[Trade] Flames acquire Mike Smith (25% retained) for Chad Johnson, Brandon Hickey, & cond 3rd

[Lanny'sDaMan]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Vacation is code for prison.

Yet again a post made even better because of who posted it (I of course refer to the character your account is named after)

[Calgary4LIfe]

I am not a huge fan of the Flames trading for Mike Smith.

I am a huge fan of the Flames trading for Mike Smith in light of who else was available, what assets they would cost, what our organizational depth and time-line looks like, and what the last few years of goalie acquisitions were and their respective performances.

Smith will be at least an average goal tender for the Flames for the next 2 seasons. I really do believe that given the Flames' goaltending depth coming up the pipeline, this was a good move. I do not think Smith is going to make us forget about Kiprusoff or even Vernon. I do think that Smith will right the ship in net and provide consistency there for 2 seasons. He is a stop gap, and a pretty good one at that given all the above. Heck, given the atrocious team that were the Coyotes for the last few seasons, it wouldn't surprise me if Smith performs absolutely stellar in net for Calgary. I am not counting on it, but it would not surprise me either.

I really like people who come in and crap on a move, don't provide any reasonable alternatives for comparison, and are completely unwilling to allow their opinion to change based on additional information.

[bigrangy]

For the price paid, I think Mrazek would have been a better option.

I don't know why he's still in Detroit, all 31 GMs must not see what I'm seeing. Mrazek has serious talent and has performed incredibly well in the NHL so far. 1 bad year playing for Blashill behind that defense doesn't change that for me.

I'd almost guarantee he pulls a Dubnyk once he gets out of there, just wish it would have been here.

[AC]

Originally Posted by bigrangy

For the price paid, I think Mrazek would have been a better option.

I don't know why he's still in Detroit, all 31 GMs must not see what I'm seeing. Mrazek has serious talent and has performed incredibly well in the NHL so far. 1 bad year playing for Blashill behind that defense doesn't change that for me.

I'd almost guarantee he pulls a Dubnyk once he gets out of there, just wish it would have been here.

I was hoping for Mrazek too in some capacity. However the report that came out was Detroit tried to trade him extensively, then finally exposed him to Vegas "due to performance and attitude issues".

http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index....rt_river_index

https://theathletic.com/68819/2017/0...-happens-next/

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by bigrangy

...I don't know why he's still in Detroit, all 31 GMs must not see what I'm seeing...

Since he has been essentially passed over by all 30 of the rest of NHL GMs it is safe to conclude that they are seeing things quite differently. As AC has posted, there have been a lot of reports for a long time now that Mrazek has off ice issues which essentially nullify his on ice value.

[jayswin]

Man, I hate it when our GM...and 30 other GM's don't see what fans see.

[ToewsFan]

I hate to say this but Smith is not the answer to the Flames inadequate goaltending. He will lead you to the land of the first round exit. I hope Jon Gillies or Tyler Parsons are going to progress sooner than later. The Flames need a new Kipper. If they find him, the Flames are Conference Finals bound. This team needs a good goalie to shatter the glass window, and reach the next level. Mike Smith is not the answer.

[bigrangy]

Originally Posted by AC

I was hoping for Mrazek too in some capacity. However the report that came out was Detroit tried to trade him extensively, then finally exposed him to Vegas "due to performance and attitude issues".

http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index....rt_river_index

https://theathletic.com/68819/2017/0...-happens-next/

I've definitely heard of the attitude issues but from what I've been told by Detroit fans, they stem almost entirely from 2 reasons.

1) he outplayed Howard for two years and still had to fight for starts.

2) the Wings are heading into a time of grease level futility and he wants to win more than anything.

Mrazek is a year older than Rittich and he's already shown that he can be elite. Not picking him up when he was available cheap is a big miss imo.

Smith will probably be OK (and hopefully Parsons/Gillies/Rittich makes the whole conversation irrelevant anyways) but I think Mrazek will be a top 10 starter for the next 10 years.

[Jiri Hrdina]

When did he prove he was elite? When he posted a GAA over 3 last season or a SVP of 90%?

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by ToewsFan

I hate to say this but Smith is not the answer to the Flames inadequate goaltending. He will lead you to the land of the first round exit. I hope Jon Gillies or Tyler Parsons are going to progress sooner than later. The Flames need a new Kipper. If they find him, the Flames are Conference Finals bound. This team needs a good goalie to shatter the glass window, and reach the next level. Mike Smith is not the answer.

Mike Smith will beat the Oilers four times this season before the playoffs begin.

[ToewsFan]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Mike Smith will beat the Oilers four times this season before the playoffs begin.

I certainly hope so. However,i would rather the Flames beat the Oil four times in the playoffs.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by ToewsFan

I certainly hope so. However,i would rather the Flames beat the Oil four times in the playoffs.

How would we beat a team four times in the playoffs that misses them completely?

[CsInMyBlood]

I do have the feeling that Mrazek is going to make a lot of teams wish they had picked him up when the chance was there.

Ive watched a lot of Detroit games over the last two seasons and he has totally been hung out to dry. The season before this one, at mid point he was being talked about as a Vezina favorite.

I do however understand why the Flames went with what they figured was the safer pick with Smith instead of a question mark with potential.

[Gaudfather]

Originally Posted by CsInMyBlood

I do have the feeling that Mrazek is going to make a lot of teams wish they had picked him up when the chance was there.

Ive watched a lot of Detroit games over the last two seasons and he has totally been hung out to dry. The season before this one, at mid point he was being talked about as a Vezina favorite.

I do however understand why the Flames went with what they figured was the safer pick with Smith instead of a question mark with potential.

you mean just like Smith was hung out to dry in Arizona?

I think we have to give Treliving the benefit of the doubt here that he went with the best available option, all things considered.

[Calgary4LIfe]

The problem is that you simply can't bring Mrazek in by himself to be the starter. There was no more 'proven' goalie in the NHL who was not yet a bona fide starter than Elliott. That didn't turn out as hoped. Remember that Elliott had the best numbers out of all goalies not named Schneider over a period of 5 years. That's impressive.

My hope for this season would be that the Flames grabbed TWO of these 'young up and coming' goalies and run them like a tandem until you see one proving himself capable of holding the reigns. It would have cost too much. Treliving stated as much in his presser that teams were looking for too much.

Given that Calgary has a nice stable of prospects, coupled with what has happened in the last few years since Kiprusoff's departure, I think this was the best move. Relatively inexpensive, but proven to be a legitimate NHL starter that can handle the physical AND mental grind that comes with that position.

Parsons is legitimate. I have never really loved Gillies, but I do think that he can develop into a starter or even as a really good backup. I think the same of Rittich as well. The other prospects are longer shots, but still very legitimate prospects nonetheless.

Flames can now start competing with a goalie that they can trust back there. Maybe he won't steal them games (maybe), but at least he won't implode for a stretch of games either. That's very important.

A clear separation between 'backup' and 'starter' occurs when a goalie doesn't lose a stretch of games. It isn't winning that is the problem, it is winning consistently without losing consistently that is key. Elliott provides that, and the acquisition cost as well as the cap hit made this a good decision. I don't love it, but unless two of Grubauer, Pickard, Mrazek, Raanta, etc., were available for reasonable assets, this is the best move in my mind. Flames were not in the position to just acquire one as the starter, and bringing back Johnson wouldn't have been enough insurance as we saw Johnson having a tough time performing at a consistent enough level (thus why he is a backup, not a starter).

[Reggie Dunlop]

I know Rittich has been qualified. Similar to how Vey was qualified, yet signed in Europe. Flames retain his rights.

I would like to see Gillies/Parsons tandem in Stockton next year. Let them compete. Rittich goes back to the Czech League.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Sorry Reg are you saying Rittich HAS signed in Europe, or suggesting it as a way to get everyone playing time?

[Zoller]

Rittich isn't going back to the Czech League. I seriously can't believe people have Gillies > Rittich. Gillies missed almost a whole year of development. He needs at least 2 or 3 more years in the AHL. Rittich has shown he could graduate as soon as this year to a backup role. And Rittich is only 24 years old. 1 year older than Gillies and technically 2 years further in development. Rittich > Gillies imo and I don't think it's even close.

[Macindoc]

Originally Posted by CsInMyBlood

I do have the feeling that Mrazek is going to make a lot of teams wish they had picked him up when the chance was there.

Ive watched a lot of Detroit games over the last two seasons and he has totally been hung out to dry. The season before this one, at mid point he was being talked about as a Vezina favorite.

I do however understand why the Flames went with what they figured was the safer pick with Smith instead of a question mark with potential.

I think Treliving has had his fill of goaltenders that look good on paper with under 50 starts per season but can't keep up their concentration when asked to be full-time starters.

[getbak]

I'd think if Rittich was planning on going back to Europe, we'd already have heard about it by now.

The Vey signing was already known months ago, it just couldn't be made official until last week when his NHL contract expired.