The Calgary Flames have a significant scoring issue that they have yet to try to address this season.
Despite Jonathan Huberdeau finding his groove again, and currently on pace to score the most goals in a season in his career, he is leading the team in points with just 29 in 39 games played. The rest of the team has combined for 2.62 goals per game, which sits at 27th in the NHL.
They won’t get far with those numbers.
How can they solve it? Probably by removing those players off the roster who aren’t scoring and adding those that can. Seems simple right? Well, the team could start by claiming Arthur Kaliyev off of waivers from the Los Angeles Kings.
Potential waiver wire gold
Kaliyev, who was put on waivers today by the Kings, is coming off a collarbone injury while simultaneously having come to the end of his tenure with the team. A divorce seemed destined for a while between Kaliyev and the Kings, but clearly there was no deal to be made on the trade market.
The 33rd overall pick in the 2019 draft, Kaliyev burst onto the scene with the Kings scoring 27 goals in the first two seasons. His 2023-24 season was not his best, scoring just seven times in 51 games, but there was a clear issue between player and coach that helped drive this downturn.
The 23-year-old fits the Flames’ desired demographic right now and fills a slot on the right side that they could use up and down their lineup. With Andrei Kuzmenko clearly on his way out of town, the Flames have the opportunity to claim a younger and cheaper option that could produce at a better rate for a longer period. He has one-year left at $825k, but with the amount of cap space the Flames have that is not even remotely an issue for the team.
It’s an absolute no-brainer.
The only issue is that Kaliyev will likely be a hot commodity on the waiver wire. 17 teams sit above the Flames in terms of priority of claim. It’s unlikely that he will make it that far down the list, but as we have seen in the past it’s not improbable. Some teams have full rosters and full salary caps, which would prove to be in the Flames’ favor.
Conroy and the Flames must at least put a claim in for Kaliyev to give themselves a chance.
