Goaltending

[The_People1]

34 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

I've seen why with Askarov. Some of the worst basics I've seen. Makes me wonder if that is Wallstedt too, but uncertain.

The NHL will never see another Hasek. It just doesn't fly these days imho.

 

Wallstedt looks more like a technical goaltender whereas Cossa was raw but had great athleticism for a 6'-6" guy.

[The_People1]

1 hour ago, conundrumed said:

It's going to make for an interesting preseason with Wolf vs Vladar.

Wolf will be just 21yo so I reckon another year in the A for him?

Give him a few callups to put some $$ in his pocket.

It's pretty exciting at G for us now. We'll see how Sergeev fairs at UConn, He's just 19.

Then there's Chechelev who's 21yo and we'll see what he is.

Just last year I thought our G depth was a black hole. Now we have layers of goalie prospects. It's almost surreal how quickly it's gone from a D- to an A. Good work by BT with the signings and getting the Russians to NA.

 

21 is too young for the NHL.  We've also got Vladar signed for one more season so run with Vladar next year.  Seems pretty straight forward here.  There's also the odd chance Vladar outplays Markstrom and allows us to trade Markstrom to free up $6-mil.  Then we run with Vladar/Wolf combo for cheap.

[conundrumed]

6 minutes ago, cross16 said:

 

I don't really agree that there wasn't a plan here because what have they done differently? they've always drafted goalies they just finally hit on one. They pursued many via trade and FA and they finally got a match in Markstrom. 

 

process hasn't really changed just the result which IMO speaks to the volatility of the position. 

That's a good conversation to have. It wasn't a goalie scout that found Rittich iirc.

So that raises a question or 2 about goalie scouting. Perhaps it's gotten better since then and we're seeing better results?

Say what you will about Rittich, but his mechanics were really, really good.

Can I make an argument that Rittich may have moved the needle on scouting? A better focus on the mechanics rather than stats maybe?

Conjecture, of course.

[conundrumed]

5 minutes ago, The_People1 said:

 

21 is too young for the NHL.  We've also got Vladar signed for one more season so run with Vladar next year.  Seems pretty straight forward here.  There's also the odd chance Vladar outplays Markstrom and allows us to trade Markstrom to free up $6-mil.  Then we run with Vladar/Wolf combo for cheap.

What?lol

[The_People1]

34 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

What?lol

 

Considering Markstrom's age and possible decline of course... 

[travel_dude]

1 hour ago, The_People1 said:

 

Considering Markstrom's age and possible decline of course... 

 

It's probably a ways off (hopefully).  If Vladar does well next year, he's a pending RFA with rights.  We own his soul, so we can probably re-sign him for relatively decent value.  Line it up with Markstrom's contract if possible.  If and only if Markstrom starts to decline do you start playing Vladar as a 1B goalie.  But then again, you have a different problem.  Wolf would probably need waivers by then.

 

I would think Markstrom probably has at least 2 more years of high quality goaltending.  The last two years are the only question, but he's not close to Mike Smith old by then.        

 

Let's get through Markstrom's first normal year as a starter and go from there.  High actual salary for the next two years, but in theory we have a bona fide starter.  Concentrate on other parts of the roster.  We have depth waiting in the wings, so let them develop and take Vladar's job if necessary.  Backups don't always become 1B or starters.  

[cross16]

3 hours ago, conundrumed said:

That's a good conversation to have. It wasn't a goalie scout that found Rittich iirc.

So that raises a question or 2 about goalie scouting. Perhaps it's gotten better since then and we're seeing better results?

Say what you will about Rittich, but his mechanics were really, really good.

Can I make an argument that Rittich may have moved the needle on scouting? A better focus on the mechanics rather than stats maybe?

Conjecture, of course.

 

Mackinnon (Director of pro scouting) spotted him during a game and recommend Sigalet look further. Was Sigalet who gave the go ahead to sign him. 

 

Be an interesting one debate for sure. I find the Flames tend to draft for athleticism in net so perhaps that has changed somewhat, although Wolf would fall into the more athleticism than mechanics category for me. 

 

[LouCifer]

Vladar, in his small sample of games, has been stellar. I have no recollection of a “bad goal” on him, but many memories of second and third saves he had no business making but did. He’s a gem, and under Markstrom’s tutelage, we may have another potential number 1 on our hands. 

[travel_dude]

23 minutes ago, LouCifer said:

Vladar, in his small sample of games, has been stellar. I have no recollection of a “bad goal” on him, but many memories of second and third saves he had no business making but did. He’s a gem, and under Markstrom’s tutelage, we may have another potential number 1 on our hands. 

 

It's kinda funny looking at Rittich vs Vladar.

Last year in the AHL, Vladar went .923 with a 2.19 GAA

This year in the NHL, he went .906 and 2.78 GAA

Rittich in the AHL went .924 and 2.27 GAA

First NHL year he went .904 and 2.92 GAA

 

Rittich born on August 19 in Czech Republic

Vladar born on August 20 in Czech Republic

5 years apart.

[conundrumed]

4 hours ago, cross16 said:

 

Mackinnon (Director of pro scouting) spotted him during a game and recommend Sigalet look further. Was Sigalet who gave the go ahead to sign him. 

 

Be an interesting one debate for sure. I find the Flames tend to draft for athleticism in net so perhaps that has changed somewhat, although Wolf would fall into the more athleticism than mechanics category for me. 

 

I think Wolf is off the table though. He snuck in as a 7th rder. We hardly targeted him. He's crushing it. Unreal.

That's the volatility.

Without question we targeted Vladar. That was heavily scouted. Excellent scouting, excellent find. we've come a long way in that regard imho. Everyone was all like, "What? Who's our backup?"lol It used to always be the Brian Elliott for a 2nd move.

From the Feaster era of, "best goalie not in the NHL" morphing to BT trying to put bandaids on hemorrhaging, it's fair to ask questions.

For the record, imo it probably started with Rittich. If I'm the Director of Scouting pointing it out, it's a red flag.

Bonus for Rittich though, "the Flames' Director of Scouting likes me".

Now, as td showed, it's very close.

Vladar is a mechanics goalie like a cheaper Rittich for now.. The rest is athleticism and age.

Great grab.

I get your points about the failed goalie attempts here from Gillies to Parsons to MacDonald.

I think we kinda did flavour-of-the-month stuff without scouting very well. That's changed now that BT finally came to the realization that the position is very significant.

Room for discussion.lol

[cross16]

According to Weeks Markstrom will be a Vezina finalist. Don't think that's a surprise. 

 

This is Shesterkin's to lose I think though. Will be shocked if it's not him. 

 

 

[cross16]

Now official 

 

 

[The_People1]

1 minute ago, cross16 said:

Now official 

 

 

 

What a season for Markstrom.  I was skeptical when we first signed him because of his age and a six year deal but it's so refreshing to have a stud G.  We haven't enjoyed this level of goaltending since Kiprusoff.  All worth it.

 

I don't think he wins (I think Shesterkin will win) but just to be nominated is deserved recognition.

[LouCifer]

59 minutes ago, The_People1 said:

 

What a season for Markstrom.  I was skeptical when we first signed him because of his age and a six year deal but it's so refreshing to have a stud G.  We haven't enjoyed this level of goaltending since Kiprusoff.  All worth it.

 

I don't think he wins (I think Shesterkin will win) but just to be nominated is deserved recognition.

Agreed! Way to go Marky!

[conundrumed]

1 hour ago, cross16 said:

Now official 

 

 

Very deserving. He has to be loving life now vs massive shot volumes in Van. Worth every penny. I can't believe we found a replacement for Mike Smith.lol

[sak22]

3 hours ago, conundrumed said:

Very deserving. He has to be loving life now vs massive shot volumes in Van. Worth every penny. I can't believe we found a replacement for Mike Smith.lol

I think what's impressed me most this year is how he's managed in games with low shots, I was worried he'd be a volume goalie but has proven me wrong.  If only we could score one on Tokarski it would've tied Kipper and beat the team record from '04.

[conundrumed]

Markstrom: Nominated

Wolf: Wins

Sergeev: We shall see...

 

More than a little impressive.

[cross16]

On 5/11/2022 at 12:13 PM, conundrumed said:

Markstrom: Nominated

Wolf: Wins

Sergeev: We shall see...

 

More than a little impressive.

 

As a follow up...

 

Promising year between the pipes for this organization

 

 

[The_People1]

Boy, we doing good picking goalies with our 7th round picks.  Let's keep it going!

[cross16]

No real surprise here. Flames have depth but I would expect them to look to add it to again this offseason. 

 

 

 

[travel_dude]

I wasn't that impressed with Warner.  Since the team will be in Calgary, they should be able to closely monitor the backup situation this year.  A couple in the pipeline.  Is Sergeev eligible to play in the AHL, being drafted out of US hockey?

[JTech780]

2 minutes ago, travel_dude said:

I wasn't that impressed with Warner.  Since the team will be in Calgary, they should be able to closely monitor the backup situation this year.  A couple in the pipeline.  Is Sergeev eligible to play in the AHL, being drafted out of US hockey?

 

I believe he was drafted out of Russia, but then had an issue with his contract and ended up playing in the USHL as Calgary was trying to find a spot for him. That being said he can play in the AHL next year, though I would probably start him in the ECHL and see how he progresses from there.

 

Chechelev had a rough year, so it will be interesting to see what they do with him.

 

They shouldn't have to worry about finding guys with NHL experience this time as Wolf should be capable of being the 3rd guy in line next year and might actually push Vladar for playing time.

[conundrumed]

34 minutes ago, cross16 said:

No real surprise here. Flames have depth but I would expect them to look to add it to again this offseason. 

 

 

 

Happy for him, Hope he does well.

The real question is what are we going to do about Wolf? We love prospects exceeding expectations, but are we looking at a traffic jam? How do you balance 3 goalies and you don't want to get rid of any of them?

Vladar has exceeded what we paid. Do we turn it into profit in a trade?

So many questions. Are we just putting Wolf on the shelf in the A?

It's a nice problem to have, but I think it's decision time.

Wolf has hit every achievement he can. We have to keep him moving forward imo.

Else he stagnates due to availability of an NHL spot.

Thoughts?

[travel_dude]

4 minutes ago, JTech780 said:

 

I believe he was drafted out of Russia, but then had an issue with his contract and ended up playing in the USHL as Calgary was trying to find a spot for him. That being said he can play in the AHL next year, though I would probably start him in the ECHL and see how he progresses from there.

 

Chechelev had a rough year, so it will be interesting to see what they do with him.

 

They shouldn't have to worry about finding guys with NHL experience this time as Wolf should be capable of being the 3rd guy in line next year and might actually push Vladar for playing time.

 

I'm assuming that Vladar is no longer waiver exempt this year.  Not that it matters, but it would have been nice to have that option to get him some more games.  He's backup only, but I feel like he could be playing more this season.

[travel_dude]

4 minutes ago, conundrumed said:

Happy for him, Hope he does well.

The real question is what are we going to do about Wolf? We love prospects exceeding expectations, but are we looking at a traffic jam? How do you balance 3 goalies and you don't want to get rid of any of them?

Vladar has exceeded what we paid. Do we turn it into profit in a trade?

So many questions. Are we just putting Wolf on the shelf in the A?

It's a nice problem to have, but I think it's decision time.

Wolf has hit every achievement he can. We have to keep him moving forward imo.

Else he stagnates due to availability of an NHL spot.

Thoughts?

 

I am concerned that we move on from Vladar too soon.  Has one year left ending as a RFA with arbitration rights.