Sure preseason means very little, but I think many people are weighting it heavily because of the total failure of our goalies to step up to the plate last year when given opportunities. If you're not concerned about our goalie situation right now you're fooling yourself.
I think it is fair to say everyone is concerned to varying degrees about the Flames's goaltending. I am concerned about Smith's ability to play +55, and I am also concerned about whether one of Rittich or Gillies has improved enough to manage 25 games. However, I am not especially swayed one way or another based on the pre-season. Moreover, I am certainly not convinced that any options available on the waiver wire provide clear enough of an upgrade to pursue.
I'm with The Boy Wonder on this: I'm more interested in the Flames trading for an established starter in-season. Barring that, I think the prudent thing to do is to play 20 games and then re-evaluate—at that point make a trade for a different backup goalie if necessary. I am of the opinion that adding a goalie from the waiver wire is a mistake.
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Dealing with Everything from Dead Sea Scrolls to Red C Trolls
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Originally Posted by woob
"...harem warfare? like all your wives dressup and go paintballing?"
True. What about since 2014-15? That’s probably the best comparison since the last two seasons Pickard has had 1 GP and 50 GP in front of 1 of the worst teams in NHL history.
But what about the steady regression, even in that short time frame?
True. What about since 2014-15? That’s probably the best comparison since the last two seasons Pickard has had 1 GP and 50 GP in front of 1 of the worst teams in NHL history.
.914 in 89 games for McBackup
.913 in 87 for Pickard
Downward trend in Pickard’s numbers for sure though, but he hasn’t been in great situations, McBackup has had a consistent role on better defensive teams
My guess is the steady regression probably isn't on Pickard but more on the regression of the team he was playing on. It is tough to learn much from last year's 1 game.
Overall, the Flames are just in a tough situation. Hopefully, the goaltending just works out (and it could), but I think there's a real chance the Flames' season may be seriously hurt by goaltending.
The Flames have some options that could possibly improve the goalie position (Pickard, McElhinney, Lehtonen or Mason), but I don't think any of the options are a guaranteed solution.
I get that but for a player who's fighting for his spot on the roster, this showing wasn't very impressive.
Yeah, but there are a tonne of these sorts of middling performances from all sorts of goalies "fighting for a spot on the roster," and I am virtually certain they will not all be dispatched to the AHL as a result. My point is not to extol the virtues of McElhinney. It is to normalize some of the discussion about goaltending in the preseason.
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Dealing with Everything from Dead Sea Scrolls to Red C Trolls
Quote:
Originally Posted by woob
"...harem warfare? like all your wives dressup and go paintballing?"
Well, Pickard only had 1 GP in the NHL last year and he was .857. But overall Pickard’s NHL numbers are still way better and over a much larger sample size. I mean, if we’re just talking about last year, Rittich was .889 in 12 GP in the AHL whereas Pickard was .918 in 33 gp. But I’d rather look at the whole body of work, in which Pickard’s numbers are better.
Anyways, we’re totally dealing with the unknown here. No one knows that Pickard would be a better option than Rittich. I’m just guessing he would be based on past results.
Yeah, I'm aware that Pickard only played one game. That's kinda the point. He was looked at as a hot commodity at one point, but last year couldn't make Toronto ahead of McBackup. If you are looking at bodies of work you need to look at trends. Otherwise you are giving credit for play that is no longer a factor.
Yep, goalies are pretty poor across the board in pre-season because the teams in front of them are purposely fractured and Frankensteined to sort out who makes the teams and who doesn't.
That's almost a guarantee for poor results in net, and why it's silly to take much of anything from pre-season goalie stats.
Yeah, I'm aware that Pickard only played one game. That's kinda the point. He was looked at as a hot commodity at one point, but last year couldn't make Toronto ahead of McBackup. If you are looking at bodies of work you need to look at trends. Otherwise you are giving credit for play that is no longer a factor.
Fair enough. I don't know enough about why Pickard didn't play backup for the Leafs last year. It may have been solely because he was not good enough, but there are a lot of other reasons teams do things. I guess I don't know if Pickard playing in the AHL last year is evidence of Pickard getting worse or not.
Also, I don't know if I buy the worsening trend in general because sometimes a player may just be a victim of circumstance. Given his circumstances, I'm fairly impressed with Pickard's work from 4, 3 and 2 years ago. I don't know what to think about last year.
Fair enough. I don't know enough about why Pickard didn't play backup for the Leafs last year. It may have been solely because he was not good enough, but there are a lot of other reasons teams do things. I guess I don't know if Pickard playing in the AHL last year is evidence of Pickard getting worse or not.
Also, I don't know if I buy the worsening trend in general because sometimes a player may just be a victim of circumstance. Given his circumstances, I'm fairly impressed with Pickard's work from 4, 3 and 2 years ago. I don't know what to think about last year.
Which is why teams rarely make lateral moves like this, especially when Rittich looked so strong as a back up before being thrown into the starters role.
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For what its worth Pickard was as much to blames for the Ave's ####ty season as anyone. When Varly went down, Pickard was awful in all his starts. Last year Bernier was thrust into the same position and played really well. For a team that only made a few adjustments and had much more success, the improvement of their backup situation was a large part of that turn around. Pickard is not a victim in that story. I would be surprised if he turns into anything but a shaky backup in his career.
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So... what's the deal with Connor Carrick? The tweet clearly says he's waived but the thread title says otherwise? Because that's the name I think is most likely to get claimed here, though not by the Flames.
__________________ "The great promise of the Internet was that more information would automatically yield better decisions. The great disappointment is that more information actually yields more possibilities to confirm what you already believed anyway." - Brian Eno
So... what's the deal with Connor Carrick? The tweet clearly says he's waived but the thread title says otherwise? Because that's the name I think is most likely to get claimed here, though not by the Flames.
Carrick has been claimed by Dallas for a 7th rounder, as per the other thread.
