Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Afternoon Fringe Signings (Jul 25)



On Wednesday, the Calgary Flames announced the signings of two restricted free agents, forward Mark Jankowski and defenseman Brett Kulak.  Jankowski signed a 2-year, $3.35 million deal, while Kulak was awarded a 1-year, $900,000 deal in arbitration.

Jankowski finally played in his first full season with the Flames in the 2018 season, playing in 72 games, scoring 17 goals and 25 points.  That was good enough for 244th among all forwards in scoring and as a 23-year old, he should be less prone to the sophomore slump, but I wouldn't rule it out completely.  Early projections will probably have him in the 25-to-30 point range to start the year.

The 24-year old Kulak found his way through the arbitration process on Monday, getting a decision after a year where he had 2 goals and 8 points in 71 games for the Flames, putting him well back at 189th in defenseman scoring on the year.  He should have a leg up on some guys at camp, but he could just as easily be considered a bubble player too right now.

The Vancouver Canucks signed their last key restricted free agent on Wednesday, giving forward Jake Virtanen a 2-year, $2.5 million deal.

The 21-year old, just coming out of his entry-level deal, earned himself a decent bridge deal after playing in 75 games for the Canucks, scoring 10 goals and 20 points.  It might not be the numbers that they were expecting, but he's slowly coming along at the top level now and he'll likely get some decent opportunities to improve in the coming year.  I'll project him for a 30-point year, when the numbers come out.

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