Flames have free agent options if they're still looking to add up front

Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

As busy as Calgary Flames General Manager Brad Treliving has been of late, he might not be done just yet.

Treliving, whose active offseason includes losing Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk while returning Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar, still has a little bit of cap space to play with should he entertain a few further moves.

In fact, the GM — who also re-upped Oliver Kylington and Andrew Mangiapane to multi-year contracts before their set arbitration dates and handed out the richest contract in club history to Huberdeau shortly thereafter — has over $2.7 million remaining to play with, according to CapFriendly.

That figure includes 12 forwards, seven defencemen, and two goaltenders currently under contract, but fails to take into consideration Sean Monahan’s $6.375 million set to return to the roster once cleared from another offseason hip surgery. Nor does it take into consideration a potential deal for restricted free agent Adam Ruzicka.

Still, there’s a tiny bit of wiggle room for Treliving to help bolster his depth up front, and a plethora of candidates set to be had on bargain contracts.

And the Flames might make an interesting landing spot for any of them.

Phil Kessel could be among them. The right-shot right-wing produced just eight goals in 82 games last season for the Arizona Coyotes while shooting an NHL career-worst 4.6%, but he still managed a respectable 44 assists and 52 points — which would’ve ranked him fifth in Flames scoring last season.

Calgary’s current allotment up front, as it stands today, likely sees either Andrew Mangiapane on his off wing with Dillon Dube elevated to top-six duty, or an experiment of Tyler Toffoli on the top line with Huberdeau and Elias Lindholm. That’d leave Mangiapane and Mikael Backlund skating alongside Blake Coleman.

An addition of Kessel, though, could give coach Darryl Sutter plenty of pieces to play with.

So too would 26-year-old Sonny Milano.

Milano set NHL career-highs in games (66), goals (14), assists (20), and points (34) with the Anaheim Ducks last season, but remains an unrestricted free agent well into August. He also showed well on the analytics side, registering a team-best shot attempt percentage at 57%, and a team-leading expected goals percentage at 58.1%, according to MoneyPuck.

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Evan Rodrigues, 28, also remains unemployed.

Rodrigues also enjoyed career highs in goals (19), assists (24), and points (43) while skating primarily in a third-line role with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He’s coming off a one-year, $1 million contract. He can play both down the middle and on the wing, adding some flexibility to whatever roster he eventually joins.

A more mature fit might be centre Paul Stastny.

The Flames are currently expected to slot Lindholm and Backlund down the middle as the top two pivots, and Monahan’s status — he had an NHL career-low in goals (8) and points (23) in 65 games and is an unrestricted free agent at season’s end — leaves a little bit up in the air down the middle for Calgary. The Flames did add Kevin Rooney in free agency, re-upped flexible forward Trevor Lewis, and hold Ruzicka’s rights.

Still, Stastny could make a lot of sense as a centre who could mimic Backlund’s role as a middle-six middleman who can provide pop at both ends. The 36-year-old toppled 20 goals for the first time since 2014 when he netted 21 as part of a 45-point campaign while chipping in some penalty killing responsibilities.