Calgary Flames linked to former No. 2 overall pick of the New York Rangers

The Calgary Flames have had a fantastic off-season thus far, as General Manager Craig Conroy prioitized short-term deals in free agency while landing one of the most loaded draft classes in recent memory. Now, with the most cap space left in the NHL, Conroy has been adamant that the Flames are open to using their space to take on bad contracts for future assets, showing once again that there's now a clear plan in Calgary.

However, that doesn't mean they'll stop looking at young talent that can develop at the next level, and now, the Flames have officially been linked to a talented young winger in Kaapo Kakko, the former No. 2 overall pick of the New York Rangers.

Despite being drafted five years ago, Kakko is still just 23-years of age, and will enter the 2024/25 NHL season with 300 games of experience, plus valuable playing time in the past three Stanley Cup Playoff runs for the Rangers. Over that time, Kakko has been shifted around the Rangers lineup, but has simply never found a consistent role, with his career best year coming in 2022/23 where he tallied 18 goals and 40 points playing in all 82 games.

The Rangers are looking to take the next step in their chase for a Stanley Cup, and because of that, it appears the young winger has become expendable, resulting in the Flames potentially moving one of their veterans to land him. Sure, Calgary has an abundance of wingers right now, but with the likes of Andrei Kuzmenko, Rasmus Andersson and Blake Coleman all mentioned as potential trade candidates this summer, he could fill a good role for the team.

Ultimately, this all depends on what the return would be for the Flames, as they would likely want a significant draft pick of the Rangers in return, but with high upside and the potential to create more cap space and get a future pick, this should definitely be something the Flames are in on.