Justin Kirkland is capping off his breakout year with a terrific playoff performance

Even during his difficult 2020–21 season, during which he only appeared in 16 of Stockton’s 30 games and scored just seven points, Kirkland regularly put his howitzer of a shot on full display — albeit not nearly at the same rate as he has this year.

During his first two seasons with the Heat, Kirkland took 179 shots in 69 games. That works out to approximately 2.59 shots per game, which is a pretty good rate.

Unfortunately, Kirkland only scored on 4.5 percent of those shots. That’s a bizarrely low conversion figure for someone who can hammer the puck with such conviction.

Now, let’s take another look at Kirkland’s 2021–22 campaign. Here’s the full list of players from the entire American Hockey League who took more shots than Kirkland during the regular season:

• Stefan Noesen (Chicago) — 254 shots in 70 games
• Anthony Greco (Hartford) — 248 shots in 66 games
• Kiefer Sherwood (Colorado) — 240 shots in 57 games
• Sam Anas (Springfield) — 230 shots in 75 games
• JJ Peterka (Rochester) — 223 shots in 70 games

Kirkland ranked sixth in the league — and first on the Heat, by a mile — with 219 shots in 66 games this year. He averaged 3.32 shots per game in 2021–22, second only in Heat history to Derek Grant in 2015–16 (165 shots in 36 games, or 4.58 per game).

It’s hard to imagine the Heat coaching staff setting that high of a shots-per-game benchmark for Kirkland prior to the season. Consider that goal achieved.

Noesen, Greco, and Anas are all 29 years old. Peterka went 34th overall to the Buffalo Sabres in 2020. Sherwood is 27 and was just named to the AHL’s 2021–22 Second All-Star Team.

Unlike the five players listed above, Kirkland looks like he might be on the track of a late bloomer.

Kirkland was a decent scorer in the Western Hockey League, good enough to be selected by the Nashville Predators with the No. 62 pick in the 2014 NHL Draft. Even so, he only surpassed 25 goals in a single season once during his three full seasons with the Kelowna Rockets.

As a 19-year-old with Kelowna in 2015–16, Kirkland amassed 31 goals and 67 points in 69 games. He turned pro the next season with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals but never found much of a footing in his time as a Nashville prospect.

In June 2019, the Predators only tendered qualifying offers to pending restricted free agents Colton Sissons and Rocco Grimaldi, leaving Kirkland without a home for the first time in his professional career.

Fortunately for Kirkland, a team in his home province quickly came calling. The Camrose product signed a one-year deal to join the Calgary Flames on July 2, 2019, remaining in the organization on a year-to-year basis ever since.

“Since the very first day that I signed here and had a relationship with the Flames, I have [had] nothing but good things to say. They have treated me and my wife like family, which means a lot to us,” Kirkland said. “Everything’s been first class. It has been very special to me.”

Kirkland is a pending unrestricted free agent, although it’s easy to imagine the Flames attempting to bring him back for another season or two after his breakthrough performance in 2021–22.

The Flames’ fourth line absolutely has room for a big winger with soft hands and a lethal shot. Kirkland likely won’t command a massive payday, and Calgary isn’t very far from the spot where he put down most of his roots growing up.

“I was born in Winnipeg, lived there until I was four years old, and then moved with my family to Camrose,” Kirkland said. “It’s probably where a lot of my closest friends are.

“I went to Vikings games and I grew up a die-hard Kodiaks fan, so Camrose is still a very special place to me.”