[TheScorpion]

So... with free agency looming in a week now, a number of questions are looming over this team. How will the Lindholm and Hanifin extensions be handled? Will they try to acquire any high-profile forwards in free agency? What about the Flames' own pending FAs, like Garnet Hathaway and Kris Versteeg?

However, there's a question that I think has gone somewhat unanswered and it has to do with the goaltending. Mike Smith is 36 years old and I highly doubt he remains starter quality past this season, if he even makes it that far. At his age, with his injury history, every passing month is a risk. But what do the Flames have in the pipe? Jon Gillies and David Rittich have not exactly had linear progressions and Tyler Parsons still seems a ways off. (Who knows what Nick Schneider and Mason McDonald have to offer at this point.)

Rittich and Gillies are both RFAs. They received identical deals last summer and both rewarded the Flames with inconsistent, replacement-level play. Rittich got off to a hot start but tumbled down the stretch, while Gillies either looked awful or stole games.

These guys aren't getting any younger. They're both in their mid-twenties and have proven themselves more-than-capable at the AHL level. But at this point, does it make sense to try and go after a guy in free agency to form a tandem with Smith this year instead of having to rely on inconsistent young guys in the event of another lengthy absence from the #1 this year?

The UFA goaltender class this year includes the likes of Robin Lehner, Jonathan Bernier, Carter Hutton, Anton Khudobin, and Cam Ward. Are any of these guys appealing, over Rittich or Gillies? Or, perhaps, is there a goaltender who the Flames should look to trade for?