Lomberg signing part of Flames’ new, flexible approach
His voice raspy from a week of Stanley Cup celebrations, Ryan Lomberg had an admission to make.
“I’ve been doing a lot of yelling,” said the fourth-line winger from his Florida home Monday.
“The parade, and all the fans, and firing the boys up… definitely lots of screaming.
“I didn’t take the Cup into the ocean, but we’ve been drinking out of it, staring at it, holding it. We’d party, and then wake up, and then all it would take is a text of the next location and we’d all gather and start laughing and do it again.
“The week couldn’t have gone any better, including signing a deal to get back to Calgary.”
Craig Conroy’s week hasn’t been quite as fun, but after a year-long liquidation sale, the Flames GM is finally back in the business of acquisitions.
Two days after drafting 10 youngsters, Conroy opened free agency Monday by signing seven players, including a two-year deal to bring Lomberg back to a Flames organization with which the 29-year-old spent the first five years of his pro career.
Grabbing the Panthers’ Energizer Bunny for $2 million annually doesn’t move the needle significantly on a day in which hundreds of millions of dollars were spent league-wide.
But it’s symbolic of a new direction for a rebuilding club focusing on people who want to be in Calgary as part of a three-to-five year rebuild the organization was long overdue to make.
That meant keeping signings short, remaining flexible, and making all moves around ensuring the long-term plan comes first.
Lomberg will be a fan favourite in Calgary, where the perennial pest is bound to throw his five-foot-nine, 184-pound frame around as a fourth-line energy guy who will do well to keep opponents honest as they contemplate taking liberties on Flames youngsters.
He’ll stand up for teammates, hit everything that moves and will typify the type of work ethic and selflessness the team is hoping to build around.
There was no bigger news Monday for the Flames than Yegor Sharangovich’s decision to sign a five-year extension for $5.75 million AAV, stifling a trend that has seen pending UFAs seeking greener pastures of late.
Fresh off the first 30-goal season of his career, the 26-year-old’s commitment marks a turning point for a club that will likely need him to play up the middle where the team wasn’t able to add via the open market.
As Conroy said, the quiet Lego-Master will see time at centre, while also auditioning Connor Zary and Martin Pospisil at a position the Flames saw as too pricey to address Monday.
Either way, it’s all about the youth movement now, ensuring none of the prospects the team is stockpiling are ever “boxed out,” as Conroy put it.
Former Calgary Hitmen star Jake Bean was every bit as jacked as Lomberg about returning to Calgary where his father retired three days earlier as president and CEO of the Flames.
With Carolina failing to make the six-foot-one, 191-pound lefty a qualifying offer over the weekend, the path was open for him to sign a two-year deal at $1.75 AAV.
“There’s definitely a draw with it being my hometown,” said Bean, 26, who held the Hitmen scoring record for blue liners until Carter Yakemchuk broke it this year.
“It means something to me to be a Calgary Flame.”
The Flames’ desire to help re-ignite Jonathan Huberdeau came in the form of a one-year, show-me contract for 29-year-old Anthony Mantha at $3.5 million.
The three-time 23-goal scorer is a six-foot-five, 234-pound lefty who should already be penciled in on Huberdeau’s right wing.
Looking for someone to play a third-string role behind goalies Dustin Wolf and Dan Vladar, Conroy inked 27-year-old Devin Cooley, a University of Denver product who made his NHL debut last season in San Jose where he played six games.
The six-foot-five, 192-pound native of Los Gatos, Ca. signed for $775,000 on a two-way deal this year and a one-way pact next season, when Vladar’s deal expires.
The Flames also started signing two-way deals for Wranglers players, inking 30-year-old right winger Martin Frk, an L.A. King in 2021-22 who played in Europe last season.
He played junior with MacKenzie Weegar in Halifax, married a Calgarian and possesses a legendary shot.
Left-winger Justin Kirkland and defenceman Jonathan Aspirot also signed two-way deals.
“Last year we had so many UFAs, but we’re not in that situation anymore,” said Conroy when asked if it was a turning point of sorts, in terms of adding, not subtracting.
“We’re trying to build and add pieces.
“We have cap room ($20.9 million), so we’re going to be flexible to do anything.”
Former Flames made headlines around the league Monday, with Chris Tanev signing in Toronto, Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov signing in Boston, Tyler Toffoli joining San Jose, Sean Monahan reuniting with Johnny Gaudreau in Columbus and AJ Greer going to Florida.
Oliver Kylington is still on the open market after the Flames were unable to come to terms with him over the weekend.
“The door has probably closed a little more on that,” said Conroy, who signed no one for more than two years Monday.
“We went to him with what we thought was a fair deal. It was the amount of years (they couldn’t agree on), that was about it.”
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