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The Calgary Flames only have three right defenders on their roster.
One of them, T.J. Brodie, is left-handed and his name is out there on the trade market. He could very well be moved prior to the season, although it seems less likely now than a couple of months ago.
At any rate, it wouldn't hurt to add one more RHD into the mix after dumping Michael Stone. As much as he was an overpaid disappointment in Calgary, they liked having a gritty, experienced defender around to plug into the lineup when necessary.
They'll surely want to replace him, albeit at a much lesser cost. That's why it was hardly surprising to see the Flames linked to Alex Petrovic, formerly of the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers.
He is a 6'4', 215 pound, right-handed shot with 263 games of NHL experience on his resume. He's not going to provide much offense – he has averaged 15 points per 82 games for his career – and he's not going to wow anyone with his breakouts. He's similar to Stone in that regard (though, prior to a really difficult 2018-19 campaign, Petrovic's underlyings were fairly solid for a depth defender)
What he will do, though, is hold his own defensively and play with bite. Clearly that matters to the Flames (see the Milan Lucic trade). From 2016-19, 247 defensemen logged at least 750 minutes at 5v5. Petrovic ranked 14th, averaging 9.4 hits per 60 minutes of play.
While I'm not suggesting the Flames should be racing to get his signature, he was a serviceable depth option prior to last season. At 27, it's not unrealistic to suggest a bounce-back could be in the cards and he'd bring some traits the Flames a) value and; b) are lacking.
This is worth monitoring in the coming weeks.
Recent posts:
Flames (smartly) buyout Michael Stone
Taking stock of the Pacific Division
On David Rittich's two-year extension
On Sam Bennett's two-year extension
On the Milan Lucic trade
Potential landing spots for T.J. Brodie
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