The Calgary Flames signed recently bought-out defenceman Michael Stone to a one year deal worth $700K. It comes as a surprise seeing as it’s been just a little over a month since the organisation seemingly decided to part ways with the blue-liner.
Breaking down STONE’S offensive contributions
Using the TWC Player Offensive Evaluation tool, let’s see how having Stone on the roster could mean for the Flames’ offensive outputs. The tool uses 5v5 offensive data from the 2016-17 through to the 2018-19 seasons and compares a player to the rest of the league by using standard deviations.
Stone played parts of the 2016-17 season with the Arizona Coyotes before being traded to the Flames. After playing a full season in 2017-18, his 2018-19 was derailed with a blood clot. It’s certainly good news to see him in a position where he is able to play hockey again.
When evaluating his offence, it’s clear the Stone wasn’t often relied upon for it at all. Having less than stellar numbers across the board, his possession is sub-par, as does his individual production. However, it would be reasonable to expect heavily limited ice-time for the Stone, so his actual on-ice impacts would be diminished.
He’ll likely slot into the Flames’ roster as the seventh defenceman, but with Juuso Valimaki ‘s recovery timeline not quite figured out, having Stone in the back-end at least provides some stability for the Flames.
If you haven’t checked it out already, here is a direct link:
The Win Column’s Player Offensive Evaluation Tool.
Photo by Gerry Thomas/NHLI via Getty Images
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