This is the 2025-26 edition — an archived read. Read the 2026-27 report →
Justin Kirkland
Calgary Flames Center
21 games at 29, 8 points, and a career American Leaguer getting a look.
| Season | Team | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | PP | SH | GW | S | S% | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | ANA | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0.0 | 7:13 |
| 2023-24 | ARI | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 7:14 |
| 2024-25 | CGY | 21 | 2 | 6 | 8 | +6 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 22.2 | 9:42 |
| 2025-26 so far | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Career | — | 30 | 2 | 6 | 8 | +3 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 13.3 | 8:57 |
This Season So Far
The 2025-26 season has not started. The empty row above is his, and both it and this paragraph fill in on their own from the morning after he first plays: what he has done, what it is worth against his own last season, and the run he is on when the two disagree.
Last Season
2 goals and 6 assists in 21 games for 8 points, plus-6, on 9:42 a night.
9 shots in 21 games is almost nothing, and 8 points from that volume is a small-sample curiosity rather than a finding.
The Finesse Game
Limited at this level. The hands are functional and the shot is not a threat, and there is nothing in nine professional seasons that suggests otherwise.
What he does is play a simple, structured game and not lose the puck in a dangerous place, which is the whole requirement of a thirteenth forward.
The Physical Game
6-3 and 183, and lean. He forechecks honestly and does not win many battles by force at NHL weight.
11 penalty minutes in 21 games. Too small a sample to read.
The Intangibles
A third-round pick a decade ago, hundreds of American League games, and a first meaningful NHL stretch at 29.
The realistic projection is depth. He is on this roster to be recallable and reliable, and that is a genuine job.
The numbers underneath
Usual linemates
2024-25 · 182 minutes at five-on-five
- Ryan Lomberg71%
- Kevin Rooneynow UTA39%
- Anthony Manthanow PIT15%
Share of his five-on-five ice time spent alongside each player, measured from shift charts. Special teams are excluded: a power-play unit is not a line.
Where he shoots from
goal on goal missed
22 unblocked shots in 2024-25, 5 of them goals. His median goal came from 13 feet. 27% of his shots came from inside twenty feet, 32% from beyond forty.