Quote:
Originally Posted by activeStick
I have a soft spot for Ortio and was holding out hope that he'd become a good goalie but this signing tells me Treliving wanted reliable goaltending and I'd agree that Ortio isn't as much of a sure thing compared to Johnson.
Maybe Ortio re-signs and gets sent to AHL to be first call up if there's an injury...
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The you would have a 3-headed monster in the AHL - Gillies and Rittich are the starters. Macdonald will be in the ECHL.
There is simply no room left for Ortio. Though he managed to do better after Ramo went down, he still didn't do enough, IMO.
You don't want to stifle Macdonald's development by forcing him to share a net in the ECHL - and Ortio would not be going to the ECHL anyways since he is out of his ELC, so he would have to agree to go down there. He wouldn't agree to go on a conditioning stint to the AHL, so no chance of that happening anyways.
Gillies could go to the ECHL, but I wouldn't think putting him and Macdonald this early into both of their development cycles in the pros would be beneficial.
You could send down Rittich, but that would probably be a surprise to him. There were a number of teams after him, so it would probably seem like a shady move to suddenly force him to the ECHL before he at least has had a chance to show what he is capable of.
I liked Ortio too, but he simply just didn't show enough, and the Flames just can't keep waiting around hoping he takes that next step. Elliott will be the starter. Johnson is a much more proven goalie in the league than Ortio, and should allow the Flames to get wins when he starts in net.
Ortio just lost his place. He didn't help his cause by refusing the conditioning stint either. I don't think the Flames would be bitter about that, but when a prospect is reluctant to follow the advice or wishes of the team, then I can't blame the team for being reluctant to further invest resources into a prospect's development either, especially when the Flames have just massively upgraded that area.
The only place for Ortio right now is on an AHL squad who may not have confidence in their existing starter, or who have had a recent graduation of their starter into the NHL, and are looking for a more veteran presence to help their 1st year prospect along. Barring that, there is the ECHL. I am sure if he wanted to, he could find a job in that league.
My bet is that he goes back to Europe.