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Crowded crease: Flames bring back Ramo on one-year, $3.8M deal

Dallas Stars v Calgary Flames

Dallas Stars v Calgary Flames

NHLI via Getty Images

Interesting move from the Flames to open free agency -- per Sportsnet, they’ve re-signed goalie Karri Ramo to a one-year, $3.8 million deal.

Ramo, 28, didn’t sound as though he’d be back in Calgary in mid-May, when Flames GM Brad Treliving suggested the team’s crease was getting a little crowded with Jonas Hiller and Joni Ortio already under contract.

“We’ve got a young guy Ortio who’s pushing, knocking on the door,” Treliving explained. “[Ramo] is a decision we’ve got to make over the course of the next few weeks, we’re just not there yet.

“A wise man told me there’s only one net. Carrying three goalies, you can only do it for a short period of time.”

That said, the Flames were pleased with how the Finnish netminder played last season. Ramo had a solid campaign, essentially splitting starting duties with Hiller -- Ramo had 32 starts to Hiller’s 44 -- and that trend carried over to the playoffs, where Hiller was the No. 1 against Vancouver, only to cede the gig in Round 2 versus Anaheim, when Ramo took the job and played well.

In Calgary’s Game 5 elimination contest, Ramo was stellar in stopping 44 of 47 shots, many of the highlight-reel variety.

Recent rumors suggested Calgary was in the market for another goalie. At the draft, the club was rumored to be in the running for former Rangers (now Oilers) netminder Cam Talbot -- so, in that light, bringing back Ramo isn’t a huge surprise.

That said, the Finn has scored himself a nice raise -- up from the $2.75M annually he made on his last deal -- and the Flames now have $8.4M locked into him and Hiller.