The biggest move Craig Conroy made on Day 1 of free agency didn’t involve bringing a new player to Calgary.
Instead, the Flames GM managed to get his top goal-scorer to sign a contract extension that will see him stay with the organization through to the end of the 2029-30 season.
The Flames announced Monday that Yegor Sharangovich had agreed to a new deal a full year before he was set to become an unrestricted free agent.
The Flames may not have been handing out long-term deals to guys who were on the open market on Monday, but getting one of their own to commit to five more years on a deal that doesn’t kick in until next season was a no-brainer.
“He’s as skilled as any player here,” Conroy said. “When you watch him in practice, some of the goals, some of the plays he makes, he’s got silky-smooth hands and we were looking for that skill.”
Sharangovich is back in Belarus this summer and wasn’t available for interviews after the contract was announced. But it’s not like Flames fans are unaware of what he brings to the table.
If he was perceived as something of a risk when the Flames acquired him in the trade that sent Tyler Toffoli to the New Jersey Devils last summer, he quickly proved to be a near-perfect fit in Calgary. Now well-known for his love of LEGO, he has become an important building block for the organization.
He took a couple weeks to find his place, but wound up leading the team with 31 goals, while adding 28 assists. For a group that was at-times light on firepower, his skill set was exactly what the Flames needed.
And at 26 years old, his best years are presumably ahead of him, so it was never really in doubt that the Flames would go all-in on getting him signed.
Getting him for five more years at US$5.75 million annually is good value for a 30-goal-scorer, too, and even towards the end of his contract, Sharangovich should still be firing on all cylinders as the next generation begins coming into its own.
“For him to come in and maybe have a bit of a slow start, trying to figure out Calgary and the team, all of a sudden we’re watching him score 30 goals, he just took off,” Conroy said. “He enjoys the city, he wants to be here, I’ve got to get him some LEGOs.
“He wanted to be here, it wasn’t even a question.”
In Sharangovich, it’s also possible to see how some of the other moves the Flames made on Monday could translate into longer term deals down the road.
The Flames were committed to avoiding giving out long, onerous contracts on the first day of free agency, but did sign defenceman Jake Bean, goaltender Devin Cooley and wingers Ryan Lomberg and Anthony Mantha to shorter deals.
That doesn’t necessarily mean Conroy doesn’t want to see them in Flames jerseys for years to come. If, like Sharangovich, they can come prove that they’re good fits with the Flames, then they too could be seeing offers for longer-deals down the road.