It's been a difficult season from start to finish for the Calgary Flames. Last year's biggest surprise possesses the worst record in the Western Conference, and there's a direct correlation with their atrocious goaltending.

Calgary's struggles in goal have been magnified during a seven-game losing streak in which they've given up 28 goals - an average of four goals against per game. It's easy to pinpoint why the Flames are a serious contender in the Auston Matthews sweepstakes: Despite sitting 11th in shots against per game this season, they're second-last with 203 goals against.

The Flames are tied for last with the Arizona Coyotes with a combined 3.21 goals against average. They also possess an .899 save percentage, which could be a lot worse, if not for occasionally good play from Karri Ramo. However, in front of a solid defensive core of Mark Giordano, T.J. Brodie, and Dougie Hamilton that's definitely limiting scoring opportunities, the aforementioned numbers are unacceptable.

The Flames will have roughly $23 million in available cap space next season. The majority of their cash will be allocated to significant pay raises for pending restricted free agents Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau, but outside of a few depth additions - and an entry-level deal for a high-end prospect in the draft - Calgary will need to make acquiring a No. 1 goaltender its biggest priority.

Here are three goalies the Flames should target in the offseason:

James Reimer

Reimer could certainly be a good fit in Calgary, especially when considering his connection to president of hockey operations Brian Burke. The 27-year-old is in the prime of his career, and he's shown he can post good numbers despite playing on the worst team in the league.

With the Toronto Maple Leafs, who sit dead last in the NHL standings, Reimer posted a 2.49 GAA and .918 save percentage in 32 games (29 starts). These are solid numbers - his best since a playoff-bound season in 2012-13 - when considering the team he was playing for.

Although Reimer hasn't had the opportunity to play more than 37 games in a single season, the talent is there. He'll surely be looking for a pay raise this offseason, but there may be no better opportunity to finally receive a shot at being a true No. 1 than in Calgary. That alone should give both sides something to think about come July 1.

Ben Bishop

It will be an interesting summer for the Tampa Bay Lightning. They have roughly $17 million in cap space, but more than half of it will be used to try to resign pending unrestricted free agent Steven Stamkos. If the Lightning can re-sign their superstar, they'll need to make some difficult roster decisions.

Nikita Kucherov - a pending restricted free agent - is due for a significant pay raise. Alex Killorn, J.T. Brown, Cedric Paquette, Vladislav Namestnikov, and Nikita Nesterov are also restricted free agents at the end of the year. And, of course, key top-six forwards Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson are a year away from big raises as well. There's no other way around it: someone has to go.

With youngster Andrei Vasilevskiy seemingly lined up as their goaltender of the future, Ben Bishop could be a prime offseason target for the Flames. The Lightning likely won't be able to pay him what he's looking for a year from now, and may elect to move away from their No. 1 goalie when he still has a year remaining on his contract at the end of the season.

With a career .920 save percentage in 218 games, and a run to the Stanley Cup finals last season, there's no doubt the 6-foot-7 backstop is a legit No. 1 goalie. He could be everything Calgary needs to take the next step, they just need to find a way to make it happen.

Frederik Andersen

Andersen is enjoying a solid campaign for the Anaheim Ducks, which is certainly a trend in his brief career. However, he's mired in yet another 1A/1B situation with John Gibson. The 22-year-old Gibson is without a doubt the goalie of the future, and the Ducks may certainly look to give him the reins beyond this season. This makes Andersen available on the trade market.

The pending restricted free agent has posted a .919 save percentage in 117 NHL games, and has proven he can perform even when his team doesn't. When the Ducks started the season with a shocking 1-7-2 record, he possessed a 2.05 GAA and .932 save percentage in eight starts.

The 26-year-old has also been near unbeatable in 2016, posting an impressive record of 11-1-2 in his last 14 starts. Equipped with a big frame at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, Andersen - who is just entering the prime of his career - would definitely be a sound, and perhaps cheaper, addition in Calgary.

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Welcome back to another edition of On the Fly, theScore's roundtable series. With the trade deadline in the rearview mirror, we're making three predictions for the final few weeks of the regular season.

Maple Leafs will finish 30th

Justin Cuthbert: It's Toronto, of course. Though maybe it's Calgary.

It was Toronto and another Albertan city until about 10 days ago, before Edmonton Oilers head coach Todd McLellan simply had enough. You can't blame the failures of an organization on one dude, but the Oilers have simply been a different team since banishing Justin Schultz. Check out the performances since. They're not finishing with a 20 percent chance at Auston Matthews.

The Flames will have a much tougher schedule than the Maple Leafs. But what should separate these two teams in the end, aside from the Flames' four-point bulge, is that Calgary already has proven goal-scorers capable of stealing points, while the eyes of those in skill positions on the Maple Leafs are still wide.

And while Garret Sparks has been good, and Jonathan Bernier has been better of late, it's simply not possible to make up a deficit scoring one or two goals, max, each night.

McDavid will win the Calder

Navin Vaswani: With all due respect to Chicago Blackhawks forward Artemi Panarin, the Oilers employ the NHL's best rookie: Connor McDavid. And by the time the season ends, McDavid, who missed three months due to a broken clavicle, will have closed the gap enough to win the Calder Trophy.

You can see it when McDavid's on the ice - he's on another level. He possesses phenomenal speed and his hockey sense is clearly higher than his peers'. And he only turned 19 in January, while Panarin, 24, spent parts of seven seasons in the KHL.

This isn't a knock on Panarin - he's an excellent hockey player playing on an incredible team. But McDavid's better, and no rational Blackhawks supporter can say otherwise.

McDavid had 17 points in 12 games in February - four more points than Panarin's put up in any month. He's got three points in two games in March. As the Oilers play out another lost season, McDavid's the reason to watch. He's the rookie of the year. (And the Philadelphia Flyers ruin everything.)

Lightning will win the Atlantic

Ian McLaren: With Steven Stamkos locked in for at least the rest of the season, the Jonathan Drouin distraction pushed off to the sidelines, and a now relatively healthy roster, the Tampa Bay Lightning are once again the team to beat in the Atlantic Division.

Stamkos has been red-hot since general manager Steve Yzerman declared he would not be traded, while a return to health for key players further down the lineup gives Tampa a depth up front that is difficult to handle.

Even though Drouin wasn't flipped prior to the deadline in order to shore up the roster for a long playoff run, the Lightning have almost caught the cross-state rival Florida Panthers for first place in the division, and will do so before the end of the season.

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Though head coach Alain Vigneault assured reporters that goaltender Henrik Lundqvist wasn't dealing with "anything serious" after Thursday's loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, it appears the New York Rangers are being extra cautious with the 34-year-old.

The Rangers recalled goalie Magnus Hellberg from the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack on Friday and announced Antti Raanta will get the start that night against the Washington Capitals, according to Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News.

Lundqvist left during the second period of Thursday's game to treat neck spasms after a collision with defenseman Ryan McDonagh, but was apparently well enough to throw the net off its moorings in frustration shortly after the collision.

Hellberg, 24, is sporting a 22-16-2 record with a .919 save percentage in 40 games with Hartford this season.

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With an assist Thursday, Florida Panthers forward Jaromir Jagr reached another incredible milestone, tying Gordie Howe for third on the NHL's all-time scoring list with 1,850 career points.

Jagr reached point No. 1,850 in fewer games than both Howe and Messier - No. 2 all-time - but like both, reached the milestone past age 40. The No. 1 player is a completely different story - as Wayne Gretzky caught Mr. Hockey at age 28 in 1989.

Reaching 1,850 points

While Gretzky, in most cases, remains an outlier - the longevity of the other three players' careers is one of the biggest factors in their scoring success. Despite all having long careers, the oldest all four players finished an NHL season at the same age was at 36. Although Gretzky clearly outpaced the others during his 20s, it's striking how all four produced at a similar pace later in their careers.

Age 36 season

Howe may be most famous for playing at an advanced age, retiring at age 51, but that came after a nine-year absence from the NHL. He retired from the Detroit Red Wings in 1971, but signed in the WHA in 1973, and went on to rack up 508 points over six seasons while playing with sons Mark and Marty.

It's hard to say how many more points a healthy Howe would've added in another nine seasons, but you can ask a similar question about Jagr. He missed prime-production years due to three separate lockouts during his career, and took a three-year stint in the KHL from 2008 to 2011.

Taking retirement seasons out of the equation, it's hard to equate the impact of the production lost by NHL games missed due to work stoppages and/or playing in rival leagues for all four legendary forwards.

* - Messier announced retirement following 2004-05 lockout, but was believed to be retiring after 2003-04 season.

But enough about the past, the question now becomes how high Jagr's totals can climb. The Czech Republic native has repeatedly stated he doesn't want to retire, and even if he's only half as productive next season, he would still likely catch Messier's mark of 1,887 points.

Projections based on points per game

With or without a sharp decline, becoming just the second player to reach the 1,900-point mark seems incredibly realistic for the winger, barring injury. If Howe could rack up multiple, 100-point seasons in the WHA in his late 40s, would a few more 50-point campaigns out of Jagr be that far-fetched?

We'll have to wait and see.

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