"Like him or despise him, former Calgary Flames general manager Darryl Sutter deserves credit for one of the best free-agent signings of the 2010 off-season.

At a bargain-basement price of $725,000, Brendan Morrison collected nine goals and 43 points in 66 games. Heck, he even ended up on the first line between Alex Tanguay and Jarome Iginla.

In an ideal world, Jay Feaster — Sutter's successor — figures he locked down a similar dark horse Saturday in defenceman Scott Hannan, formerly of the Washington Capitals, Colorado Avalanche and San Jose Sharks.

"I think we'll be having the same kind of conversation about Scott at the end of this season that we did about Morrison," Feaster said.

Like Morrison, Hannan signed a discount deal with the Flames — at least in comparison to his previous contracts. The Richmond, B.C., native committed to Calgary for one season at $1 million US.

With the draft-day trade of veteran Robyn Regehr to Buffalo (to shed salary), the Flames badly needed a stay-at-home defenceman to serve as a steadying presence on the blueline.

The six-foot-two, 220-pound rearguard may not strike fear into the opposition to the same degree as Regehr (not many do). But the 32-year-old likes to hit and physically punish the big names on the other team. In fact, the 2003-04 Western Conference all-star has made a career of shutting down the likes of Alex Ovechkin, Peter Forsberg, Ryan Getzlaf and the Sedin twins.

"He's a defensive defenceman," Feaster said. "Stay-at-home. He's not a guy who is going to be looking to jump in and join the offence as his first thought, although I'm very confident that he's comfortable doing that within the system.

"He's a structure guy."

So too are head coach Brent Sutter and associate coach Craig Hartsburg.

"I think you'll see him flourish under the structure Brent and Hartsie bring to our club," Feaster said. "He's also a guy who is willing to stand up for his teammates and himself. He's a no-nonsense guy. Professional."