[Point Blank]

I feel like people who are against it are all repeating each other. So here's a summary list of counter arguments to the most common reasoning behind not claiming Khudobin.

1. "It takes up a roster spot"- We have adequate roster space on the team and Khudobin's contract expires at the end of the season. So unless we are planning to bring in 3 more new players plus Khudobin, then it's not really a big deal. It doesn't really matter that we have so many pending UFA goalies, as long as we have 2 goalies on our team who can play. And as of right now, we have one goalie who is a decent backup, and another one who is horrible.

2. "3 headed goalie monster"- Waive Hiller. Done. If Khudobin plays like crap then waive him and bring Hiller up.

3. "Disrupts team chemistry"- We haven't been winning because of goaltending, we've been winning in spite of it. Changing a backup goaltender will probably not affect how many goals Gaudreau can score. I'm willing to bet that we'd be winning by a much larger margin if we had better goaltending. And you can't really use this argument while in the same breath bring up the roster spot issue (not that all of you are). If you are worried about chemistry, bringing in 3 new players will probably have a bigger effect on team chemistry. And no it will definitely not demoralize players. It's part of hockey, underperforming players with large salaries get waived all the time.

4. "It's not the answer to our goalie situation"- Of course it's not. But do you have a better solution at this very moment? Are you willing to give up a really good asset for a proven goalie? And who's actually willing to trade us one? It's a chance to slightly improve the worst part of our team. We know this is a bandaid solution but nonetheless it's a chance to improve our team. Why can't we do this while we work on a long term solution? Does picking up Khudobin mean that we're automatically not looking for a proven goalie anymore? If we do acquire a proven goalie, then we can waive Khudobin, so what's the big deal?

Additionally, if we are to acquire any proven goalies, it'll most likely happen in the offseason. And by that time all three of our goalies are UFA anyways.

5. "Khudobin is a bad goalie"- Probably still better than Hiller. Head-to-head numbers both current and historically suggest Khudobin is better.

6. "Oilers did this"- No, Oilers traded for Scrivens, Fasth, and Talbot. Oilers traded Smid to sign Bryzgalov. This is a free waiver wire pickup.

The only reason I would see the Flames not picking him up is if we have extensive scouting on the Ducks this season and they really believe that he's not an upgrade on Hiller. I'd concede to the scouts on that, but if it's not that clear then it's literally a no risk move based on the six points above. I'm not trying to be demeaning, I just genuinely don't see a downside to picking him up, so if you're against picking him up and feel like I'm missing something here please let me know.