NHL Rumours: Calgary Flames Have Interest In Former Penguins Forward

The Calgary Flames have experienced one of the most wild off-seasons in recent memory, as their fans went from the heartbreak of losing Johnny Gaudreau, to the trade request from Matthew Tkachuk to fearing a rebuild, all the way through to now, where the team has signed long-term deals with Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri and added MacKenzie Weegar too. With one too many defencemen on the team and a need for a forward, reports have been floating around that General Manager Brad Treliving isn't done, and while there's rumours that a trade is possible, there's still some Free Agents out there than are drawing their attention. 

According to Elliot Freidman on the latest episode of 32 Thoughts the podcast, he stated that the Flames were interested in Phil Kessel before he signed with the Vegas Golden Knights, and that now he's off the board, Calgary could turn their attention to former Penguin, Evan Rodrigues. The 7-year NHL veteran put up 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points over the full 82-games in Pittsburgh last season, and with a glaring need for depth in their forward group, this is a deal that could make sense for both sides.

Currently, the Flames top-six includes Huberdeau, Elias Lindholm, Tyler Toffoli, Andrew Mangiapane, Kadri and Blake Coleman, and while they're all great players, Rodrigues could certainly fill a hole for Calgary and push Coleman down to the third line with Mikael Backlund and Dillon Dube. It's unclear at this point whether the interest is mutual, but Calgary, by all reports aren't done this off-season, and this seems like a low-risk, high-reward move that would improve an already incredible off-season even more. 

Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports