Quote:
Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe
The more I think about Rittich, the more comfortable I am with him being a backup or even a 1B type, and seeing if he takes off.
Just because you have been given a chance doesn't mean you were 100% ready for that chance. You still sometimes have to develop while being given that chance, and take a step forward and 2 steps backward. It happens. It would obviously have been preferable if he took 2 steps forward without any steps backward, but it is what it is.
I have been on the fence about him for a while, including parts of the past season. However, there was that post measuring a bunch of goalies back a ways (I forgot who posted it up - sorry!), and Rittich's hard danger saves are really high up there. It is the rest of the shots that are mediocre. That makes sense to me thinking that those are the most 'fixable' parts of a goalie's game, no? That's where I see a goalie being great - can they make those game-changing (or game saving) saves.
Then there is of course giving up the bad goals. They are energy-draining, game-losing goals, especially when they come from initially stoppable saves. Can coaching and/or experience help Rittich there? It seems if he can improve in that area, then he would be a very good starter for the Flames... for any team in the NHL.
I am actually quite confused by who the Flames should be going after and who to stay away from. I don't think goaltending was a problem in Calgary this past season/playoffs, but I also don't think it was a strength either. This to me is the toughest area to figure out as far as what changes should or shouldn't happen this off-season.
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It's tough. If you don't draft and develop a #1 goalie, none of the options to fill the spot are ever really perfect.
Murray - steady decline, looks like the structure of his game is being exposed due to East-West style offensive strategies that are the majority of strategies in the NHL now (whoever was on the fan this morning talking about this stuff was really interesting). 26 though - he could adapt and be a #1 goalie for a long time.
Kuemper - brilliant numbers, passes the eye test, long history of injury issues though
Markstrom - 31 at the start of next season. How dangerous will his contract be?
Fleury - amazing person, age may have caught up and $7M AAV is just bad.
All the options carry risks, but the team needs to seek improvement so there will be some risk. Whether it be in contract value/term, acquisition cost - or all of the above.