The Calgary Flames have brought back a former first-round pick on a cheap contract.
With training camp right around the corner, the Flames have finally agreed on a new one-year, tw0-way deal with RFA forward Jakob Pelletier that will pay him $800,000 in the NHL.
This comes after the 23-year-old split time with the Flames and the AHL in 2023-24. In 13 NHL games last season, Pelletier picked up a goal and three points.
Sportsnet‘s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report the new contract.
Jakob Pelletier one-year, two-way with Flames
$800K in NHL
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) September 12, 2024
Pelletier was initially drafted 26th overall by the Flames in the 2019 Draft but has only played in a total of 37 games since then. The Quebecois forward has spent the majority of his professional career in the AHL, where he has had some mixed results.
He burst onto the scene in his first professional season in 2021-22, putting up 62 points in 66 AHL games as a rookie. That earned him a 24-game NHL stint the following season with the Flames, where he managed three goals and seven points.
However, since then, it appears that things have stalled out a bit in his development, partly because of injuries. He was limited to just 18 AHL games last season, a stretch in which he scored five goals and picked up 12 points.
With a clean bill of health going into training camp, the hope is that he will finally manage to become a full-time NHL player on a Flames team that isn’t expected to make much noise this season.
With the departures of key forwards up front, Pelletier will definitely have an opportunity to grab a spot out of training camp.