[Cali Panthers Fan]

This question is a tough one, purely from an asset management and talent point of view.

I personally like Hiller's style just a bit more than Ramo's. Hiller is a blocker, rather than an agile type goalie. You know what you get from a blocking goalie most nights, but they rarely have a spectacular night. If your defense around them is sound, blocking goalies are a great option. Here's the problem with Hiller though...he has holes in his game. His glove hand is very below-average (bordering on poor), and he's had trouble with shots from weird angles, which a blocking goalie should never let in IMO.

Ramo does have fantastic nights when his positioning is sound, meaning he doesn't lose his net. When he loses his net, he's downright awful, and he can take an extended period of time to find his positioning and confidence after one of those bad stretches. He's good for about 80% of his starts (just throwing an estimation out there), but that 80% isn't really good enough to be a bonafide #1 goaltender in the NHL. You need to be good 90+% of the time to be the #1. By good I mean no bad goals against (make the easy saves), and make a few tough saves (read as: not automatic...not necessarily mind-blowing). I just don't know if you can expect that from Ramo, even though he's still relatively young for a goalie.

Ortio has shown brilliance in his stint this year, and clear progression from last year. If he comes into camp anywhere close to how he's played this year, I think he could possibly take the starting job. He might not get it right out of camp, but he'll likely play himself into the starter's role at some point next year assuming only one of Ramo or Hiller are still with the team.

I can't call who would be the better option going forward between Ramo and Hiller, but you if you sign Ramo, you then have the ability to trade Hiller to a team like Buffalo or another team who badly needs some stability in net and get a decent asset in return (possibly one of Buffalo's later 1st round picks?). Then go with Ramo/Ortio for next year, see how it shakes out, and plunk Gillies in the AHL to develop.

If you let Ramo go for nothing, then you have Hiller and Ortio as options for next year (about the same), but you lose Ramo as an asset for nothing. You might still get something for Hiller if you decide to trade him at the deadline next year, but there still has to be a market for him and I doubt it's better than it is right now.

I think it's safe to say that neither are the long term solution in net, so really it's about maintaining a competitive roster going forward, and getting the best possible return on investment from each player. I'd rather gamble on Ramo over Hiller for performance reasons, but also because it makes sense from an asset management standpoint.