[UFA 2021]

Should BT contact Seattle to get Vitek Vanecek as a back up to Markstrom. I would say yes maybe a middle of the road prospect and draft pick. That would give us a good 1A and 1B as well as a chance to keep him if it works out and if not maybe deal his RFA rights next year.

[Goaltending]

I think they need to be careful when resigning Rittich, yes he had an amazing year but does that mean it will continue? I would sign him to a bridge deal to see if he can continue his success then talk about a bigger deal. There is not a lot of options that are out there to replace Smith in FA. But we do need to have a 1B since we will not have a clear cut #1.  

[Goaltending]

I don't think Vasilevskiy is starter material at this point.  He doesn't have a lot of NHL games under his belt and his NHL stats aren't great.

 

I think Rittich is expected to backup Gillies in Stockton.  I wouldn't expect much more from him.  He could even end up in the ECHL.

 

I expect Ortio to be the backup this season, and I don't believe Ramo will get an offer.

Vasilevskiy is starter material right now, his stats last year were OK but remember he lost time due to that blood clot issue. So he was rusty at from the get go. Ortio is not a capable backup unless we have a starter that can go 65-70 games, Ortio's career is going to follow Ramo's go to Europe build of the confidence and maybe make it back to the NHL. Ramo may get a tryout offer and see how the injury has healed to be the backup.

[Goaltending]

Dallas doesn't get any return calls from Pittsburg if they are looking to trade one of their goalies for MAF.  How do you propose that Dallas clears their two goalies if they are trading picks?  For one thing, there are not that many teams looking for a meh goalie on a bad contract.  Buffalo already traded for Lehner last year.

 

The other side of the coin is that MAF would never waive his NMC to go to Dallas as a 1a/1b goalie.

 

Buffalo needs a backup and both contracts end at the same time the big guns for Buffalo need new contracts.With Lehner's history of injuries they would want experience and someone like Niemi could give that Stanley Cup experience. Well on the flip side also do you think MAF would waive to come to Calgary to be part of a rebuild to end his career.

 

yes they can, but like i said as of today they don't have space. I don't see any teams lining up to trade for Niemi or Lehtonen so unles Dallas wants to buy them out i'm not sure they are going to move anywhere. Agree the need is thre, but is the opporutnity on the Stars side? maybe not.

If they give away Niemi or Lehtonen I could see a team doing that, something like a 6th or 7th round pick. Just to make it work, they want to win and need to do something drastic.

[Goaltending]

He has the no move, but how many teams in the league right now can guaratnee him the starting role? As of today I think Calgary is the only franchise that would be able to acquire Fleury AND commit he would be the number 1 guy. 

 

other's team can make room but they need to make room first. Flames don't so if he wants an opporutnity this is his best shot. having said that, I agree with you that he holds some cards and I don't think Pittsburgh needs to trade him either so we shall see.

 

I'll be suprised if the flames don't have a goalie though by this time next week. Everything i've heard or read points to them acquiring one via trade and not FA so I don't think we need to wait long. 

Dallas could use a starter, they could get rid of Lehtonen or Niemi to a team that can afford a high priced backup like Buffalo. Both contracts are 2 years so it is not a long term commitment which will give Buffalo time to groom a backup. With what Dallas gave up for Kris Russell they are in a win now mode and will probably over pay for MAF if they chose. I could see Dallas moving their 1st rd pick and a prospect for MAF, and give Buffalo or what ever other team a choice of the two of their goalies for a mid level pick.

& then we sign Reimer as a UFA to reunite the TML pairing that worked so well.

Bernier is better than what we had last year, but like I said I would rather go after a younger goalie.

[Goaltending]

I am still not sure MAF will agree to come here, if Pittsburgh asks him. We are rebuilding and still not a serious playoff contender and he is on the back end of his career and just had his name put on the cup. He is in the drivers seat with a limited NMC, I am sure he would only agree to go to a contender or stay put and play out this contract. Bishop, Vasilevskiy, Bernier, Elliot are some that we may be able to get, especially Bernier may come cheap now. I still would rather go after a younger guy and bring in a experience back up as well.

[Goaltending]

IMO I would rather have a goalie that is in the 24-28 year range that we can possibly have long term on a lower salary in case Gilles or McDonald do not develop the way we think they should. In a perfect world we could get MAF and our forward prospects would be able to develop in contributors right away and in 3 years Gilles would be ready for the #1. But we all know life is not perfect so getting a younger goalie to go along with Gilles, Ortio and McDonald is ideal because there is a better chance one of them will develop in the next few years to be our #1, then who ever is left can battle for the #2 or be trade bait.

[Goaltending]

While they maybe middle of the pack defensive team, they are one of the better offensive teams. As a goalie you know you can take chances when you either have a great defensive or offence in front of you. Fleury has that luxury of knowing if he lets in a bad goal then more than likely the offence will make up for it. With Calgary he won't have that luxury. As for his cap hit, Calgary has $24.964 million in cap room, add Fleury and that brings the cap room to 19.214 with Gaudreau and Monahan still to be signed. After they sign the Flames will then have under 10 million to sign a back up goalie and round out their roster with a number of other RFA's to be signed also. If Calgary has explored every other option and are able to move out a contract like Wideman or Smid and have to look at older starters in the league that maybe available then Fleury would be the best option. But that IMO would be the last resort.

[Goaltending]

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/duhatschek-fleury-potential-transitional-guy-flames/

I really hope not, I don't like the cap hit and I think his stats are helped a little bit more by the team in front of him. I still would rather have a younger guy that can grow with the team and if Gilles is the future then when he is ready the other guy can be used as trade bait or vise versa.

[Goaltending]

Ortio isn't part of the discussion yet in my opinion. He has done nothing to show he is going to be a NHL starter to this point. Meanwhile Gilles has 7 games of pro and just missed almost an entire season and is coming off of major surgery.

We can debate which goalie the Flames should target and we can debate how much the Flames should be willing to spend. But there should be no debate that the Flames need to get someone that can be a starter next season because we have no credible options right now.

I agree that Ortio isn't part of the discussion, he actually reminds me of Ramo when he was with Tampa Bay. A good prospect that did not have the consistency needed to play in the NHL, Ortio should follow the same path as Ramo go overseas work on getting consistent and come back to the NHL and maybe have a good few years or stay overseas and carve out a pretty good career there.

Gilles injury is another reason I think that Calgary should be looking at younger backup goalies that are blocked from the starter's roll. Because we have no clue how Gilles or his body is going to react coming off that type of surgery. He could be like Demko and have no problems or he could be like DiPietro and continue to have problems. So by getting a younger goalie that is less expensive they can still keep the future bright for the Flames and not end in a goalie turnstile for the next few years.

[Goaltending]

The more I think about this, the more I think there are going to be a lot of goalies available this offseason. The expansion draft sure sounds like its a given but even outside of that its shaping up to be a busy summer for goalies.

 

 

F.Anderson

Mike smith

Varlamov/Pickard

Keumper

Halak

Fleury

Vasilevsky

I can see all of those guys being available in trade, plus available UFA, plus going after a lesser name/AHL standout, plus a team like St Louis that will need to figure out an answer too.

 

I'm not worried at all about finding a goalie. Flames have the assets and cap space to make it work and I think they are going to have a large selection to pick from.

F.Anderson- With Gibson stalling in the playoffs they may try and figure a way to keep him.

Mike smith- With his age he has become injury prone, so something I wouldn't want to deal with.

Varlamov/Pickard- Pickard is interesting, he is the type we should be looking at young and has shown well in limited action. Varly I am not sure about he is a very hot and cold goalie definitely would need a good back up for the cold nights.

Keumper- Another one like Pickard but I don't think the Wild will trade him in the division unless we over pay.

Halak- Age and injury concern.

Fleury- Large cap hit, chance Pittsburgh keeps him depending on the expansion draft how that truly plays out.

Vasilevsky- I wish but not sure if Tampa would trade him, this will depend on how the Stamkos situation plays.

I would add Philipp Grubauer to the list of possibilities, he is young has played well in both the NHL and AHL and we could get him cheaper than most. I really think Calgary should be in the Market for this years Jones or Talbot not a big name on a long term expensive contract that could hurt us in the future. But that is just my opinion.

[Calgary Flames Drafting and Development: Your Analysis]

The Pens just signed Olli Maata to a 6 yr - $25 mil extension. Not a bad AAV at just over $4mill. Janko vs Olli Maata...We still haven't seen what Janko can do but I'd rather have drafted Maata. He's already grown into a to #1-2 D man, whereas we can only hope Janko will be NHL ready someday. One of Feaster and co. biggest fails IMO

I would have rather stayed in our original spot (instead of trading down)and taken Andrei Vasilevskiy. Janko is NHL ready in many ways IMO he may need a season or 2 in the A to get used to the speed difference from college but I think he will be a very good NHL player, maybe not as good as Maata but you never know until you see him in the pro game.

[Goaltending]

I didn't like what I saw from Ortio aside from a few good games over the last two years prior to this season. I never really expected him to make it. His style is unorthodox and leaves his top corners open. Players at the NHL are too good to not expose that, and did.

Also, he regressed really fast after having one good game, following it up with stinkers.

I agree, I said this before Ortio is far from consistent in his play, he has shown that in his career in North America that he can put together a good season and we think he has turned the corner but then follow it up with a poor season. I can see him returning oversees this summer and maybe comeback at some point like Ramo did. 

[Goaltending]

_{I don't think Tampa moves Bishop because they have a number of other bad contracts that they could move before they move their starting goalie (Filppula, Callahan, Stralman etc) They would move one or two of those with a younger player like Namestnikov, Kucherov to get the money they need to resign Stamkos. I say this because if they trade Bishop and still do not resign Stamkos then they just lost their best Forward and starting goalie for very little since in any trade they will not want to take on Salary unless it comes off the books this summer.}

_{As for getting someone younger my thinking is we want a goalie to grow into our system, think of it like this when Hamilton got here we all thought we have another top 2 defenseman that will put us over the top, but we saw him struggle at the beginning and now as he get's more comfortable we are seeing the player we thought we got from the beginning. That is my reasoning to go after a goalie that has the capabilities of being a starter but maybe stuck behind someone. Another reason behind this is that Bernier maybe a long term solution but with only a year left on his contract is he going to look for a similar contract or more, that is a good possibility and with having to sign some of our younger players coming off entry level contracts. I stay the best option is to find that back up on the verge of being a number 1 but is stuck behind someone. That is why I mentioned a player like Vasilevskiy because Tampa has other young promising goalies, we would take on a bad contract for to get him but it would cost us very little.} 

[Goaltending]

You have to have the right opportunity to present itself when it comes to trades, also you have to be careful what you give up. Hiller provided us with a veteran for some stability in net while we commenced the rebuild. he was a FA that we didn't have to give up any good pieces to obtain.

Hiller and Ramo have provided average goaltending and I don't think anyone will dispute maintaining the hunt for a better answer.

I agree that it has to be the right opportunity and not to jump on someone because of stats or status according to scouts. Hiller did provide that and I reread my post and should have clarified that when I meant younger I meant someone that we could have got more than 2 years out of. Of course a lot of us believed the Orito could become that #1 goalie, which is maybe why Hiller was brought in to bridge that gap until he was ready, but I think we all see now that he is the same goalie we saw in the beginning no consistency. We have 2 young prospects in Gilles and McDonald that are unknown at this point (If Gilles wasn't injured it would have made things easier), Orito is a backup at best but probably headed over seas soon and Ramo and Hiller are not the future. If Bishop and Bernier had longer at least 3-4 more years I would be more comfortable with bringing them in on a trade at the right price but both have 1 year left after this year and are going to be expensive to resign. I would love to pluck Vasilevskiy from Tampa but they need $ and unless we take on another bad contract that won't happen (all the bad contracts have at least 2 + years left). Another option is Grubauer out of Washington, which may be easier with Washington having the Future #1 in the system in Ilya Samsonov but again it may cost more than I would like to see.   

[Goaltending]

The only issue I have with trading for Bernier, Bishop or another goalie of the same age is the fact that we are still rebuilding and I don't want to become the Oilers in a few years. If you look at their goaltending history after guys like Andy Moog and Grant Fuhr were gone they tried to keep winning by trading or signing similar aged goalies. Goalies tend to last until around 32 (just did a little comparison) then they start to lose what they had. So we would have a solid 4-5 years with these guys in the hopes that we have a back up plan with McDonald or Gillies but if one or both do not pan out we could end up in goalie hell. I was not a big fan of them signing Hiller, I wanted to see them go after a younger goalie. If you want to look at a successful team look at Detroit, Osgood took over for Vernon, Howard took over for Osgood and now it looks like Mrazek will be replacing Howard. So since 96-97 they have had 2 clear cut starters in Howard and Osgood with backups being either the next in line or a inexpensive vet. I would rather see them go after a younger goalie that may give us a chance at having a starter for the next 10 years, guys like a Vasilevskiy, Gudlevskis, Fucale or Campbell and pair them with Ramo for the next 2-3 years then they become a full time starter and Gillies or McDonald can back up and be in line to take over (Although that would be hard for Gillies because of his age already). Will this idea work better than going after a Bernier maybe or maybe not but for me rebuilding means at all positions, we have the young Forwards we need to move forward and a good mix of young D but still a ? on the future of our goaltending.

[Goaltending]

But who? Kristers is going to get the #1 in TB because of the cap. Who could we target?

I doubt he would be the #1 even if they traded Bishop, Andrei Vasilevskiy is Tampa's future in Net, Kristers would be a backup.

This sounds a lot like the Oilers and Cam Talbot. How has that worked out for them. Do you really think we can find another Kipper?

This sounds a lot like the Oilers and Cam Talbot. How has that worked out for them. Do you really think we can find another Kipper?

It could be but then again what did people think when we got Kipper, he was a stop gap until Turek was back and then he remained as the #1 for the next 9 years. We could find the next Kipper or the next Talbot, but then again signing a vet doesn't mean we get that same player he was with the other team.  

[Goaltending]

What about looking at a younger goalie who is blocked from having a chance to become a starter in the NHL. A guy like Kristers Gudlevskis who has shown good potential. Then add a vet this off season to help groom him or Gilles. We are starting to have a good mix of Vets and young stars on both offense or defense now we need that in goal.

[Goaltending]

I have a hard time getting past this first sentence, personally.

I amended it, sorry guess working hours got to me when writing it.   

[Goaltending]

You are comparing a 20 year old rookie who had never played pro hockey to a 27 year old pro? Not valid comparison. I don't like that people seem willing to grant Berra this long leash by saying oh well he is an NHL rookie, that's hogwash. Nicklas backstrom didn't need time to adjustment neither did Jonas hillier or Federick Andersen, and in fact most European goalies who Are any good don't take that much time to adjust. It's an adjustment,It's not like a rookie who has to learn a whole new game.

Calgary is 3rd last in the NHL and statistically has the worst goaltending, I believes I n the NHL so sorry no they do not have capable goaltending and yes the goalie experiment hs work out jus to Ike many of us thought it would. Not very well.

Yes Berra is 27 years old and was a pro in Swiss League A which is a lot different then the NHL, so comparing them is valid because the stats listed were at the times they were both rookies and it shows that MAF took longer to get used to the NHL style of play. The only difference is Berra is a little more mature physically and mentally because of his age. Those goalies you mentioned did not need much time to adjust I agree but they also had playoff caliber teams in front of them and a veteran goalie with them on the team so that is not really valid either. The statement I put in bold print means we all now know how you feel about Joni Orito who was shelled the first 2 times he tried to play in the AHL. But I am sure you going to use the age thing again, which is a invalid argument because age is only 1 small factor in the whole package. Both Berra and Ramo have proved they belong in the NHL, Calgary is 25th out of 30 teams in GAA which is better then many fans they would have expected at the start of the year so as much as you want to say they don't have capable goaltending there are 5 teams that would like have at least one of these guys on their team.  

 

http://www.nhl.com/ice/teamstats.htm?fetchKey=20142ALLSAAAll&sort=avgGoalsAgainstPerGame&viewName=summary 

[Goaltending]

Remember how you like, but for me kipper was a classic case of a guy just needing n opportunity and was not a case of someone who was non NHL quality. His first 20 to 30 games int he NHL were pretty impressive and he also was an AHL all star. Remember the flames had to give up a 2nd round pick to get him which is not exactly chump change. It's easy to revise history now but San Jose clearly knew they had an NHL goalie otherwise e price would have been significantly lower. It's also not true that they would not have acquired him, Sutter was actually shopping for a goalie that whole season and had two in mind. It came down to kipper and apparently Cujo, but Sutter went with kipper because he couldn't make cujos salary work under his budget. The flames were acquiring a goalie under Sutter as Sutter never gave turek any vote of confidence.

Goalies with save % under 90 are not keeping you in a lot of games and the amount of weak goals he lets in are not NHL calibre. He doesn't cost then a ton of games but he has cost then more then one and the type so f goals he seems to let in frequently are back breakers.

Marc-Andre Fleury's stats in his first 2 seasons in the NHL

2003-2004 PENGUINS 21 4 14 2 - 1 70 675 .896 3.64 1,154 2005-2006 PENGUINS 50 13 27 - 6 1 152 1,485 .898 3.25 2,809

Both seasons under .900 save % so I guess he is not a NHL caliber goalie either. Yes Berra has let in his fair share of weak goals but he also has made his fair share of amazing saves that should have went in. Every goalie in this league or any league let's in weak goals. His save % is barely under .900 and even at his age he is still a rookie to NA hockey some European goalies can come right over and thrive and some take a little longer. Say what you will about Calgary's goal tending but coming into this year everybody thought that it was terrible and that we were going to be the laughing stock of the league but Ramo and Berra have proven they are capable of keeping games close and giving us a chance.