CALGARY — The Calgary Flames re-signed their top goal scorer, onboarded a player fresh off lifting the Stanley Cup and returned a hometown product when NHL free agency started Monday.
Calgary and 31-goal man Yegor Sharangovich agreed to a five-year US$28.75-million extension that starts in 2025-26 after the 26-year-old completes the year paying him $3.1 million on his current deal.
The Flames also signed Ryan Lomberg, who won a Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers last week, to a two-year, $4-million contract. Calgary-born defenceman Jake Bean came home after agreeing to a two-year contract worth $1.75 million per year.
In other Flames transactions, right-winger Anthony Mantha signed a one-year deal worth $3.5 million, Czech forward Martin Frk arrived on a one-year, two-way contract worth $775,000 and goalie Devin Cooley agreed to a two-year contract with a maximum average value of $775,000 per year.
Calgary (38-39-5) missed the playoffs a second straight season. Craig Conroy was promoted from assistant to general manager in May 2023 when Brad Treliving departed for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Conroy said a Sharangovich extension was a priority and 23-goal scorer Mantha was key get for Calgary's power play with his shot and size.
Other than Sharangovich's deal, which carries an annual average value of $5.75 million, Calgary's acquisitions were short-term contracts by a retooling team looking to get younger.
"A short-term deal gives us that flexibility," Conroy said."If you lock into a long-term deal and there isn't chemistry or it's not a fit here in Calgary, then you're just kind of in a tough spot.
"I don't think we were in a position to do five, six, seven-year deals at that huge amount of money. We do have a lot of young guys we still want to give an opportunity to.
"With the guys we were able to bring in, we feel they fit holes we needed to fill right now."
Calgary acquired Sharangovich in a June 2023 trade that sent Tyler Toffoli to New Jersey.
In his first season as a Flame, Sharangovich became the first Belarusian to score more than 30 goals in a single season. His 59 points playing all 82 regular-season games were the most by a Belarusian in a single season.
The Flames already looked much different from their 2023-24 opening-day roster heading into Monday.
Goaltender Jacob Markstrom, defencemen Chris Tanev, Noah Hanifin, Nikita Zadorov and forwards Elias Lindholm and Andrew Mangiapane were all traded in the last seven months.
Defencemen Daniil Miromanov and Nikita Okhotyuk and forward Andrei Kuzmenko joined Calgary's lineup upon arrival.
The majority of the return, however, was in the form of prospects such as defencemen Artem Grushnikov, Kevin Bahl, Hunter Brzustewicz and Joni Jurmo, as well as draft picks, including an extra first-round selection in both 2024 and 2025.
The Flames shedding salary in those transactions gave the club working cap space Monday when Calgary was about $2 million over the floor of $65 million.
"If there's opportunity to make moves, moving forward, for sure we have flexibility," Conroy said. "Is there anything that we can kind of help us in that age group we'd really like to get, in that 23? When we got Bahl, that was a real nice age. If we can get a player in that age group, that would be something we'd really look at."
Lomberg, 29, played four seasons in Florida and is thus a former teammate of current Flames Jonathan Huberdeau and Mackenzie Weegar. Lomberg appeared in six playoff games for the Panthers this season, including Game 7 of the Cup final.
The five-foot-nine, 184-pound winger from Richmond Hill, Ont., had 28 goals and 21 assists and 327 penalty minutes in 246 career games with Florida.
Lomberg returns to the team with which he made his NHL debut in 2017-18. He played 11 games for the Flames that season when Conroy was an assistant GM.
"He brings that speed, that energy, the life to the room that you need," Conroy said. "Now he's a Stanley Cup champ, so he's going to bring that pedigree with him here too."
Bean, 26, played the majority of his Western Hockey League career at the Saddledome with his hometown Calgary Hitmen.
"There's definitely a draw with it being my hometown, but there's a lot a lot to like in terms of the organization," said Bean, whose father John retired as Flames president and CEO this spring.
"I'm very familiar with it and people that are here and it means something to me to play for the Flames. I've watched them my whole life. I was around them when I was in junior."
The six-foot-one, 191-pound rearguard had four goals and nine assists in 71 games last season for the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Mantha, of Longueuil, Que., had a combined 23 goals and 21 assists for Washington and Vegas this past season. The Capitals traded the 29-year-old to the Golden Knights on March 5.
The six-foot-five, 230-pound winger has 142 goals and 154 assists in 494 career NHL games with Detroit, Washington and Vegas.
Frk, 30, had seven goals and nine assists in 33 Swiss league games last season. He's appeared in 124 NHL games with Los Angeles, Detroit and Carolina. He played major junior hockey for the QMJHL's Halifax Mooseheads and won a Memorial Cup in 2013.
Cooley, 27, appeared in six NHL games for the San Jose Sharks this past season for a 2-3-1 record, a 4.98 goals-against average and an .870 save percentage.
Among the players who departed the Flames on Monday, left-winger A.J. Greer signed a two-year contract with the Panthers. Free-agent defenceman Oliver Kylington appeared on his way out of Calgary as Conroy indicated he and the team were far apart on an agreement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 1, 2024.
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
