Scoring goals in Calgary has been difficult recently, that's no secret. Finishing the 24-25 season ranked 29 in goals per game with 2.68, and with the strong performance from Dustin Wolf it was still almost enough to get into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With an additional few goals the season could've ended very differently.
Enter the rumour mills in force Kirill Kaprizov
The line-up the Flames could create with him involved is a dream to any Flames fan. Early this week it was reported Kaprizov turned down the most lucrative contract in National Hockey League history, opening the floodgates of rumours and speculation and excitement among teams that have an abundance of salary cap space.
Here's where Calgary is set to step in, with approximately $29.6 million in cap space next season, with the young stars all signed Flames general manager Craig Conroy has options. Going out and getting a star goal scorer who last season was injured for half the year, still put up 25 goals and 56 points, would be a stroke of genius that sets the Flames up for postseason hockey.
There are some drawbacks to going out and getting Kaprizov, for one he has a full no-movement clause which means if he doesn't want to go somewhere, he won't. Second is that he's a left shot winger which would mean putting a playmaker like Huberdeau on the right, which didn't work out at all when the Flames tried it.
His age puts him a little outside what the Flames are currently looking for in a player, Conroy has mentioned that the target for acquiring players is around the 23-25 year old range. Kaprizov falls out of the category being 28 years old.
With the amount of cap space the Flames could definitely be one of the few teams that could offer more than the $16 million aav he rejected from the Wild. Going out and getting a player of the calibre of Kaprizov would be an indication that the Flames retooling would be over and that the plan is to be in the playoffs for many years and be a contender in the near future.
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