[Signing] Flames sign Gillies and Rittich (both 1 yr, 2 way, $725k NHL)

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by Freeway

Two show-me deals, nothing more.

EDIT: And bear in mind the stuff about Josh Robinson was written before the Flames signed on as the Mavericks' NHL parent.

Yes, it was before the Flames were on the scene, but the point is that there are at least 3 goalies on the Mavericks to start the season - Robinson, Parsons and MacDonald. Will the Mavericks be so willing to loan Robinson out, or have him as a healthy scratch for most of the year? The organization seemed fairly high on him from what I have been reading. It will be interesting to see if they allow the Flames to give all the playing time to their prospects.

[sureLoss]

FWIW the Mavericks have not signed Robinson (as of yet) from what I can tell.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

FWIW the Mavericks have not signed Robinson (as of yet) from what I can tell.

Oh, I thought he was still under contract. I couldn't find anything concrete, but by the sounds of the articles it seemed he had a contract. If not, then that will make things a lot easier!

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by UKflames

I maybe a little short on knowledge here but why do we seem to cast goalies into the wilds at such a young age, I thought goalies where like defencemen in that they reached their peak at an older age? One year prove it deals, as everyone is calling them, feels like we are expecting to give up on both of these way too early, similar to Ortio, especially with the limited playing options.
I am sure some will day that if they cant earn the job with this kind of contract then the flames need to move on but how many times are we going to keep moving on. There is areason we keep picking up older goalies, maybe we need to give some of our goalie prospects the opportunity to become that older goalie.

"Prove it" deals in the sense that if they feel they're worth more money, show it. Not "prove it" like play lights out or you're gone.

Agree with all your other points

[Freeway]

Robinson was qualified, but that doesn't mean a whole lot at the ECHL level.

[UKflames]

Originally Posted by jayswin

These one year deals have literally nothing to do with giving up on them or not seeing them in our long term plans. Not sure why that's your read.

Maybe I am just using past history as an indicator of what could happen in the future, we seem to cast goalies aside without giving them real time to develop and prove their worth as a back up or even have a real shot at the starting gig before sending them packing.
If this is a 'prove it for the money' contract, as btimbit put it, fair enough but if this turns into 'sorry your numbers weren't outstanding, see ya' contract them we are seriously doing something wrong with our goalie development. I shall wait and see.

[sureLoss]

Rittich and his agent say they turned down KHL and Swiss offers to re-sign with Calgary for the chance to fight for NHL starts. Agent says that Rittich worked his way to be the No 1 in Stockton and Flames see NHL potential for Rittich.

Rittich also says he is glad he played well enough to earn another NHL contract. He is already hard at work preparing for camp.

http://www.tyden.cz/rubriky/sport/ho...vu_439299.html

[jayswin]

What a breath of fresh air to hear those comments. It seems like too often these days with up and comers and college players the comments are all "I need the best opportunity and this team is weak at this position so good for me!...I will go to where I get my due..."I require this and that....I feel I've earned X".

Some of his words are similar but there's an important distinction in his delivery and tone. "I played really hard to earn what I got...I'm really happy I played well enough to earn a contract....I see potential to keep pushing for opportunity" .

I know some of it's apples to oranges when talking about these college free agents, but it's still nice to see someone happy to battle with a congested, strong prospect base at his position and to actually be grateful for his opportunity instead of becoming spiteful over a deep position like most young players do, as if they're owed something at the professional level.

[Ozy_Flame]

Even if Rittich doesn't pan out after this year, two solid years of almost-NHL level hockey will be good for him if he decides to head back to Europe eventually. That kind of experience is going to guarantee him money back home, and he has the skillset to be successful too.

This is a situation where it's not about money for this year - but about going for broke to live an NHL dream.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

I am really interested as where Parsons and MacDonald play. In the off-season, Treliving mentioned the ECHL for Parsons. That makes sense, and seems to be the next step in the development of a goalie.

Fitting-in both Parsons and MacDonald in the ECHL might be tough, however. The starter for the Missouri Mavericks for the last couple of seasons at least anyways has been Josh Robinson. He is still in their plans AFAIK.

http://techhockeyguide.com/news/2017...pdate-may-2017

Stephon Williams that is mentioned in the quote above is a NYI draft pick, and the Mavs were their ECHL affiliate last season, so I am assuming he is moving, though he only played a total of 8 games.

I am assuming that the rest of the goalies used last year on the Mavericks will not be returning. That's a total of 7 goalies listed on Elite Prospects, including a guy with zero games played and another that was loaned to another ECHL team.

Robinson I believe will be sticking around. He had a tough season last year, but this is why I think that the Mavericks would put up a fight if the Flames asked them to move this goalie:

It will be interesting to see where all the goalies get to play next season.

As for the NHL, I believe that Lack was seen as a good gamble by the Flames in returning his game back to a certain level. As some posters have already illustrated, Lack was already playing much better towards the end of the season after he got 'challenged' by his coach.

Flames were going to make sure they had good depth in net. Lack is a good bet - even if I don't particularly like him myself, I can't argue that he is much further ahead than either Gillies and Rittich at this point. Flames are of course hoping that both Smith and Lack play lights-out and remain healthy all season (and as a Flames fan, I want this to happen as well).

Injuries, however, happen unpredictably, so even though I don't particularly love Lack, I am glad he is here and it allows another cushion at least in case there are injuries. It wouldn't be crazy to think that one of Rittich/Gillies plus one of Smith/Lack have injuries at the same time.

Glad that both Rittich and Gillies are re-signed, and it will be interesting to see how the Flames work them into the NHL this year. I mean, I think they should probably start working them in a few games each at least at some point in the season, just help them continue developing and see firsthand how close they are to the NHL. I think they both have the ability to be legitimate NHL starters anyways.

You could always loan a goalie out to a non-affliated team if you really want both to be starters. It will be hard for one ECHL team to have two affliated goalies because you pretty much need to get a 3rd around just in case one of them gets called up.