I'm guessing they are hoping added offence will take some of the pressure off the starting goaltending position ... giving them more leeway in wins and losses to start the season.
Smith's injury was freak and not really a wear and tear sort of event, so I'm not sure he was over used. The bigger indicator of that could be how bad he was just before the injury and then when coming back. Was he exhausted?
The Flames have a good core built but they don't have the goaltender yet to fit the age. So it creates a dichotomy this season between playing your best goaltender most nights and finding a solution from what they have for the next season.
Ideally they get off to a good start and can fiddle with Rittich and Gilllies and hope to find a 40/40 platoon for the next season with Smith on a one year contract.
Not sure how they manage that with Rittich's waiver issues though.
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