Stone only played 14 games last season, missing 49 due to a blood clot in his arm. He skated a full slate in 2017-18 after being acquired from the Coyotes in February 2017. The Winnipeg native compiled 21 points in 115 games for the Flames.
Following the signing of restricted free agent netminder David Rittich and forward Sam Bennett, who had each filed for arbitration, Calgary was awarded a second buyout period. With RFAs Matthew Tkachuk and Andrew Mangiapane still unsigned and young studs such as Juuso Valimaki and Rasmus Andersson waiting in the wings, the time was nigh for Stone’s departure.
NHL free agency 2019: Complete list of all 31 teams’ UFA, RFA players
Now an unrestricted free agent, Stone originally inked a three-year deal with a $3.5 million AAV back in June 2017. Now, according to Cap Friendly, the buyout cap hit will be $1,166,667 per season for the next two seasons with the Flames saving more than $2.3 million in cap space in 2019-20.
Calgary now has approximately $7.76 million in cap space to sign Tkachuk and Mangiapane — which is most likely not enough to sign the two wingers.
