N.Y. deal made sense to Jooris
The Calgary Flames took a chance on Josh Jooris. For that, he’s grateful. But no longer an NHL rookie, the Burlington, Ont., native was forced to make a business decision after reading the writing on the wall.
“(The Flames) kept me in the loop,” Jooris said.
“They told me they liked me and said they’d circle back. But they needed to take care of other things and I was obviously a little bit secondary. It’s tough to fit everyone in ... I just wasn’t sure if I was going to fit.
“I saw a great opportunity in New York and just jumped at it.”
The Flames, who did not make him a qualifying offer, had gone silent and Jooris, a regular at the Scotiabank Saddledome for the past two winters, didn’t want to wait to see if he was in their plans or not.
So, he made a move. To the Big Apple, no less.
A day after his 26th birthday, he signed a oneyear, two-way pact with the New York Rangers worth $600,000 at the NHL level and $350,000 at the American Hockey League level.
“There’s still players on the market and teams are making decisions,” he said.
“It’s a buyers’ market so, at that point, the players don’t really have much pull. I wanted to get something done sooner rather than later.
“Fortunately, the Rangers came knocking ... it was a matter of me finding a spot that most made sense for me. As far as the roster goes and as far as me having the best opportunity to continue to prove myself, I thought I was best suited in New York.”
The undrafted Jooris was a feel-good story when he arrived on scene out of Union College in the summer of 2013.
He turned a development camp invite into an NHL contract and, after one campaign at the American Hockey League level, he made the jump to the NHL.
Last summer, he resigned with the Flames for another year and played 59 games in 2015-16, scoring four goals and nine assists.
In total, he has 119 NHL contests under his belt, with 16 goals and 21 assists.
Jooris insisted there are no hard feelings between him and the Flames.
“I definitely built amazing relationships in Calgary with the guys and within the organization,” he said.
“I was thankful for the opportunity they gave me and I learned a lot as a player. I was able to get my foot in the door and they granted me that opportunity. That was amazing.
“The two years I spent in Calgary were an unbelievable part of my career and part of my life.”
The Flames still have a todo list of important items, including signing Johnny Gaudreau, his roommate for the past two seasons, and Sean Monahan, who happens to be Jooris’ summertime training partner. They found money for forward Troy Brouwer and goaltender Brian Elliott, while the contract of captain Mark Giordano — also Monahan and Jooris’ workout partner — counts toward their cap hit this season. Jooris gets it — the NHL is a difficult world.
But, with the Flames, he’s made pals for life.
“I don’t think you ever lose those friendships,” Jooris said.
“Obviously I’ll miss Johnny, we were roommates for two years. We kind of did this thing together and came into the league at the same time. You’re grateful for those experiences but it’s an ever-changing business. That’s just life.”
And, as expected, the new contract has injected motivation into his summer workouts.
“Kind of waiting in the weeds and wondering what’s going to happen, it might take away from the overall mindset, whether it’s going to the gym or going to skate,” he said.
“But once you get something like that done, yeah, you hit the ground running.
“We made the decision and now we go with it.
“I know it’s the best decision and you just have to have belief and go in with a great mindset.”
Jooris, who is proficient at winger and centre, said the Rangers are keen on his speed and penalty-killing ability.
But, like he did when he joined the Flames, he plans on working for his opportunities.
“In this business, you constantly have to prove yourself,” Jooris said.
“There’s always guys that want to take your spot. I want to go in and make this team and earn it. Then we’ll go from there. I’ll play whatever role I fit in.”