Quote:
Originally Posted by Freeway
If the idea was Treliving didn't want to gamble a year of his core "going for it" on an untested starting goaltender, the guys available were basically Ben Bishop, Marc-Andre Fleury and Mike Smith. He went with the guy he knew the most with the lowest acquisition cost.
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Smith was the right choice for the Flames for so many reasons:
Contract price - was the lowest available with a $4.25MM cap hit ( with Arizona retaining salary) vs Ben Bishop at $4.9MM and MAF at $5.75MM
Term - at two years was what the Flames wanted (Treliving believes either of Gilles or Parsons will be ready in two years for a #1 workload)
Cost - the Smith signing didn't cost any valued assets (Brandon Hickey was an acceptable acquisition cost)
Mentoring - The Flames stable of young goalies will benefit from Smith's experience, mentoring, puck handling skills etc.
Smith could easily prove to be a better than average goaltender with the Flames this year, and if he starts out strong he will quickly silence his critics.
I would argue Smith wasn't just the lowest acquisition cost, but the best combination of all relevant factors for the Flames.