Examining different options to replace Mike Smith

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Wait until closer to the deadline and make an offer to Arizona for Kuemper (.909 SV%), who has one more year left at $3.75 mil. Hill is looking like a strong candidate to back up Raanta once Raanta comes back next season. Hill and Pickard can platoon while the Coyotes play out the string and tank for a high lottery pick.

They would have to find a taker for Smith to fit Kuemper under the cap. Even if they couldn't find a spot for him and buried him in the minors (which the Flames would not do to a vet) they would only gain about a million in cap space, probably less as it would be prorated.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by dammage79

I keep rolling back to Anton Forsberg. Don't know why, just have this hunch he's going to be really good really soon.

Probably because the last two Forsbergs were pretty good

[David Struch]

There is also our old friend Reto Berra, he's done alright the past four seasons since leaving the Flames, lots of games played this year too.

https://www.capfriendly.com/players/reto-berra

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by David Struch

There is also our old friend Reto Berra

Oh god no. The day the Flames traded him was a good day. I didn't care for Ramo either but I'd be able to stomach bringing him back more than Beachball Berra.

[David Struch]

Karri Rämö is currently inactive.

https://www.capfriendly.com/players/karri-ramo

[Heavy Jack]

Crazy good amount of detail, research and downright thoughtfulness poured into that OP Scorp; really helping breakdown all the possible options for what is currently the biggest plot line to follow for this team heading towards deadline day. I really dig the content this forum provides, the length of detail some posters go to and provide and Scorp is often front and center with these types of posts/threads and I’d like to say thanks for that Scorp, keep it up and it looks like your time at school in Ottawa is paying off in spades!!

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

How can you ignore his AHL stats? I could buy your argument if he was anywhere near average or even slighly below average, but he's literally the worst or 2nd worst goalie in the entire league.

You just need a guy who can play the odd game for Rittich at this point. Maybe you convince Smith to go down to the minors to find his game (although I doubt he'd go for it). Trade next to nothing for some guy who can sit on the bench and play back to backs and hope Smith figures its out in Stockton. I'd just go get a Scott Wedgewood or some other goalie who's played reasonable in the AHL and be done with it.

If Rittich is down long term, then you worry about trade something of value for a guy who can play as a #1.

Except I don't think that's right. You need a guy to play at least every 3rd game.

[Stay Golden]

It sure would be nice if Gillies or Parsons to make their mark and prove they belong in the NHL. I have had about enough of Mike Smith.

[Roof-Daddy]

Yeah, Gillies crapping the bed this year is even more disappointing given Smiths struggles.

The door is wide open for a Rittich/Gillies tandem now and going forward, yet Gillies is sporting a .860 save percentage in the minors.

How nice would it be to not have to go big game hunting for a goalie now or in the off season finally?

C'mon Gillies get your crap together man.

[redforever]

Again, why don't we at least see what kind of "crap" Gillies brings? Give him a test run of two to three games and have a look.

[Psytic]

McBackup as a stop gap and re-assess in the off season for the long term. I wouldn't be giving up big assets for anybody on that list.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by redforever

Again, why don't we at least see what kind of "crap" Gillies brings? Give him a test run of two to three games and have a look.

It seems some people have convinced themselves that literally every other professional goalie in North America is better than Mike Smith, and hold that belief with religious fervour. I personally would look for something a little more solid to base a religion on.

The Flames' coaches and front-office staff have full access to all game footage from Stockton, so they have, in fact, seen exactly what kind of crap Gillies brings. What he brings is an AHL save percentage 58 points worse than Nick Schneider's. I wouldn't let him anywhere near an NHL net at this time.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by AC

McElhinney would be my preference.



$850k cap hit on the last year of his contract, good stats (2.22 GAA 0.924 SV%), he was a waiver pickup for Carolina, and surely isn't a long term option for them.



The acquisition cost should be low.

He’s part of their goalie rotation, why would they move him for a “ low acquisition cost”?

Simply to help the Flames presumably?

Teams are trying to win.




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[AC]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

He’s part of their goalie rotation, why would they move him for a “ low acquisition cost”?

Simply to help the Flames presumably?

Teams are trying to win.

I would think it's obvious that a low acquisition cost is in relative terms.

Compared to the other commonly mentioned names, say Howard and his reported 1st rounder price tag.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Funny enough this blog was posted just an hour ago:

https://flameforthought.com/2019/01/...goalie-market/

But I can't figure out what he's doing this year. Hockeydb and Elite Prospects both show him as being part of Omsk in the KHL but with no stat line. Is he injured?

Weird. I wonder why he (Ramo) isn’t showing up anywhere.

I thought he got a raw deal here. He was playing pretty well prior to that knee injury. And with contract status and injury timeline, the team cut bait.

Frankly I think the team has mismanaged a lot of their goalies over the years.

[bubbsy]

My view on this is as follows:

1) how great is it to have top tier starting goaltending so far this season from Rittich? If he played in the east, they'd be clamouring on about asg nominations.

2) smith is clearly the franchise back up. The expectations of your average nhl back up is to hopefully win 50% of their starts. Which is roughly what we are getting.

3) would i like to improve the back up situation in case Rittich gets hurt, or starts to come back to earth? Sure, but at what cost? I really don't want the flames to be taking guys away from this roster, and the possible guys to move aren't going to be high value pieces (smith, czarnik, stone, frolik). The prospect pool is quite shallow, so not sure if there's much value there or if the org can afford to give too many young guys away. It's because of this that I am even more reluctant to move any 1st or 2nd rounders. The only way i could accept a move would be for a 1b goalie, with some term left, but i'm not sure if that is even out there on the trade market.

4) the flames don't look like a flash in the pan, unsustainable luck based team. The underlying numbers are great, there are no key pieces that aren't going to be around next season. This team can string together a few years to be a contending team. Let's see how this plays out, if a deal can be made without a major price, amazing. Otherwise, the offseason will have ufa goalies out there (Talbot?) and a more active trade market to try to improve this area.

[heep223]

I haven’t been through this thread in depth but I noticed Quick wasn’t mentioned in OP. He’d be my preferred target

[Philly06Cup]

For reference for cost: last year at the deadline, with Elliott / Neuvirth hurt, flyers traded a conditional 3rd + conditional 4th for Mrazek. Mrazek was making 4M set to be an RFA that Philly and Detroit had no intention to qualify at that price. Detroit retained 50% salary.

I can't see any career backups costing much.

[AC]

Originally Posted by heep223

I haven’t been through this thread in depth but I noticed Quick wasn’t mentioned in OP. He’d be my preferred target

Quick has 4 years left at $5.8M.

His stats are also only barely better than Smith's at this point, which is concerning.

3.05 GAA, 0.899 SV% vs Smith's 3.09 GAA, 0.886 SV%

[heep223]

Originally Posted by AC

Quick has 4 years left at $5.8M.



His stats are also only barely better than Smith's at this point, which is concerning.



3.05 GAA, 0.899 SV% vs Smith's 3.09 GAA, 0.886 SV%

I don’t think he’s done though, he’s 32 and at the end of that contract will be as old as Smith is now. His team sucks bad which could be a big factor in his numbers this year. Kings may be willing to retain salary, I think he is a fantastic goalie who’s probably gone stale in LA. If they could build a package with smith and Frolik for Quick and Carter, with the Kings retaining salary, that’d be fantastic. We’d obviously have to give someone like Bennett or one of Anderson\Kylington which would suck tho.

I dunno, I just think he should be in the mix and IMO is one of the top guys that’s likely available amidst some pretty terrible options in OP.