Tobias Rieder has switched sides in the Battle of Alberta.
The 26-year-old center signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Calgary Flames worth $700,000, the team announced Sunday. Rieder was invited to Flames training camp on a professional tryout at the beginning of the month.
Rieder last played for the Edmonton Oilers, with whom he signed a one-year contract in July 2018. The 2018-19 campaign could not have gone worse for Rieder, who failed to score a single goal for Edmonton in 67 games and was the subject of public scorn by Oilers CEO Bob Nicholson as a result.
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Rieder proved during his time with the Arizona Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings that he can contribute at the NHL level, however. The Landshut, Germany, native set a career high with 37 points (14 goals, 23 assists) in 2015-16 with Arizona and reached double digits goals in each of the four seasons he played prior to joining the Oilers. He has amassed 128 points over 379 career NHL games.
Now in southern Alberta, Rieder hopes to rekindle his career with the reigning Western Conference regular-season champions.
Calgary also signed left winger Zac Rinaldo, who also came to camp on a PTO, to a one-year, two-way deal worth $700,000. He failed to impress with the Nashville Predators last season, managing just a goal, three points and 47 hits in 23 games. He also played in three AHL games with the Preds' AHL-affiliate Milwaukee Admirals, notching an assist.
Rinaldo, 29, has never managed to hit the 10 point-mark in a season at the NHL level, his career-high being nine points with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2011-12; despite that, he's impressed with over 140 hits in all but one season of his seven-year career. As a hard-hitting forward, Rinaldo can be a physical presence that can engage in puck battles, stand up for his teammates and be a force to be reckoned with on the ice. If he's not up with the Flames, he could prove to be an asset in the AHL with their affiliate Stockton Heat.