The Calgary Flames made a minor splash in free agency in last season when they signed Mason Raymond, Deryk Engelland and Jonas Hiller to new contracts. Though Hiller was solid, and better than expected as the Flames starting goaltender, the other two signings struggled in their first season with the Flames.
Raymond was coming off a strong season with the Toronto Maple Leafs when the Flames signed him to a three year contract with an annual cap hit of $3.15 million. It seemed like good value for a player that had just scored 19 goals and 45 points while playing mostly as a third line winger with the Leafs the previous season.