While you may not recognize this name, the Calgary Flames have been tracking Nick Cicek for a long while, all the way back to his stint as a captain in the Western Hockey League.
On Tuesday, the Flames welcomed Cicek into the fold, signing the free-agent defenceman to a two-way contract for the upcoming campaign.
Cicek, 25, played this past season with Adler Mannheim in Germany. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound lefty is most likely to spend next winter with the AHL’s Wranglers.
“He’s always been a player that we’ve been intrigued with,” said Flames assistant general manager Brad Pascall, who also oversees the Wranglers’ roster. “With his age, with his size, with his skating ability, with the defending ability, he’s a player that we’ve liked and we think he has really matured his game overall. He’s a player that we identified and said, ‘Hey, let’s take a shot at him with our organization.’ We think he’ll fit in well and we’ll give him every opportunity to open the eyes of our NHL coaches.
“That’s his goal — to come in and open eyes. And if he ends up in the American League, we think he can be a really solid player, with size, that would work well with our young players, as well.”
Cicek, who hails from Winnipeg and still spends his summers in Friendly Manitoba, had three goals and 17 points in 50 appearances in his lone season with Adler Mannheim.
His resume is highlighted by a 16-game stint with the San Jose Sharks in 2022-23. He was credited with four assists, 28 hits and 21 blocked shots, although he was a minus-7. He also scrapped with Mark Kastelic, then of the Ottawa Senators.
At the minor-league level, Cicek once tussled with current Flames forward Martin Pospisil.
“He does play hard,” Pascall said of this new addition. “He’s a big, long, strong defender who skates well, but he also finishes his hits. He’s not afraid to play with some grit to his game.”
If Cicek does earn a look with the Flames, he’ll collect a cap-hit of US$775,000 at the NHL level.