The Flames announced the re-signing of free agent defenseman Anton Babchuk on Monday afternoon, giving him a 2-year deal, worth $5 million. Babchuk went to unrestricted free agency on Friday, but it doesn't look like anything suitable reached him, offer-wise, so a return to Calgary for less money was in order.Babchuk had a good season in Calgary in 2011, scoring 11 goals and 24 assists in all 82 games for the club, which was good enough for 36th among all defensemen in the league. The Flames were able to give the 27-year old Russian enough ice-time to keep him happy and the team was rewarded by some reasonable offense.
In terms of how much of a deal the Flames got on Babchuk's new deal, there were 17 defensemen who scored 11 or more goals in 2011, the average cap hit of the 16 other defensemen who are signed in the 2012 season (13 are signed) is $3.6 million.
The Flames are inching closer to a full line-up early on this Summer, now having 12 forwards, five defensemen and a goaltending tandem signed on, plus one buyout on the books, for an annual projected cap hit of $59.3 million, leaving $5 million for a few more players. That's not bad shape at all.
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