Jul 1, 2019
Flames sign Talbot to 1-year, $2.75M deal
The Calgary Flames have signed goaltender Cam Talbot to a one-year contract. Talbot, 31, was an unrestricted free agent. His contract is worth US$2.75 million.
The Canadian Press
CALGARY — The Calgary Flames have signed goaltender Cam Talbot to a one-year contract worth US $2.75 million.
Talbot, 31, was an unrestricted free agent. He joins 26-year-old David Rittich, who is coming off a breakout season in Calgary's net platooning with Mike Smith.
Rittich, a restricted free agent, is due for a raise on his $800,000 salary of last season.
Calgary finished atop the NHL's Western Conference with a 50-25-7 regular-season record. The Flames lost to the Colorado Avalanche in five games in the first round of playoffs.
Rittich's record was 27-9-5 with a 2.61 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage. But Smith was Calgary's starter and the team's best player in its short post-season.
The 37-year-old Smith was also an unrestricted free agent Monday after two seasons as a Flame. He opted to stay in Alberta, signing a one-year contract with the Edmonton Oilers.
Talbot was Edmonton's starting goaltender for three of his four years there, but was supplanted this past season by Mikko Koskinen.
The Oilers traded him in February to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for goalie Anthony Stolarz in a salary dump.
Talbot, from Caledonia, Ont., was a standout for the Oilers in 2017 when the team reached the second round of playoffs and lost in seven games to the Anaheim Ducks.
His GAA was 2.48 and his save percentage was .924 in that post-season.
The six-foot-four, 196-pound netminder owns a career 138-112-24 NHL record with 20 shutouts. a 2.60 GAA and a .915 save percentage.
Former Flames fourth-line forward Garnet Hathaway signed a four-year, $6-million contract with the Washington Capitals.
He had 11 goals and eight assists in 76 games for Calgary last season.
With $12 million in cap space heading into free agency, and restricted free agent Matthew Tkachuk expected to command a big price tag to re-sign, the Flames didn't have a lot of cash to swing for the fences Monday.
Utility forward Sam Bennett is also a restricted free agent.