The 2024 free agency opening day has come to a close, and it was a wild one across the NHL, with a total of 183 signings across the league. In particular, the Calgary Flames were one of the busier teams on July 1, signing three players to one-way deals and two players to two-way deals. They also signed Yegor Sharangovich to a five-year extension.
So, the Flames were busy, but how did they fare when it comes to the contracts they handed out and the players they signed? Let’s take a deeper look and assign a grade for each signing the team made.
RW/LW Anthony Mantha
$3.5 million x 1 year
The highest-profile player the Flames signed on day one was easily Anthony Mantha. This is a tremendous deal for the Flames. Both the term and average annual value are picture-perfect and exactly the type of deal a rebuilding team should be signing. There were some rumours the Flames may offer out four-to-five years and $6 million AAV to Jake Debrusk, but instead, they avoided that big-time risk with a cheap, short-term deal for a similar player in Mantha.
The former 20th overall pick back in 2013 has scored 20 goals three times in his career and is coming off a respectable 23-goal, 44-point season. He’s also regularly posted some sparkling underlying results over the years. Here are his offensive and defensive impacts courtesy of hockeyviz.com.
Past his results, Mantha also has some ties with current Flames Johnathan Huberdeau and Jakob Pelletier, as all three hail from Quebec and played in the QMJHL. Craig Conroy specifically mentioned in his post-free agency interview that the hope is Mantha can help re-ignite Huberdeau’s game.
At just a one-year term and under $4 million AAV, the Flames got incredible value on a solid veteran middle-six winger. Even if they didn’t necessarily need more wingers, there’s really no risk here. Either he’s a perfect fit with Huberdeau and helps him find his game, or the Flames decide to move on and flip him at the trade deadline for a couple draft picks. Solid work all around.
Contract grade: A
Player fit grade: B+
RW/LW Ryan Lomberg
$2 million x 2 years
At first glance, signing a forward who posted just seven points last year for $2 million AAV and multiple years looks like an instant mistake. However, when you take a step back and analyze where the Flames are currently as a team and what type of player and person Ryan Lomberg is, it starts to make more sense.
Make no mistake, Lomberg is not worth $2 million a year, not even close. He’s hit 20 points once in his career and is coming off a seven-point regular season in which he was then scratched for most of the playoffs. The bottom line is this signing is fun, and frankly, who cares about the term or the AAV at this point? The Flames are at the very start of a rebuild with no plans to contend anytime soon and have a gigantic amount of cap space available. By the time they’re on the way to playoff contention again, Lomberg will be off the books.
So why not bring back a former Flame and one who is a high-energy character guy and fan favourite wherever he goes? This signing is just as much about the on-ice impact as it is the off-ice impact for a young Flames roster. This reminds me of the Deryk Engelland signing back in 2014. Did the Flames massively overpay him during a rebuild? Yes. However, he became a veteran leader and fan favourite throughout the contract in Calgary and helped guide a young roster through a rebuild.
Bring on the Lomberghini.
Contract grade: C
Player fit grade: A
D Jake Bean
$1.75 million x 2 years
The Mantha signing was tremendous value for an impact middle-six player. The Lomberg signing is all about the vibes and bringing some fun to a rebuilding team. The Jake Bean signing, however, just doesn’t make much sense on any level. Sure, the term and AAV are both very low and palatable, of course, but it’s just hard to find a single strong reason for this signing.
First off, Bean has really struggled the past couple seasons. Now eight years removed from being a top-15 pick, he has yet to establish himself as an impact player in the NHL and posted just 13 points last season. His underlying impacts are just as ugly, as he’s not exactly strong at either end of the ice. Here are his impacts courtesy of hockeyviz.com.
There’s also the fact the Flames already have quite a crowded blueline. Rasmus Andersson, MacKenzie Weegar, Daniil Miromanov, and Kevin Bahl are already locked into the starting lineup, with Brayden Pachal and Joel Hanley also in the mix. Then you have two Calgary Wranglers in Ilya Solovyov and Jeremie Poirier, who will be pushing for NHL action this season. I’m not too sure why the Flames felt they needed yet another fringe bottom-pairing defender who may block their youngsters from getting a chance in the NHL.
Sure, he’s only 26 and could still find the form that made him a first round pick, but this signing seems more tied to his last name than his actual fit on the Flames. At least the terms of the contract are reasonable.
Contract grade: B
Player fit grade: C
G Devin Cooley
$775,000 x 2 years (two-way)
The Flames needed a veteran goaltender after dealing Jacob Markstrom, and Devin Cooley always seemed like a natural fit. The 27-year-old has played 40 games in the AHL over the past two seasons, posting a .891 save percentage. He also played six games in the NHL last season with the dreadful San Jose Sharks, putting up a .870 save percentage.
With Dustin Wolf and Dan Vladar being the only two goaltenders with NHL experience in the organization, a goaltender like Cooley was badly needed as injury insurance. There isn’t much else to dig into here. Cooley is strictly an insurance signing and won’t be playing any games for the Flames this coming season unless Wolf or Vladar go down with an injury. It is interesting, however, that his deal becomes a one-way deal for the 2025–26 season when Vladar is no longer under contract.
Contract grade: B
Player fit grade: B
LW/RW Martin Frk
$775,000 x 1 year (two-way)
Like Cooley, this signing is nothing more than injury insurance. That said, Martin Frk has historically been a very good AHL player, posting seasons of 73 and 64 points in 2021–22 and 2022–23 before heading to Europe last year. He’ll provide the Wranglers with some much-needed veteran help in their lineup while also offering the Flames a fourth-line option in the event of an injury crisis, given his 124 games of NHL experience. He also has an awesome name.
Contract grade: B
Player fit grade: B+
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