Calgary Flames Place Justin Kirkland On Waivers

The Calgary Flames have placed forward Justin Kirkland on waivers, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

This is Kirkland’s second waiver placement of the year, as he was also waived in November. Kirkland has been on the Flames’ NHL roster since mid-December, serving largely as a spare forward option. He’s played in 20 total NHL games this season, and served as a healthy scratch for eight games, including yesterday.

In the 20 contests he was dressed for, Kirkland managed one goal and two points across 9:49 time on ice per game. He also managed to play a role on the Flames’ penalty kill, averaging nearly two minutes per game of short-handed ice time.

At the AHL level, Kirkland has been a steady top-six scoring option for the Flames’ affiliates, both when they were based in Stockton and now Calgary. Kirkland, who joined the Flames organization in 2019-20, has five goals and seven points in 14 AHL contests this season and had 30 points in 43 AHL games last year.

While there are some qualities that would suggest Kirkland is a candidate to be claimed — namely the fact that he can play center and has played on an NHL penalty kill with some regularity — it seems more likely he’ll once again clear waivers. The fact that he’s set to make $900K this year as an owner of a one-way contract contributes to the chances teams pass on claiming him.

While it’s certainly not impossible he gets claimed, largely for those aforementioned reasons, it remains the most likely outcome that Kirkland will remain in the organization he’s contributed to for the entirety of the 2020s.