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Originally Posted by GioforPM
I agree. I remember Turek playing just lights out and the Flames figured they needed to extend him on a longish and expensive contract. Then he sputtered (I think he struggled under expectations, not because he coasted).
Rittich even after this season will have one year of good play. Lots of goalies have done that and not recreated it. Heck, look at Smith in 11-12. Look at Murray after his hot start in late 2016 and then the next season. He's pretty ordinary now.
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But therein lies the question, do you sign Rittich early and get him cheaper now, or wait till he potentially gets Vezina votes and a playoff series win and then try to sign him while he has all the leverage? There’s certainly a level of risk/reward by signing him early, but the Flames will be in a cap crunch when Tkachuk and Bennett are signed, so getting Rittich to a good deal now could help alleviate that crunch.
To me, everything about signing Rittich early is to help avoid those Turek and Hellebuyck like contracts because the way he’s going right now, he might ask for Hellebuyck like money and we might not have a choice if his current trend continues.