The most highly-sought after collegiate free agent in Spencer Foo will be a Calgary Flame as of July first according to his agency TSC Hockey and Bob McKenzie. The news broke only a short while ago through Twitter. The deal cannot be finalized until July first.
The news is quite the surprise. Over the summer it seemed as though the Flames had about a two percent chance of signing him. Over time, those chances got stronger and stronger as it looked like the Edmontonian was going to spurn his home city in favour of the Flames.
It looked like Foo was going to sign with the Detroit Red Wings. Obviously that all fell apart which is stellar news for Flames fans. Foo is quite the coup and comes at the price of an entry level deal.
Foo instantly adds offense on the right wing – a position where the Flames desperately needed it. He put up 26 goals and 36 assists in the N.C.A.A. with Union College – good for fourth overall and third in points per game. One would assume the Flames made him a roster guarantee, so he should be with the club on opening night barring any complications.
Where Foo will be slotted will be a topic of discussion. He’ll either slot along side Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan with Micheal Ferland being bumped down to third line duty or he’ll slot in on the right hand side of Sam Bennett and whomever winds up with them. Not only should getting Sam Bennett some help increase his productivity, but not having to carry pylons could ultimately lower his contract demands.
The move likely spells the end for one of Alex Chiasson or Kris Versteeg and perhaps maybe both of them. Both were serviceable for the Flames, but with the likes of Lance Bouma, Troy Brouwer, and Matt Stajan taking up a lot of payroll on those third and fourth (maybe just fourth) lines, it’s certainly conceivable that they may have played too well for the Flames to afford them. That of course remains to be seen, however.
Foo looks like quite the talent and the Flames essentially added him for nothing. It certainly helps to offset the trading of the picks that went to the New York Islanders for Travis Hamonic. Perhaps they had this one in their back pocket all along – either way, kudos to Brad Treliving and welcome Spencer Foo to Calgary.
