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Calgary4LIfe · 08-19-2019, 11:43 AM

This is almost an impossible question to answer at the moment.

I guessed a 50-30 split for Rittich, but in reality, the Flames are very much entering the season on a gamble.

Rittich has never been a starter - physical and mental fatigue is a thing, and so is the pressure from being a starter.

Talbot has been a starter - a really good one at that, albeit the sample size wasn't really very long. He crumbled under the pressure (I would argue that the Oilers are a goalie graveyard due to their lack of structure and defensive ability). I am not surprised that Talbot crumbled in Edmonton, but can he recover his game?

Now I called the goaltending situation a gamble, and there is little argument that it is anything but a gamble. However, I do like this 'gamble'. Rittich has shown a lot of promise last year, and I do think one can reasonably expect at least a bit of a resurgence with Talbot. Maybe he rebounds just enough to become a reliable backup, maybe he rebounds enough where he ends up wrestling the starter's role away from Rittich (and I believe this organization is hoping that Rittich becomes that starter this year).

It is the old story of the 'young prospect' (not that Rittich is very young, but hasn't had much of an NHL career yet) vs. the old veteran (though Talbot hasn't exactly had a lengthy run as a starter, but he was exceptional for a while and carried a sad sack of a team on his back for a long enough stretch to make me a believer). I think you don't have to be very optimistic to view this the goaltending situation as generally positive, but it isn't without question marks either.

Given the Rittich's performance last season, Talbot's likeliness (IMO) of rebounding at least to a satisfactory level, the prospects like Parsons (blue chipper in my opinion), Gillies (who actually looked better than I thought in his NHL games, AHL stats be damned), Zagidulin (who I know nothing about, really) and Schneider (who just has a funny way of unexpectedly exceeding expectations), I like the terms of these contracts. I didn't include Wolf since he is arguably too far away, but even then you never know as the guy he replaced and was backing-up is now in the NHL after all. I also approve of this move given either the acquisition costs or the contracts being handed out for proven starters at the height of their games, and even then there were question marks on nearly all of them.

I think given Rittich's age and upswing in his development, he is going to end up playing ~50 games. Anything can happen, but I believe that this organization WANTS Rittich to be that starter, and I think he can be. It is up to Rittich to reward the Flames for believing in him, and it is also up to Talbot to wrestle as many starts away from Rittich due to his own performance. Should be interesting to see what happens in net, but I will be surprised if the Flames don't see at least middle-of-the-pack type of numbers in SV% this season.

08-19-2019, 11:43 AM	#23
Calgary4LIfe Franchise Player Join Date: Jun 2010 Exp:	This is almost an impossible question to answer at the moment. I guessed a 50-30 split for Rittich, but in reality, the Flames are very much entering the season on a gamble. Rittich has never been a starter - physical and mental fatigue is a thing, and so is the pressure from being a starter. Talbot has been a starter - a really good one at that, albeit the sample size wasn't really very long. He crumbled under the pressure (I would argue that the Oilers are a goalie graveyard due to their lack of structure and defensive ability). I am not surprised that Talbot crumbled in Edmonton, but can he recover his game? Now I called the goaltending situation a gamble, and there is little argument that it is anything but a gamble. However, I do like this 'gamble'. Rittich has shown a lot of promise last year, and I do think one can reasonably expect at least a bit of a resurgence with Talbot. Maybe he rebounds just enough to become a reliable backup, maybe he rebounds enough where he ends up wrestling the starter's role away from Rittich (and I believe this organization is hoping that Rittich becomes that starter this year). It is the old story of the 'young prospect' (not that Rittich is very young, but hasn't had much of an NHL career yet) vs. the old veteran (though Talbot hasn't exactly had a lengthy run as a starter, but he was exceptional for a while and carried a sad sack of a team on his back for a long enough stretch to make me a believer). I think you don't have to be very optimistic to view this the goaltending situation as generally positive, but it isn't without question marks either. Given the Rittich's performance last season, Talbot's likeliness (IMO) of rebounding at least to a satisfactory level, the prospects like Parsons (blue chipper in my opinion), Gillies (who actually looked better than I thought in his NHL games, AHL stats be damned), Zagidulin (who I know nothing about, really) and Schneider (who just has a funny way of unexpectedly exceeding expectations), I like the terms of these contracts. I didn't include Wolf since he is arguably too far away, but even then you never know as the guy he replaced and was backing-up is now in the NHL after all. I also approve of this move given either the acquisition costs or the contracts being handed out for proven starters at the height of their games, and even then there were question marks on nearly all of them. I think given Rittich's age and upswing in his development, he is going to end up playing ~50 games. Anything can happen, but I believe that this organization WANTS Rittich to be that starter, and I think he can be. It is up to Rittich to reward the Flames for believing in him, and it is also up to Talbot to wrestle as many starts away from Rittich due to his own performance. Should be interesting to see what happens in net, but I will be surprised if the Flames don't see at least middle-of-the-pack type of numbers in SV% this season.