Sportsnet - Flames have discussed taking on Bernier's contract

[GranteedEV]

I have full confidence Hiller will find his game. Do not want to take on 4M of cap next season in a goalie.

[albertGQ]

Ramo is better than Bernier so I hope it's Hiller going the other way.

Bernier is better than Hiller but with Bernier having one year left after this one and with an awful cap hit, maybe it evens out a bit.

I'd do Hiller for Bernier straight up. I wouldn't add anything though

[codynw]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

I have full confidence Hiller will find his game. Do not want to take on 4M of cap next season in a goalie.

I don't have confidence that Hiller will find his game. I do have confidence that Bernier will find his though.

And the team needs a goalie next year, since both Ramo and Hiller are free agents. And I sure hope both of them are gone. So why not Bernier? Better than Cam Ward.

[1_Flames_Fan]

Bernier has more upside than Hiller or Ramo in my opinion. If you can get the deal done at a fair price then I say do it.

[CMPunk]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

Are the Flames that close to the cap? Sorry, I wasn't able to check, but I thought Bernier was only about $1.5M more than Raymond. So Flames have less than that in cap space?

Ya, you're right...but it would leave us with next to no cap space...Bernier is $4.15, Raymond is $3.15 and you keep $900 000 of Hillers contract. Calgary looks to have just shy of $2.2 million in cap space...so we'd be down to around $300 000 in cap

[Vinny01]

The only way it makes sense to me is if the Flames send back a contract that goes beyond this season that the Leafs have to eat. Raymond, Smid, Engllend. Wideman could be a candidate as well but he at least has value so I would want more from the Leafs

[Coach]

Originally Posted by EVERLAST

makes me wonder if we will ever have a stable goaltending situation .

not having a proven goalie since Kipper sure has made things interesting and rectally discomforting at the same time.

get it sorted out Brad.

I always maintained that people were going to be in for a rude surprise about what "average" goaltending is once Kipper left. We had almost a decade of one of the best goaltenders ever IMO. Even him at his worst was better than anything we are going to see for a long time. To expect him to be replaced within a few years is a pipe dream. We can only hope that Gillies or MacDonald can prove to be even close to what Kipper was.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by MattyC

I always maintained that people were going to be in for a rude surprise about what "average" goaltending is once Kipper left. We had almost a decade of one of the best goaltenders ever IMO. Even him at his worst was better than anything we are going to see for a long time. To expect him to be replaced within a few years is a pipe dream. We can only hope that Gillies or MacDonald can prove to be even close to what Kipper was.

Yeah a decade of Kidd/Tabaracci/Brathwaite/Turek/Vernon(old)/Fuhr(old)/Wregget/Moss/etc will teach you a little bit about that

[getbak]

Originally Posted by CMPunk

Ya, you're right...but it would leave us with next to no cap space...Bernier is $4.15, Raymond is $3.15 and you keep $900 000 of Hillers contract. Calgary looks to have just shy of $2.2 million in cap space...so we'd be down to around $300 000 in cap

That's not how it would work.

A Raymond for Bernier trade would add $1 million to the Flames' cap. Sending Hiller to the AHL would bury $950,000 of his salary. All tolled, it would only add $50,000 to the Flames' cap from what it is today. They'd still have over $2 million in cap space.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

Yeah a decade of Kidd/Tabaracci/Brathwaite/Turek/Vernon(old)/Fuhr(old)/Wregget/Moss/etc will teach you a little bit about that

I would take Turek and Wregget over any goaltender this team has had post Kipper. Hiller last year was the best goaltender we have seen since Kipper and he was barely league average. Everything else has been no better than Tabaracci, Moss and over the hill Vernon and Fuhr. In fact I would go as far as to say that Ramo is the reincarnation of Tabaracci. Spectacularly good at times and spectacularly bad at times.

[CalgaryFan1988]

Bernier has potential, but it's a huge risk given his price tag. I think a 1 for 1 swap for Hiller would make sense for both sides. I'd expect to see Bernier on waivers before that happens though. For Toronto, a Hiller trade would be a last resort IMO.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by codynw

I don't have confidence that Hiller will find his game. I do have confidence that Bernier will find his though.

In Hiller's last two games, which he was sick for, he let in

1) 2 Bad Goals Due to lost focus (Ristolainen & Glass)
2) 1 Screened goal on a 6-on-4
3) 1 Backdoor Goal (JT Miller)
4) 2 Deflections off of Dennis Wideman (Boyle, Ristolainen)
5) Total snipe through multiple layers of traffic (Ristolainen)

All things considered, especially that he won both games, I think he can recover from the two bad goals. He's already looking a lot better than the Sharks game or before his injury. Better tracking might give him a better chance on (2) and (5). He's had stretches of poor focus and tracking last season and bounced back from them. He's showing signs of getting back to his own level.

Bernier has lost 10 (11?) straight NHL games. His confidence is shot. Maybe he can be a Dubnyk type reclamation but do you really want to pay 4M for that? Unless we're sending a Raymond/Stajan back the other way to lessen the cap hit.

[Red Menace]

Might be worth the effort, maybe he can turn it around in a new org.
Still wish they had given Ortio more than 2 games to proves himself...I think he would have turned out the best of any of these options.

[drewtastic]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

I have full confidence Hiller will find his game. Do not want to take on 4M of cap next season in a goalie.

That's what I'm afraid of...

To be serious though, even if Hiller "returns to form", I'm not a fan OF that "form". The "puck blocking" style is extremely frustrating, not to mention that I grew tired of the "Large-Goalie-Playing-On-His-Knees" schtick when it was called "Roman Turek".

Having said this, I agree that Bernier is not necessarily the answer. But as a stop-gap, it might not be that bad of a gamble either.

[Parallex]

nm

I'd approve of getting Bernier. We'll need to sign a goalie next year anyways and Bernier strikes me as a good enough bet to be a bounceback guy.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by drewtastic

That's what I'm afraid of...

To be serious though, even if Hiller "returns to form", I'm not a fan OF that "form". The "puck blocking" style is extremely frustrating, not to mention that I grew tired of the "Large-Goalie-Playing-On-His-Knees" schtick when it was called "Roman Turek".

I take it you'd turn your nose up at Ben Bishop or Devan Dubnyk?

They can block all they want, play on their knees all they want, just keep the puck out. Which is what Hiller did as well as Ramo for large stretches last year.

There's no doubt who's playing better now, though the margin isn't as big as some imagine, especially if you omit Hiller's sick games and Ramo's last two where he finally was solid.

[Domoic]

250 days since Bernier last won an NHL game.

[Imported_Aussie]

Bernier may be worth a gamble, the Flames need 2 goaltenders for next year, and after how Ortio played and has been handled, no guarantee he will be one of the NHL goaltenders, even if he is under team control as an RFA.
Grab Bernier now, give him time behind Ramo, then either sign Ramo if he proves a number 1 run that tandem next year, then Bernier expires in time for Gillies to have a shot.But if Bernier steals the crease, keep him, pass on Ramo, and get a guy in to push him next year (e.g. Raantaa). Bernier is a 1.5 year experiment, and the team needs a guy in there since Gillies will need next year to make up for lost development and the whole goaltending position is unstable.

Leafs probably won't want Hiller on the NHL roster, they will want to go with Reimer and Sparks. The only way they take Hiller is if they want to divest themselves of next year's salary now. This may be appealing, especially if they are posturing for Stamkos.

Raymond gets thrown in, and it makes sense as he is the surplus forward making the most $$, but he does have a NTC - is Toronto on his list?

Trading Raymond and burying Hiller is also a big loss for ownership. Hockey-wise it looks to be a good move, potential reward there, but it is a big one off write-off. Does that make it harder for Treliving to pull off?

If I am Toronto, I ask for Hiller and bury him, as my goal is to clear room for next year. Would/should Calgary do that? They will have to add $$ to the goaltender position anyway, all this does is lock them in with cost certainty and a short term.

I think if a deal happens, it is Hiller for Bernier straight across, but with Treliving being a wizard, a cap dump for next year might still happen. This is one of the few moves that can be made to make a quick change to the goaltending situation

[codynw]

Originally Posted by Domoic

250 days since Bernier last won an NHL game.

Considering most of those days are off season, that means nothing..

Also:

Spoiler!

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Domoic

250 days since Bernier last won an NHL game.

1.5 years since playing for an NHL team.