Calgary Flames Sign C Derek Ryan

In probably the worst kept secret in Calgary sports, Derek Ryan has officially signed with the Calgary Flames.

Ryan’s contract will be 3 years at $9.375M for an AAV of $3.125M..

According to TSN’s Frank Seravalli, Ryan left money on the table to come to Calgary.

Immediately after the Flames named Bill Peters as head coach, we looked for links to some players from Carolina. A name that jumped right out was Ryan, who was one of Peters’ favorites in Carolina.

Last year Ryan posted 15 goals and 23 assists for 38 points in 80 games for the Hurricanes in what was his second full NHL season. The previous year he had 11 goals and 18 assists for 29 points.

Where Ryan’s money may be worth it is that he was a whopping 56.5% in the faceoff circle last year and 55.3% the year before. By comparison, the best Flame centre over the last two years was Sean Monahan at 51.4%. In fact the best Flame in the last decade in the cirlce was Matt Stajan’s 51.6% in 2010-11.

So yeah bringing on Ryan should help. How the rest of the lineup shakes out will remain to be seen with the Flames looking to have a three deep centre core already.

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