Calgary Flames sign Kevin Rooney to one-year extension ($1.3 million)

The deal essentially tacks on another year to Rooney’s existing two-year deal, which coincidentally also carries a $1.3 million cap hit. He joined the Flames as a free agent during the 2022 off-season.

A 30-year-old left shot centre, Rooney is a Boston-area product who worked his way up through local hockey and then spent four seasons at Providence College. He signed with the New Jersey Devils out of college and parts of five seasons in the Devils system before joining the New York Rangers as a free agent.

Rooney’s time with the Flames has had some ups and downs. He was the de facto fourth-line centre to begin 2022-23, but didn’t quite click with Darryl Sutter’s system and soon fell out of favour, ending up in the AHL with the Wranglers where he carved out a great niche as a tough-minutes checking centre alongside Brett Sutter and Clark Bishop. He looked like a contender for a fourth-line NHL role under Ryan Huska this fall, but he injured his shoulder in practice and missed a lot of time due to surgery. He rejoined the Flames roster after the All-Star break and has played as their fourth-line centre. In 13 games with the Flames this season he has one goal, while he had one goal in four AHL games with the Wranglers.

Since going pro at the end of the 2015-16 season, Rooney has played 240 NHL games (with the Devils, Rangers and Flames) and has 47 points, while he’s also played 242 AHL games (with Albany, Binghamton and Calgary) and has 93 points.

Re-upping Rooney gives the Flames 18 players under contract for 2024-25 – 17 players on one-ways, plus Connor Zary – with a combined cap commitment of about $67.1 million and just over $20 million in available cap space.