The Calgary Flames took to social media this afternoon to announce that they have signed defenceman Mark Pysyk to a one-year, two-way contract.
Pysyk, 31, has appeared in eight games this season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL. Prior to the brief stint, he hadn’t played since the 2021-22 season due to a torn achilles.
āMark is a right shot defenceman who provides depth on the blueline for our organization,ā said Flames general manager Craig Conroy. āHe is a versatile player with significant NHL experience.ā
Before suffering from a multitude of injuries, Pysyk was viewed as a very reliable third-pairing defenceman during his time with both the Florida Panthers and Buffalo Sabres. He was also used as a winger occasionally during his time with the Panthers, but is expected to be relied upon as a defenceman with the Flames organization.
This signing comes as a result of the Flames trading Nikita Zadorov to the Vancouver Canucks just days ago. While Pysyk may very well remain in the AHL and play for the Calgary Wranglers, he provides the Flames with depth should they need to make any call ups later in the season due to injury.
Pysyk has suited up for 521 games over the course of his NHL career, scoring 28 goals and 104 points to go with 162 penalty minutes. He also logged four playoff games as a member of the Panthers in 2020, but was held without a point.
With this signing, the Flames boast several defencemen capable of playing a depth role in Jordan Oesterle, Dennis Gilbert, Nick DeSimone, Ilya Solovyov, and of course, Pysyk. This is important now, and could become even more so down the road if the Flames do end up moving two of their pending UFA defencemen in Noah Hanifin and Chris Tanev between now and the trade deadline.
More to come…
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