Newly-minted Calgary Flames general manager Craig Conroy has made his first move. Per a club announcement, the Flames have re-signed goaltender Oscar Dansk to a one-year, two-way deal worth the league minimum of $775,000 at the NHL level.
The 29-year-old product of Sweden spent the entire 2022-23 season with the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers as Dustin Wolf’s backup. Dansk did not play very much, as often happens as the backup to the AHL’s best player, but he performed admirably in spot duty. He went 8-6-2 with a 2.75 goals against average and .905 save percentage in 17 regular season games, and also played a playoff game in relief of Wolf.
Dansk was likely brought in as a steady veteran presence for Wolf, and he performed that job well on and off the ice. He was the Wranglers’ winner of the IOA/American Specialty AHL Man of the Year Award for his work in the community, and it seems that there was mutual interest (and benefit) in him returning for the 2023-24 season.
Originally a second-round selection of the Columbus Blue Jackets back in 2012, Dansk has carved out a pretty productive, varied pro career. He’s played six NHL games (all with Vegas), made stops in Europe with Spartak Moscow of the KHL and Rogle BK of the SHL, and a brief ECHL stint with the Kalamazoo Wings. But he’s otherwise been a really reliable AHL ‘tender, with 144 appearances between the Wranglers, Springfield Falcons, Chicago Wolves and Henderson Silver Knights.
With Dansk signed, that gives the Flames four goaltenders under contract, all with some NHL games under their belt: Jacob Markstrom, Dan Vladar, Wolf and Vladar.
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