A year ago Brad Treliving was quite active in the European free agent market as he signed goaltender David Rittich and forward Daniel Pribyl.
It would seem Treliving is going right back to the well this summer -- or is at least trying to -- as the Calgary Flames are reportedly among the teams interested in Jan Rutta.
Flames are tight lipped, but I'm hearing Calgary is also in on offensive dman Jan Rutta.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) May 18, 2017
Rutta is a 6'2', 210-pound defenseman coming off a strong season with Chomutov Pirati of the Czech league. In 46 regular season games, he registered eight goals and 32 points and he followed that up with 13 points in 17 playoff games.
Teams are always looking to add defensemen, especially when they can move the puck and contribute offensively, so it's no surprise the 26-year-old is drawing interest from multiple teams, including the Edmonton Oilers.
Multiple NHL offers on Czech dman Jan Rutta. Edmonton is among the CDN teams with interest, but i don't believe they've tabled offer yet.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) May 18, 2017
Rutta's totals, particularly this season, were fairly impressive but it's hard to project how much will translate to the NHL level. If he ends up cracking an NHL roster, he probably won't be much more than a depth option.
Either way, it can't hurt to give him a chance and find out.