No. 6, the Flames will certainly have some competition down the stretch and it may very well result in a motivated winner. However, there is some risk that too much shuffling will leave Calgary without an obvious pick to man the bottom pair in the postseason. With little room for error in the playoffs, a cold defenseman or a choice without the requisite chemistry with Andersson could prove to be a problem. Depth for the purpose of safeguarding injuries is always an asset, but the Flames would be best-served to find a winner of this battle sooner rather than later and turn ten defensemen into six starters and four backups well prior to the postseason.

Michael Stone Recalled From Conditioning Stint

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The Calgary Flames are about to add some more depth to an already excellent defense corps, as Michael Stone has been recalled from his minor league conditioning stint. Stone spent three games with the Stockton Heat recording two points, and will now try to get his season back on track after a long absence.

With Stone back, the Flames now have nine defensemen with the NHL club that they can mix and match to give them the best lineup down the stretch. The 28-year old Stone played in all 82 games for the team last season, but has been limited to just 11 contests this year and has suited up for just one NHL game since October 25th. That kind of layoff won’t allow him to jump right back into a huge role, but his presence does give the team some additional options.

The Flames currently sit in first place in the Pacific Division, but are still battling with the San Jose Sharks who sit just a point behind (with a game in hand to boot). Securing that first spot is important if you want to avoid a first-round matchup with the Vegas Golden Knights, and the Flames will be well positioned to do so with the added depth on the back end. Calgary is back in action tomorrow night when they welcome the New Jersey Devils into town.

Michael Stone Sent To AHL On Conditioning Stint

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After the Calgary Flames were embarrassed on home ice by the Toronto Maple Leafs last night, they got a bit of good news this morning. Michael Stone, who hasn’t played for the team since November, has been assigned to the minor leagues for a conditioning stint, the last step before he returns to the NHL lineup. Stone has suited up just 11 times this season.

The Flames are still in first place in the Pacific Division and second in the entire NHL, but have now lost two games in a row by a combined score of 10-4. While obviously an excellent team, their goaltender has been questions all season including last night when David Rittich was beat by a long, slow shot from Maple Leafs forward Tyler Ennis. Though there isn’t really anything the team can do now to address their goaltending situation, they can improve the defense by bringing Stone back into the mix.

While he’s not a game-changing option for them, Stone does provide another right-handed option and brings more experience than some of the team’s young options. Today at practice the team had Dalton Prout back on the right side of T.J. Brodie, a spot that Stone could potentially take over if he proves healthy at the minor league level. At the very least he will give the team more depth for what should be a long playoff run.

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