Calgary Flames: Two Big RFAs Down, One More To Go
By Ramina Shlah
In the last day, the Calgary Flames have gotten the contracts of two RFAs out of the way. Now they just need to focus on one more big name.
Brad Treliving continues to be a busy man with the signing of two RFAs in less than a 24-hour span. Late afternoon yesterday, the Calgary Flames inked up Micheal Ferland to a two-year contract with an AAV of $1.75 million. A little bit lower in the range we had thought, but still a great deal for the Flames! And they settled it before it reached the arbitration date.
Actually, that number was right at the base of what one of our writers here, Tomas, estimated that it would be! He said it would be between $1.75 million and $2.25 million. Good job Tomas.
Then just now, the Flames signed Curtis Lazar to a two-year contract with an AAV of $950,000 salary. Lazar was traded to the Flames from the Ottawa Senators on a trade-deadline day trade. He hasn’t quite had the NHL career he had hoped for, having just 36 points in 176 games. This past season with the Sens, he had just one assist in 33 games.
Related Story: Flames Acquire Curtis Lazar and Another Mike From Senators
Coming to the Flames though, he had three points in four games. Trying to give him the benefit of the doubt here because he seems like he still has tons of potential.
And now with those two RFAs out of the way, the Flames just have one more name to focus on (I mean, there are some of those guys that still need to be signed on two-way contracts, but like I said, let’s focus on the bigger names).
Sam Bennett. Like Lazar, Bennett also hasn’t quite had the NHL career he’s been hoping for. Especially since he was the highest ever draft pick in Flames history. Bennett has just 63 points in 159 games. So slightly better than Lazar, but not exactly fourth overall pick quality.
Yesterday, I estimated how much Bennett will most likely be signed for depending on how much other players similar to him have gotten. That can be found here. But the number was between $2.75 million and $3.5 million. Initially, I thought it could be closer to the $3.3 million mark, but now it seems like it might be closer to the $3 million mark. With Ferland and Lazar both being signed within the last 24 hours, I’d imagine Bennett will be inked up very soon as well.
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Right now, the Calgary Flames have a little over $7 million to re-sign Bennett, five two-way contract players, and potentially another UFA. This means that the Flames could afford a player like Jaromir Jagr or Jarome Iginla! Make it happen, Treliving.