The Washington Capitals were incredibly busy during the first days of the NHL's free agency period, signing four players over two days. Yet, one of their unrestricted free agents, defenseman Scott Hannan, remained unsigned. With training camp about a month away, Hannan has finally signed. But not with Washington.
Via The Globe And Mail's James Mirtle, Hannan has signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Calgary Flames.
The Caps acquired Hannan from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for forward Tomas Fleischmann November 30. In 55 games with Washington, Hannan had one goal and four assists with a plus-3 rating and 28 PIM. Coincidentally, Hannan's tenure with Washington did not begin or end well. His first game (against the Dallas Stars December 2) was the first of the Caps' season-high eight-game losing streak and his last game at Verizon Center saw him make a bad line change that ultimately cost the Caps in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
With the signing of Roman Hamrlik July 1, Hannan was expendable and he knew that the Caps would not re-sign him. Calgary will be Hannan's fourth team since he arrived in the NHL in 1998. The one-year, $1 million contract is a huge pay cut from his last contract of four years, $18 million.