JTech780 Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 http://www.tsn.ca/dreger-report-teams-lining-up-for-o-connor-1.215858 Apparently we are in the running for Matt O'Connor, a 6'5" 23 year old goalie from Boston University. He has really good stats this year, previous to that they were OK. He would help our depth for next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travel_dude Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 http://www.tsn.ca/dreger-report-teams-lining-up-for-o-connor-1.215858 Apparently we are in the running for Matt O'Connor, a 6'5" 23 year old goalie from Boston University. He has really good stats this year, previous to that they were OK. He would help our depth for next year. Of the teams in the running, we are one of the least likely to be able to "offer" him NHL minutes right away. If you consider Ramo out in July, we still have Hiller signed for another year, have Ortio in the NHL next year on a 1-way deal, and could have Gillies opting to leave college and sign. Gillies would likely be #1 in Addy/Stockton. Ortio will be a backup until (or if) he wins the #1 job in CGY. It's great to have depth, and I would love to sign him. He just would be #3 or #4 in depth for the Flames. Would he be OK with that knowing that Gillies would be fighting him for the next NHL gig? And none of this takes into account our current 1b (or #2) goalie Ramo. Unless he is dealt before March 2nd, there is a possibility he gets an extension. You can then go into training camp with 3 goalies fighting it out for 2 spots; the loser gets waived/traded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTech780 Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Of the teams in the running, we are one of the least likely to be able to "offer" him NHL minutes right away. If you consider Ramo out in July, we still have Hiller signed for another year, have Ortio in the NHL next year on a 1-way deal, and could have Gillies opting to leave college and sign. Gillies would likely be #1 in Addy/Stockton. Ortio will be a backup until (or if) he wins the #1 job in CGY. It's great to have depth, and I would love to sign him. He just would be #3 or #4 in depth for the Flames. Would he be OK with that knowing that Gillies would be fighting him for the next NHL gig? And none of this takes into account our current 1b (or #2) goalie Ramo. Unless he is dealt before March 2nd, there is a possibility he gets an extension. You can then go into training camp with 3 goalies fighting it out for 2 spots; the loser gets waived/traded. I disagree with the idea that Ramo will be resigned if he doesn't get traded by Monday. If we do trade him the most we would get is a 4th rounder, I think a 5th/6th is more accurate. I think with Ortio pushing his way into the lineup makes Ramo expendable for next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travel_dude Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 I disagree with the idea that Ramo will be resigned if he doesn't get traded by Monday. If we do trade him the most we would get is a 4th rounder, I think a 5th/6th is more accurate. I think with Ortio pushing his way into the lineup makes Ramo expendable for next season. I said a possibility that they re-sign him. Ortio is pushing nobody right now; he is expected to be here in the fall, and he is good enough, but if he hasn't recovered by April, do we know what he will be like next year? If the return right now was a 5th or 6th, I would pass. Keep him for the playoffs. You make your decisions before July 1st about re-signing him or not. Call me crazy, but goalies are voodoo. I don't consider Ortio to be a member of the Flames until he gets kept on the roster in October. As I said, I am not suggesting nor recommending that Ramo be re-signed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darth_henning Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 yes that was just an unfortunate bouncing puck that handcuffed Wideman. I don't or can't blame him for that. Should have been a 0-0 game. Not his fault. A bad bounce that handcuffed both players. And he made up for it with that goal -line save when Ramo was down. I disagree with the idea that Ramo will be resigned if he doesn't get traded by Monday. If we do trade him the most we would get is a 4th rounder, I think a 5th/6th is more accurate. I think with Ortio pushing his way into the lineup makes Ramo expendable for next season. I honestly think that Ramo is a better goalie than Hiller. Not sure why everyone's so keen on him leaving. I would love to get O'Connor, but I agree with others it may be a while before he saw time in the NHL with Ortio and Gillies in the system. That said, we do need tenders at all levels so it would be nice to have options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDeeds Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 I don't see Ramo or Hiller going anywhere this season. With the injury to Ortio I just can't see the Flames putting themselves in such a precarious position. Think about it.. Say they trade Ramo at the deadline.... Who is going to backup the Flames?? Doug Carr or Brad Thiessen?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTech780 Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Not his fault. A bad bounce that handcuffed both players. And he made up for it with that goal -line save when Ramo was down. I totally think it was Wiseman's fault. Sure it was a bouncing puck, but you don't play a bouncing puck into the middle of the ice. It is these type of plays that make me nervous having Wideman playing so much down the stretch. I don't see Ramo or Hiller going anywhere this season. With the injury to Ortio I just can't see the Flames putting themselves in such a precarious position. Think about it.. Say they trade Ramo at the deadline.... Who is going to backup the Flames?? Doug Carr or Brad Thiessen?? I agree neither goalie is going anywhere this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darth_henning Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 I totally think it was Wiseman's fault. Sure it was a bouncing puck, but you don't play a bouncing puck into the middle of the ice. It is these type of plays that make me nervous having Wideman playing so much down the stretch. It wasn't the smartest play, but 4 times outta 5 that goes to Russel and out of the zone. I'm not about to tear the guy down about it, it's going to happen to every player a time or two a season. That said, I would love to see the minutes for all our top 4 come down a little with a better 3rd pairing so they're less prone to making such mistakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
420since1974 Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 I don't see Ramo or Hiller going anywhere this season. With the injury to Ortio I just can't see the Flames putting themselves in such a precarious position. Think about it.. Say they trade Ramo at the deadline.... Who is going to backup the Flames?? Doug Carr or Brad Thiessen?? Agreed. With Orito out for 6 - 8 weeks, Ramo must stay until the end of this season. Then, it's either resign him or lose him to UFA for nothing. My worries are for next season, who plays on the farm if Gillies decides to finish college? The Flames have a system wide shortage of goalie prospects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cross16 Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Agreed. With Orito out for 6 - 8 weeks, Ramo must stay until the end of this season. Then, it's either resign him or lose him to UFA for nothing. My worries are for next season, who plays on the farm if Gillies decides to finish college? The Flames have a system wide shortage of goalie prospects. I don't agree with the last statement at all. Flames have ortio, Gilles and Macdonald who IMO are all good to very good NHL prospects and more then many teams. If Gilles stays in college go and sign AHL fodder in the off season. Finding non prospect goalies to fill your system is a very easy problem to have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robrob1974 Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 I am sure O'Conner would know whether he's NHL ready or not and ok with the possibility of playing in the AHL. It's probably more likely to play in the AHL and is probably assessing the fact what team gives him the best chance in a year or two or three. We don't have a sure thing in net, so I can see him thinking that our situation would benefit him in the long run. His idea of possibilities must include being a starter in the AHL to continue his development. Having Gillies or him would be great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funnymunk Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Aaaand look at that, after two great games Ramo's numbers are similar to Hiller's. The two are quite similar to me at least, both let in softies at times and can get hot at times. Let Ramo run with it for now, I think in the long run he should be the one we keep not Hiller. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conundrumed Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Back on the topic of our current goaltending, I think it's quite good. And find it a little distasteful to even consider whom we should out at this point. All year, the backstopping has been solid, be it Hiller, Ramo or Ortio's brief stint. It's a point of power for us, why not just enjoy the ride? Ramo was awfully good at this point last year. Just sayin'.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wreckening Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Back on the topic of our current goaltending, I think it's quite good. And find it a little distasteful to even consider whom we should out at this point. All year, the backstopping has been solid, be it Hiller, Ramo or Ortio's brief stint. It's a point of power for us, why not just enjoy the ride? Ramo was awfully good at this point last year. Just sayin'.... And has been awesome the last 2 games Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robrob1974 Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Back on the topic of our current goaltending, I think it's quite good. And find it a little distasteful to even consider whom we should out at this point. All year, the backstopping has been solid, be it Hiller, Ramo or Ortio's brief stint. It's a point of power for us, why not just enjoy the ride? Ramo was awfully good at this point last year. Just sayin'.... If you were around here when Kipper was in his prime, guys were outing him and blaming losses on him then too. I guess it's the nature of the beast, but I agree with you. The combination of our goalies have us where we're at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travel_dude Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 If you were around here when Kipper was in his prime, guys were outing him and blaming losses on him then too. I guess it's the nature of the beast, but I agree with you. The combination of our goalies have us where we're at.Kipper masked a badly constructed team. When he stole games, the team seemed like a competitive one, but when he was getting lit up, it was somehow his fault. Ramo's worst games featured a bad goal (or 2) followed by some iffy ones. With proper play, they wouldn't have resulted in goals. Same goes for Hiller. Goaltending is not masking a bad team this year. We are a goog team with sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes awesome goaltending. When our goalies look amazing, part of it is that the team is clearing rebounds. The other part is that they aren't being knock off their games by the other team crashing the net. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zirakzigil Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 There is no way to know if Ortio will be even up here next season. Thats the assumption everyone, including me, thinks will happen. He could just as easily be waived and clear to go to the AHL though. The Nucks did that to Markstrom this year. I dont see him being that good that a team will claim him unless they suffer injures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
420since1974 Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 Orito is on a one way contract for next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kehatch Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 Orito is on a one way contract for next season. A one way contract means he will get paid his NHL salary if demoted to the AHL. They can still demote him if they want to. Setoguchi is on a one way deal for example. So is McGrattan. The bigger issue is waiver eligibility. That has nothing to do with a one way or two way contract. It is based on the age of the player and the number of NHL games played. Ortio will be waiver eligible next season. Meaning he will need to clear waivers to be demoted to the AHL. Meaning any NHL team could claim him. But if they do claim him they need to keep him on the NHL roster (otherwise he goes on waivers again and Calgary has the right to take him back). I think Ortio is a functional back-up right now and I think he has NHL starter upside. So I doubt he clears waivers personally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darth_henning Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 I guess the question is then, next year do we want to see a rotation of Hiller-Ortio or Ramo-Ortio? Honestly, I think Ramo has more upside then Hiller, even if he does have the occasional bad game. Might be worth re-signing Ramo and trading Hiller in the off season. A proven starter could net us a good upgrade on D or RW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kehatch Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 There are times when I look at Ramo and think if he was given a regular menu of games he would be a legitimate starter. There are other times where I don't see NHL potential. I guess we will see how this string of games go. If he keeps it up I might agree with keeping Ramo over Hiller. Especially since I think you can move Hiller for assets. But right now I trust Hiller more. Especially with introducing a young goalie like Ortio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travel_dude Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 There are times when I look at Ramo and think if he was given a regular menu of games he would be a legitimate starter. There are other times where I don't see NHL potential. I guess we will see how this string of games go. If he keeps it up I might agree with keeping Ramo over Hiller. Especially since I think you can move Hiller for assets. But right now I trust Hiller more. Especially with introducing a young goalie like Ortio.I think there are games that Ramo's style does not work for. The same holds true for Hiller. With Ramo's last two games, he seems suited for the trap teams (Debbies and Rags), or teams with weak D. Teams that use cross-crease passes or overload one side cause Ramo to be out of position. I have not been a fan of Hiller's body of work lately, so I am actually OK with keeping both through till next season. Get rid of one of the 3 potential goalies prior to October. Yes, that means signing Ramo. So next year we have either a Swiss/Finn or a Finn/Finn goalie tandem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wreckening Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 I'd keep Ramo over Hiller as well. In my opinion he's earned it. It's been two years now and he's basically had to play second fiddle to someone, but when asked to play down the stretch he plays lights out. I think there is bigger return in Hiller than Ramo though as he is a proven starter and playoff winner. But something has to give and I would rather take the better return and you get that with Hiller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conundrumed Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 If you were around here when Kipper was in his prime, guys were outing him and blaming losses on him then too. I guess it's the nature of the beast, but I agree with you. The combination of our goalies have us where we're at. I might have been username carbuncle then, or crash even earlier. Yeah, I know. The point I'd stress is, "live in the now". Right now we have a tandem that I've had zero to complain about all year. They are very different goalies, they both can ride some pretty high attributes when they are on. We don't really look like a team on paper that should be where we're at. I don't understand, at this point in the season, why all we can think to do is sit around and complain. "We can't lose Ramo for nothing" is my favourite NHL calamity. The only time you lose a player for nothing is when he has a career ending injury. People shouldn't fret over next season, there's an off-season. Imagine how Cup threats feel, are they all caught up in next season? No, because we have THIS season to finish. And anything goes... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTech780 Posted February 27, 2015 Report Share Posted February 27, 2015 I don't think Hiller will be as easy to trade as some people think. He makes $4.5mill so no team is going to bring him in as a backup so he has to go somewhere where will be a starter, that leaves a very limited amount of teams. Buffalo: There is talk that they may re-sign Neuvirth, I don't see them giving up much to get Hiller. Edmonton: Maybe a fit here, the most we get in return is a Ference, Fayne, or a Nikitin. Minnesota: I think they re-sign Dubnyk. Philadelphia: Makes some sense, but Mason has been good for them, just can't stay healthy. San Jose: I think they go with a young goalie. So that is maybe 5 teams. One of those 5 teams will go after Niemi first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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