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Justin Kirkland

Flames’ Justin Kirkland Undergoes ACL Surgery, Out For Season

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The Flames announced Wednesday that forward Justin Kirkland underwent successful ACL surgery and will be out for the remainder of the season.

Kirkland, 28, was amid a breakout season as an NHL-level threat after spending nearly all of his professional career to date in the minors. He’d made a career-high 21 appearances for Calgary before the injury, scoring twice and adding six assists for eight points with a +6 rating despite averaging less than 10 minutes per game.

The 6’3″, 183-lb winger has frequently flexed to center at points this season for the Flames, winning 54 of his 126 faceoffs for a 42.9% win rate. His point totals were quite impressive given his high defensive zone usage, but he was likely due for some regression while shooting 22.2% on only nine shots on goal.

However, Kirkland had made a name for himself in shootouts. He scored three times on four attempts, helping Calgary to a 3-0-1 record in games that went past overtime.

Kirkland’s final appearance this season came on Nov. 29 against the Blue Jackets. He skated just 1:05 before sustaining the ACL tear and leaving the game. He’s missed the two games since with what the Flames initially termed a lower-body injury and landed on injured reserve on Monday.

A 2014 third-round pick of the Predators, Kirkland was a Group VI unrestricted free agent last summer and returned to the Flames, with whom he spent the 2019-20 through 2021-22 seasons in the minors, on a one-year, two-way pact. 2024-25 will go down as his only professional season to date without a minor-league assignment that resulted in games played.

Kirkland is the second Flames forward to have their season cut short by an ACL surgery. Offseason pickup Anthony Mantha underwent the same procedure last month after recording four goals and three assists in 13 games.

Kirkland’s interminable absence should create added opportunities for recent call-ups Walker Duehr and Jakob Pelletier, both of whom are expected to make their season debuts tomorrow against the Blues while Andrei Kuzmenko sits in the press box.

Flames Place Justin Kirkland On IR, Recall Two

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The Calgary Flames have recalled forwards Jakob Pelletier and Walker Duehr, two of the top three scorers for the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers. They’ve made room for the call-ups by assigning forward Adam Klapka to the minor leagues, and placing Justin Kirkland on injured reserve. This latter move was first reported by Ryan Pike of Flames Nation. Kirkland left Calgary’s Friday loss to Columbus early with a lower-body injury. He sat out of the team’s Saturday game, and will now miss at least three more games while on IR.

Pelletier and Duehr have been core pieces of the Wranglers roster over the last month. They both have 19 points in 20 games, with Duehr’s scoring split as 11 goals and eight assists and Pelletier posting three goals and 16 assists. Duehr has been particularly red-hot, with eight points in his last 10 games. He also boasts more NHL experience between the two, stepping into 68 games across the last four seasons and scoring an evenly-split 18 points. Pelletier has played 37 NHL games of his own across the last three seasons, netting four goals and 10 points. Neither of the two have found their stride at the top flight just yet, but stand as two of Calgary’s top prospects outside of the NHL – especially Pelletier, who was selected 26th-overall in the 2019 NHL Draft.

One of the two will likely slot into Calgary’s lineup right away, set to fill Klapka’s role on the fourth-line wing. Right-shot Duehr seems the sensible choice. Klapka will return to the minors after playing through six NHL games with no scoring. He has five goals and eight points in seven AHL games this year, and potted 46 points in 65 games last season. He’ll get a chance to return to that level of production on this assignment, while hoping his Wranglers teammates don’t leapfrog him on the depth chart.

Flames Recall Justin Kirkland, Place Kevin Rooney On IR

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The Flames announced today they’d recalled center/left wing Justin Kirkland from AHL Calgary. He could make his season debut tomorrow against the Flyers. In a corresponding move, fellow center Kevin Rooney was placed on injured reserve, opening up the necessary spot on the 23-man roster to recall Kirkland, per Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet 960.

Kirkland, 28, has never played an NHL game for the Flames but is quite familiar with the organization. The Predators selected him in the third round of the 2014 draft, but he was non-tendered in 2019 and landed with the Flames as a free agent. He spent the next three seasons playing for their AHL affiliate, the Stockton Heat, scoring 33 goals and 50 assists for 83 points in 135 games. Only after leaving the Calgary organization would Kirkland make his NHL debut, skating in nine games for the Coyotes and Ducks over the past two seasons. He posted a combined -3 rating and six shots on goal but is still looking for his first NHL point.

The lanky 6’3″ forward is a playmaker, first and foremost. He spent last year in Arizona, primarily with their AHL affiliate in Tucson. He posted eight goals and 22 assists for 30 points in 43 games for the Roadrunners, working out to the second-highest per-game production of his AHL career. His best offensive season came back in Stockton in 2021-22 when he placed fourth on the team with 25 goals and 48 points in 66 games.

A UFA last summer, Kirkland returned to Calgary on a two-way deal worth $775K in the NHL and $200K in the minors. He can spend up to 30 days on the NHL roster or play 10 games before he needs waivers to return to the Wranglers.

Rooney, 31, was in the lineup for Wednesday’s season opener against the Canucks but left the game in the first period after taking a heavy hit from Vancouver center J.T. Miller. He was listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury yesterday. The IR placement means he’ll miss seven days retroactive to the date of the injury, so he’s automatically been ruled out of their next three games. The soonest he’s eligible to return is Oct. 18 against the Kraken.

Rooney made 33 appearances last season after shoulder surgery delayed his debut until after the New Year. The fourth-line checker averaged 11:13 per game, posting three goals and an assist while laying 65 hits. They were all clean, as he only received one minor penalty all season. He’s logged time for the Wranglers in the past two seasons and could be a candidate to land on waivers if there isn’t a clear spot for him in the lineup upon his return.

Flames, Justin Kirkland Agree To Two-Way Deal

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The Flames have signed center/left winger Justin Kirkland to a two-way deal, per a team announcement. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

Kirkland, 27, has seen NHL spot duty the last two seasons after playing the previous six in the AHL without a call-up. After skating in his first seven NHL games with the Ducks in 2022-23, Kirkland landed a one-year, two-way deal with the Coyotes last summer after reaching UFA status early via a Group VI designation. In Arizona, he added two major league games to his career tally, laying five hits and averaging 7:14 per game in an early January call-up.

He remains a strong minor-league scoring forward, even if he’s still in search of his first NHL point. A third-round pick of the Predators back in 2014, he made 43 appearances for AHL Tucson last year, recording eight goals and 22 assists for 30 points.

Kirkland now returns for his second stint in the Flames organization, where he had a career-high 25 goals and 48 points with AHL Stockton in 2021-22. He spent three seasons in Stockton on consecutive one-year, two-way deals from the Flames beginning when the Preds didn’t qualify him upon completion of his entry-level contract in 2019.

He’s the second major veteran addition to Calgary’s group of projected minor-leaguers this fall, joining 30-year-old Czech sharp-shooter Martin Frk. They’ll help anchor an AHL Calgary offense that’s likely to include a pair of first-round picks in Matthew Coronato (2021) and Samuel Honzek (2023).

Coyotes Reassign Justin Kirkland, Steven Kampfer

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Feb. 5: Kampfer and Kirkland were returned to the minors late Sunday night, the team said. It’s unclear why both players were brought up for such a short stint on a non-game day.

Feb. 4: The Coyotes recalled forward Justin Kirkland and defenseman Steven Kampfer from AHL Tucson on Sunday, according to a team statement.

Arizona last recalled Kirkland, 27, before the All-Star break on an emergency basis, although he was scratched for their Jan. 27 loss to the Hurricanes. The eight-year AHL veteran logged two games with the Coyotes in early January, recording one shot on goal and winning eight out of 12 faceoffs in 14 total minutes of ice time.

After joining the Coyotes on a one-year deal last summer, Kirkland has notched two goals and 15 assists for 17 points through 21 games in Tucson. His 0.81 points-per-game average is the highest of his AHL career.

His latest stint on the NHL roster will likely be brief. He comes up to serve as an extra forward in case recent waiver pickup Adam Ružička, who is still working through the immigration process after being claimed from the Flames 10 days ago, is unable to join the team by their Feb. 8 game against the Golden Knights. However, PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reports Ružička is likely to join the squad by Tuesday, so Kirkland may get sent down within the next 72 hours.

Kampfer’s recall could be more permanent. The 35-year-old is slated to be the seventh defenseman on the active roster as Mathew Dumba and Troy Stecher remain on injured reserve for the foreseeable future.

If he plays, it will be Kampfer’s first NHL game in almost three years. The Ann Arbor, Michigan, native last suited up in May 2021 with the Bruins and has spent the last three seasons with Russia’s Ak Bars Kazan and in the AHL with the Red Wings and Coyotes organizations. He’s played sparingly with Tucson this year, only suiting up 18 times in 43 games, but he’s recorded four assists and a +3 rating while assuming the captaincy. Kampfer has 15 goals, 39 points and a -1 rating across 231 NHL games with the Bruins, Panthers, Rangers, and Wild since entering the league in 2010.

Evening Snapshots: Chytil, Hayden, Kirkland

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1/26: The Arizona Coyotes have reversed Justin Kirkland’s assignment to Tuscon, recalling the forward on an emergency basis.

1/25: A few days ago, reporting suggested that the New York Rangers had no clear timeline for the return of Filip Chytil, who has been out of the lineup with an upper-body injury since November 2nd. In a positive development this afternoon, it was reported that Chytil has resumed skating, and was back on the ice today for practice albeit in a non-contact jersey (X Link).

With Jonny Brodzinski the current center on the team’s third-line, seeing the return of Chytil to the active roster would almost certainly improve the team’s center depth for their stretch run into the playoffs. Having only played 10 of the team’s 47 games, Chytil has tallied a total of six assists on the year with no goals.

Just now returning to the ice, it will likely be a few more weeks until Chytil is ready to return, but at the very least it is now on the team’s horizon. As one of the more dominant teams in the league at the beginning of the season, the Rangers are 3-5-2 in their last 10 games, averaging 2.6 goals a game; showing a clear need for an offensive jolt.

Other snapshots:

  • Having been recalled a few days ago on January 19th, the Seattle Kraken have returned forward John Hayden to their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, per a team announcement. Over the callup, Hayden went scoreless in two games for Seattle, and will now return to a Firebirds team where he has four goals and 10 points in 33 games. In a similar role this season within the Kraken organization, with a relatively clean bill of health down the middle of the ice this year, Seattle has not needed to utilize Hayden down the middle of the ice in the bottom of the lineup.
  • Continuing his call-up carousel, the Arizona Coyotes reassigned forward Justin Kirkland to their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, to create a roster spot for newly claimed forward Adam Ruzicka. Now having been recalled on four separate occasions, Kirkland has managed only two games in Arizona, going scoreless in both contests. Conversely, at the AHL level, Kirkland is in the midst of a highly productive season, scoring two goals and 16 points in 18 games for the Roadrunners.

Coyotes Troy Stecher Out Four-To-Six Weeks With Lower-Body Injury

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The Arizona Coyotes have announced that defenseman Troy Stecher is out four to six weeks with a lower-body injury. Stecher has appeared in 42 of Arizona’s 44 games this season. He’s recorded five points, 20 penalty minutes, and a +7.

Stecher is in his second stint with the Arizona Coyotes, starting last season with the team but getting traded to the Calgary Flames ahead of the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline. He re-signed in Arizona on July 1st, inking a one-year, $1.1MM contract. The Coyotes are one of five NHL teams that Stecher has played for, with his career headlined by four seasons with the Vancouver Canucks. Stecher has accumulated 482 career NHL games and 108 career points – an impressive mark for the undrafted defender who didn’t sign his first pro contract until his age-22 season – joining the AHL’s Utica Comets for four games in the 2016-17 season.

The Coyotes’ depth will be tested with Stecher set to miss significant time. The team is already facing injuries to Barrett Hayton, Travis Boyd, and Vladislav Kolyachonok – limiting their ability to ice an ideal lineup. The Yotes will have to turn to Juuso Valimaki, who has operated as the team’s seventh defenseman recently and has six points in 30 appearances this season. This injury likely also means an expanded role for Josh Brown and Michael Kesselring – a duo that’s operated as the team’s bottom pairing in recent outings.

Coyotes Recall Justin Kirkland On Emergency Basis

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The Coyotes have made a move to add some more forward depth before their game on Monday against Pittsburgh, announcing (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled winger Justin Kirkland from AHL Tucson on an emergency basis.

This is the fourth recall of the last month for the 27-year-old but his playing time over the first three was limited to just two appearances where he averaged just 7:14 per game.  Kirkland has done well in limited action with the Roadrunners, however, collecting 16 points in 18 games; he’s nearly up to his AHL point total from last season already in 14 fewer appearances.

Arizona currently has just 12 forwards on its active roster and one of those – Nick Schmaltz – has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury.  Head coach Andre Tourigny told reporters today including Remy Mastey of The Hockey News that he doesn’t expect that Schmaltz will be available to play against the Penguins.  The Coyotes have dressed seven blueliners since then but with Kirkland’s presence on the roster, they’ll now have the option to go with the typical twelve-forward alignment.

Arizona Coyotes Reassign Justin Kirkland

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The Arizona Coyotes have reassigned forward Justin Kirkland to their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners.

The move comes just as forward Jason Zucker’s suspension is set to expire. Kirkland made his Coyotes debut on January 7th, and played a total of two games on this most recent call-up. He averaged around seven minutes of ice time per game, registering one shot on goal, a shot block, and five hits.

The 27-year-old pivot is a former 25-goal scorer in the AHL who made his NHL debut last season with the Anaheim Ducks. He’s scored 13 points in just 12 games in Tucson so far this season, and now returned there he will likely resume his top-end offensive role with the club.

While he’s back in the AHL for the foreseeable future, it’s not out of question that Kirkland receives another NHL recall. He brings size, versatility, and has shown he can score at the AHL level. Continuing his solid AHL production from the start of this season will be a top priority for him moving forward if he wants to get another shot at a call-up to the NHL roster.

Central Notes: Mrazek, Drouin, Kirkland, Thornton

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Even with a handful of teams believed to be looking for goalie help, the market for Blackhawks netminder Petr Mrazek isn’t likely to be too strong.  As a result, Mark Lazerus of The Athletic feels (subscription link) it might be more likely that Chicago winds up extending the netminder over dealing him for what’s likely to be a limited return.  The 31-year-old has put up a .903 SV% in 25 games this season, a very respectable number on a team that’s in a battle for the bottom of the standings once again.  He currently carries a cap hit of $3.8MM and while it’s unlikely an extension would come in at that amount, keeping him around on a short-term extension to allow Drew Commesso to have a bit more time to develop with AHL Rockford would make some sense, especially if the trade market isn’t likely to yield much in return.

Elsewhere in the Central:

  • After a rough start with his new team, Avalanche winger Jonathan Drouin has settled in nicely and is in the middle of a strong stretch where he has 17 points in his last 22 games. To that end, Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now evaluates the feasibility of trying to sign the 28-year-old to a contract extension.  Drouin is playing on a deal worth $825K this season, opting for a short-term agreement in the hopes of establishing a better market next summer.  His performance is worth a fair bit more than that but with Colorado’s cap situation, they’ll still be capped at a lower-cost offer.  That said, if Drouin wants some stability and to stay in a good situation, he could be amenable to the possibility of re-signing now.
  • The shuffling of Justin Kirkland continues. After being sent back down yesterday, the Coyotes announced (Twitter link) that the winger has been recalled from AHL Tucson.  It’s his third recall in the last two weeks although he has yet to make an appearance yet with Arizona.  Meanwhile, the 27-year-old has been productive with the Roadrunners, recording 13 points in 12 games so far.
  • Still with Arizona, while not yet announced by the Coyotes, the team has loaned goaltender Anson Thornton back to OHL Barrie, notes Colts color commentator Gene Pereira. The 20-year-old signed as an undrafted free agent with Arizona back in 2021 but has been injured for most of the season, being limited to just four appearances with Tucson where he has a save percentage of just .849.  With the CHL trade deadline coming next week, he may find himself on the move at that level in the coming days.

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