Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike F
I'll be very, very interested to see who ends up with the better long term goaltending: Calgary or Phoenix...
Phoenix saw a guy in Raanta who has proven he can play in the NHL, and spent some significant assets to bring him in as their ling term starter.
Instead of spending assets to solve their long term solution now, the Flames picked up Phoenix's current #1 as a bridge band-aid in hopes that they can develop a starter for free from their own system, having at least one or two guys who look like good prospects at this time.
History has shown that the jump from junior or even to the NHL is huge, with the majority of even highly touted prospects failing to become legitimate starters. This gives Phoenix a big edge at this point, IMO. But, obviously, it'll take 2 or 3 years to conclusively determine.
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Very true, but the other thing the Flames have done is show a ton of faith to players that are within this system.
The Smith signing is equivalent to firing a warning shot off the bow of Rittich, Gillies and Parsons:
"Theres two jobs here. Come and take them."