Flames sign Shantz to an AHL contract

Calgary signed Davit Shantz to a minor league contract. Depth at Goalie now with a Florida Panther 2nd round 37th overall 2004 pick. He’s not listed in Florida’s prospects.

From Goaltenders Annex webpage:

The Hamilton, ontario native played with Mississauga and Peterborough of the OHL before signing his professional contract with the Panthers. Shantz was the 3rd-ranked North American goaltender by NHL Central Scouting going into the 2004 entry draft. Last year with the Petes, Shantz posted a 31-14-3 record with a 2.87 GAA. He also appeared in 19 playoff games for the Petes, who won the OHL Eastern Conference Championship, the OHL title and berth in the CHL Memorial Cup.

From Hockey’s Future webpage:

David Shantz is a 6’1" goalie with the OHL Mississauga IceDogs enjoying a solid rookie season. Central Scouting has him ranked as the second best goalie in North America in their mid term rankings and that he is the highest ranked goalie in the Canadian Hockey League. Scouts love the package that Shantz brings to the table and he has a track record of winning. Shantz was a steal by the IceDogs as they chose him in the seventh round in the 2002 OHL draft as there was concern that Shantz might choose to play in the NCAA.

Shantz played in Thorold in the 2002-03 season and posted an impressive 30 win season with only three losses and three ties. He had a stellar goals against average of 1.79 and posted eight shutouts. Then he led Thorold to their league championship in the Golden Horseshoe Junior B league. They advanced to the Sutherland Cup final which is a trophy fought for by the winners of the three Junior B leagues in southern Ontario. Thorold lost to Stratford in seven games in the finals.

from Naplesnews.com

The 6-foot-1, 207-pound goalie is in the final year of his entry level contract with one of the Blades’ NHL affiliates, the Florida Panthers. Shantz played with the Blades for parts of each of the past two seasons, representing the team as its only all-star during the ’06-07 season.

After starting last year with the AHL’s Rochester Americans, Shantz struggled behind a young, inexperienced defense and went 1-10-1 with a 4.07 goals-against average. He was sent down to the Blades and finished the season 11-5-3 with a 2.56 goals-against average.

Looks like a good move-Sutter signed what could prove to be insurance-a proven goalie.