Quote:
Originally Posted by wingmaker
Until Treliving makes a trade, the Flames need Smith. Even if you anoint Rittich the starter, you will have to play Smith a decent amount of the time. Workhorse goalies are rare and usually get there over time. Expecting Rittich to all of a sudden start 60+ games is a huge roll of the dice. Even if it worked in the first couple months, it could massively backfire in the spring. That means even if you give Rittich 50% of the starts or slightly more, Mike Smith is still starting another 30 games at least this year. So yes, unless a trade happens, the Flames need Smith playing at least well enough to not loose them games.
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It would be great if Rittich saw more than half, and I'm hoping that Smith can at least collect the games you expect your 1B to. I don't have a ton of faith in Rittich as a full starter yet either, so I'm hoping for more of a duo, with Rittich getting the tougher starts.
What would really be great is Smith playing as well as expected.