Goaltending
Goalies in the system. (in no particular order):
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Kipper - 6'2". Thanks for everything Kipper!
Brian Elliott - 6'2" Traded for a 2nd round pick in the 2016 draft. Had the 2nd lowest goals against and the league's highest save % this past season. Treliving's answer to find a clear cut starter.
Ortio - 6'1". Will be pushing for a full time NHL job wit
There's a big difference between signing an aging goalie (Hiller, Smith, etc) vs signing a great goalie still in his prime (Bishop, Andersen, Allen, Elliott, lesser extent MAF). Those kinds of signings give the team the best chance to be a contender, for now and likely the next 5 years. If they still ended up being a middle of the pack team, then goaltending is not the issue.
I'm not sure why you keep harping on goalie development on the Flames. Ortio has never shown consistent numbers