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
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Robinson took a step back this season in the ECHL after a stellar 2015-2016 season where he was named the ECHL goaltender of the year.. Coming off a year where he posted a .931 SV%, Robinson started 38 games and had a poor .897 SV%. The Mavericks were not especially good this year, missing the playoffs and only winning 33 of their 72 games. Robinson surrendered a large portion of his playing time to a pack of younger former NCAA goaltenders, including former Minnesota State netminder Stephon Williams. Considering that Robinson is only a year removed from being the league’s best goalie, expect him to at least be given the chance to win the starting job again next season.
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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:
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Robinson would pitch a 25 save shutout in his first start, and stopped 27 of 28 shots in the Sunday matinee affair with the Aces to lead the Mavs to a series victory. Since then, Robinson has lost once, just once, and it was in a shootout at the hands of the Tulsa Oilers. His record currently stands at 21-0-0-1, which is as ridiculous as it sounds. There have been many noteworthy moments throughout this season, but it is that 21st victory for Robinson that will forever be etched in the history books. That victory was his 17th consecutive win, a new ECHL record.
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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.