It's time to extend Johnson

[calumniate]

Yup. Extend away. Nothing covers the five hole like the third leg!

[Dion]

,nm

[GoJetsGo]

Ok that's weird.

[djsFlames]

If we're talking a contract to be our starter beyond this season, I'd like to see him go on a second streak of starter-quality goaltending first. Tonight doesn't count as a streak, even though it was a great game. He has to show he can put it together for stretches of games after a couple off games and that his really good november wasn't just a flash in the pan.

At the very least I'd love to see him back as a backup, but I do believe he's better than that based on his overall game and composure.

[keratosis]

*mod edit*

[getoverit]

one goalie wins 5 straight and then losses and masses cant get him out of town fast enough, next goalie lost 4 in a row and comes up wiht a win and hell lets extend him.

Fricken way to early, ride the hot goalie and see who is at top at the end. Way to fricken early to be having these discussions. at the end it may be neither of them, patience....

[Split98]

Chad Johnson last 6 games:

Jan 7 vs VAN = W 3-1, 29 SA
Dec 29 vs ANA = L 3-1, 25 SA
Dec 20 @ SJ = L 4-1, 34 SA
Dec 16 vs CLM = L 4-1, 29 SA
Dec 14 vs TB = L 6-3, 21 SA
Dec 10 vs WPG = W 6-2, 28 SA

Brian Elliott last 6 games:
Jan 6 @VAN = L 4-2, 13 SA
Jan 4 vs COL = W 4-1, 18 SA
Dec 31 vs ARI = W 4-2, 29 SA
Dec 27 vs @COL = W 6-3, 28 SA
Dec 23 vs VAN = W 4-1, 14 SA
Dec 19 @ARI = W 4-2, 27 SA

What I'm highlighting here should be pretty obvious. While Johnson didn't look stellar in those 4 losses, they were against far better teams than Elliott was facing.

During his 5-game personal win-streak Elliott looked like a competent backup.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by getoverit

one goalie wins 5 straight and then losses and masses cant get him out of town fast enough, next goalie lost 4 in a row and comes up wiht a win and hell lets extend him.

Fricken way to early, ride the hot goalie and see who is at top at the end. Way to fricken early to be having these discussions. at the end it may be neither of them, patience....

Elliott's wins came against teams we would beat with anyone in net. Even then, he looked shaky at times. The 4 losses in a row Johnson was in goal for were poor efforts by the Flames, he still played very well in those games against tough opposition.

[Erick Estrada]

I wouldn't sign anyone until the season is over. I'm not a fan of extending players during the season based on less than a season's work. That got us Turek and would have got us Glencross if he wasn't looking for that big payday. Going to be an abnormally high amount of goaltenders available this offseason so I wouldn't be in a hurry to do anything right now.

[kukkudo]

Originally Posted by Bunk

And who is the 1A Goalie, then?

There will be a few goalies available this summer that will be looking for jobs. Flames will be looking for that number 1 Goalie this summer once again.

[Slanter]

Johnson has been huge, and rock solid. If I was managing a Johnson like that, I'd extend him for as long as possible. But not more than 4 years, that might start to get uncomfortable.

[dabrit]

Last night kinda proved to me who's the better goalie between the 2 in a very competitive game where he faced a fair number of shots he came up big being positionally sound and not being leaky like Elliott. Had Chad played both games we could have taken a possible 4 of 4 points as clearly we were the better team in game 1 and only very slightly the better team last night.

[Flaming Choy]

If Calgary re-signed Johnson, signalling he's the number 1 moving forward, does Elliott mope around and mail it in? I think the Flames need both goalies going for the rest of the year to make the playoffs and the best thing to do is have them both duke it out over the season. There's still lots of the season to be played, they can figure out who to keep as we approach the playoffs or the off season.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by kukkudo

There will be a few goalies available this summer that will be looking for jobs. Flames will be looking for that number 1 Goalie this summer once again.

Agreed. So they can't spend big money on a backup right now.

[Enoch Root]

More information is better than less - let's let the season unfold. Also, as others have said, the goalie market is going to be in flux this summer, before the expansion draft. All kinds of possibilities.

More than that though, the fact that we have seen the Elliott thread, this thread, and the Bennett thread in the last 3 days, just highlights how unbelievably impatient fans are.

Relax. Let things play out. Let players develop.

We don't have to decide (and re-decide) who is great and who sucks after every freaking game.

[Travis Munroe]

IMO Johnson is clearly a starting goalie in this league. Whether he perform as well as he has this year for years to come is a different question but even with a drop in play he would still be a #1 goalie on many teams.

A lot can happen between now and the end of the year. The big question is whether or not signing him now can save upwards of 500k a year. What if Johnson continues his play until the end of the year and gives us a great playoff run. He will easily demand 500k more as his open market value continues to rise.

Being completely realistic on term from his point of view, I would give him a 4 year extension. Takes him to 34/35, a great mentor from a guy who has learned from some of the best for our prospect goalies and salary isn't much of a concern as any of the prospect goalies would be paid next to nothing.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Realtor 1

IMO Johnson is clearly a starting goalie in this league. Whether he perform as well as he has this year for years to come is a different question but even with a drop in play he would still be a #1 goalie on many teams.

A lot can happen between now and the end of the year. The big question is whether or not signing him now can save upwards of 500k a year. What if Johnson continues his play until the end of the year and gives us a great playoff run. He will easily demand 500k more as his open market value continues to rise.

Being completely realistic on term from his point of view, I would give him a 4 year extension. Takes him to 34/35, a great mentor from a guy who has learned from some of the best for our prospect goalies and salary isn't much of a concern as any of the prospect goalies would be paid next to nothing.

I would happily give him $500k more, if it was the result of seeing him show that he can consistently play at a high level.

That's way better asset management than rolling the dice and hoping.

[kukkudo]

Originally Posted by Realtor 1

IMO Johnson is clearly a starting goalie in this league. Whether he perform as well as he has this year for years to come is a different question but even with a drop in play he would still be a #1 goalie on many teams.

A lot can happen between now and the end of the year. The big question is whether or not signing him now can save upwards of 500k a year. What if Johnson continues his play until the end of the year and gives us a great playoff run. He will easily demand 500k more as his open market value continues to rise.

Being completely realistic on term from his point of view, I would give him a 4 year extension. Takes him to 34/35, a great mentor from a guy who has learned from some of the best for our prospect goalies and salary isn't much of a concern as any of the prospect goalies would be paid next to nothing.

Its worth waiting no need to rush right now. This expansion draft is going to change a lot of things. 4 years is way too long, Flames just need to ride the season out with the tandem they have.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Realtor 1

IMO Johnson is clearly a starting goalie in this league. Whether he perform as well as he has this year for years to come is a different question but even with a drop in play he would still be a #1 goalie on many teams.

A lot can happen between now and the end of the year. The big question is whether or not signing him now can save upwards of 500k a year. What if Johnson continues his play until the end of the year and gives us a great playoff run. He will easily demand 500k more as his open market value continues to rise.

Being completely realistic on term from his point of view, I would give him a 4 year extension. Takes him to 34/35, a great mentor from a guy who has learned from some of the best for our prospect goalies and salary isn't much of a concern as any of the prospect goalies would be paid next to nothing.

If he took us on a playoff run we'd be looking at millions more, but it's a huge if, and at that point he'd likely be established as a star starter and then we wouldn't be concerned about anything.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Realtor 1

IMO Johnson is clearly a starting goalie in this league. Whether he perform as well as he has this year for years to come is a different question but even with a drop in play he would still be a #1 goalie on many teams.

A lot can happen between now and the end of the year. The big question is whether or not signing him now can save upwards of 500k a year. What if Johnson continues his play until the end of the year and gives us a great playoff run. He will easily demand 500k more as his open market value continues to rise.

Being completely realistic on term from his point of view, I would give him a 4 year extension. Takes him to 34/35, a great mentor from a guy who has learned from some of the best for our prospect goalies and salary isn't much of a concern as any of the prospect goalies would be paid next to nothing.

Realistic is that there aren't going to be many if any teams offering Johnson a starting role. He was available this summer for any team and ended up with a modest backup deal with the Flames. He may have upped his value as a solid backup or 1B in free agency but it's not like there's going to be big dollar, long term deals awaiting him in free agency. He's been solid but there's no evidence this season that shows he can be a full time starter as at best he looks like a 1B and the 1A/B thing simply hasn't worked out of the Flames as they need a legit starting goaltender that can start 60 games and maintain his play.

He beat a bad team in the Canucks last night and I'm surprised this thread exists seeing when Elliott beat the Canucks a few weeks back posters were saying he benefited from playing a soft schedule. We need one of these guys to step up against the big dogs in the league.