It seems less and less likely that Miikka Kiprusoff will be in Calgary next season.
Flames GM Jay Feaster confirmed as much on Wednesday, saying the 37-year-old goalie was leaning towards retirement when the two conversed last week.
It’s not surprising to hear talk of Kipper hanging up his skates, as he struggled through an injury-plagued 2013 campaign.
He missed a large chunk of time to a knee injury, and looked out of sorts when he did play, posting an 8-14-2 record with a 3.44 GAA and .882 save percentage.
What’s more, he watched as the Flames tore down in prep for a major rebuild, trading away the likes of Jay Bouwmeester, Jarome Iginla and Blake Comeau at the deadline.
Kiprusoff has one year remaining on his six-year, $35 million deal. But because it was front-loaded, he would only earn $1.5 million in salary next season -- and if he did retire, the Flames would be off the hook for his $5.83 million cap hit.
To that end, Feaster has prepped for life after Kiprusoff by locking up a number of goalies over the last few months.
He signed Karri Ramo out of the KHL, gave Joey MacDonald a one-year extension and inked both Joni Ortio and Laurent Brossiot to entry-level deals.