Quote:
Originally Posted by Strange Brew
Rittich’s career AHL save percentage is .914, his NHL save percentage is much worse.
Comparing him to goalies like Bishop is just silly. He has played some nice games but there is no data to support he can take a team through the playoffs. None at all, other than hope and speculation.
He almost won an AHL series. And apparently the Flames were close to wining the Cup in 2015 too.
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I am not saying comparing him at this stage to what Bishop eventually became is not silly, but his NHL save percentage is .912, which is worse but I am not sure it qualifies for the subjective title "much worse". The difference is that right now he gives up an average of 2 goals for every 1000 shots at the NHL level. If one assumes he faces 30 shots a game on average, that means he gives up an extra goal once every 17 games or so, which is worse but not necessarily much worse.
Also of interest, at the same age Bishop had a .902 sv percentage, which is actually much worse than his current career .919 sv percentage. He improved (as players sometimes do) over time. I suspect Rittich is also a candidate to be a player who improves. At the same age, it appears like Rittich is a much better goalie than Bishop was.
I would love to see the Flames at least try Rittich more as the number one guy, rather than find another Hiller, Elliott or Smith from the scrap bin. The Flames are also in a position standings wise to see where Rittich can take them over the next 5-7 games and then play it from there.