Down the road: Vladar or Wolf?

[The Cobra]

I think Vladar is overrated here. Wolf over him likely by next year.

[Reggie Dunlop]

Vladar is underrated, Wolf overrated.

[Tabaracci_31]

Originally Posted by activeStick

When was the last time the Flames were in this situation? Elite number 1 who is years away from losing his position. Very good number 2 capable of winning most of the games given to him as backup. Prospect goalie playing at an elite level maybe a year away from being NHL ready.

Would it be fair to say the early 90’s with Vernon (I know he’s polarizing), Wamsley and Kidd, while the latter while still in junior/Canadian National Team/minors? That might be the closest.

[Kipper_3434]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Vladar is underrated, Wolf overrated.

How is wolf overrated? He would be the top goalie prospect in the world if not for the constant criticism about his size.

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by Tabaracci_31

Would it be fair to say the early 90’s with Vernon (I know he’s polarizing), Wamsley and Kidd, while the latter while still in junior/Canadian National Team/minors? That might be the closest.

Yeah I was going to mention these three as Vernon was a #1, Walmsley was a legit backup and Kidd was highly touted

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

I think maybe Lemelin backing up Vernon for one season (86-87) was maybe the closest we've ever been to even a decent starter/backup combo, never mind also having a top tier prospect.

When Turek got back from injury, Kiprusoff/Turek was pretty solid. Turek played some of his best hockey as a Flame when the pressure was off.

[Northendzone]

i cant see how you can have this conversation until Wolf has played 12 to 15 games in the NHL.

I sometimes wonder if the team could be successful if you could find two goalies that are the same ability as Vladar at say $4 to $5m per year rather than committing $9 mill on a guy like say Price

[Yikes]

Originally Posted by Toonage

Wolf will be cheaper, team will move on from Vladar at the end of the year.

Move on from Vladar? I figure he is our starter by mid season.

[dammage79]

Wolf IS the goalie of the future. The one they're going to build around after this cores 3 season window is up. Unless he falls off a cliff, the nets his eventually. Vladar can have the neck for the next two seasons if he wants it.

[SaskyFlamesFan]

4 years left for Markstrom, I hope they keep Vladar for at least 1 after this one. I think this year and next in the AHL for Wolf isn’t a bad thing, then he comes up and is a backup for a year and then a 1A/1B scenario with Markstrom for his last year. Then the net is Wolf’s, if all
works out.

Gives them a chance to ease him in and see what they got. Even a great year in the NHL can be misleading, Hart looked amazing and has struggled since.

[dammage79]

Philly hasn't been a good team at all since Hart's big season. Not sire how much responsibility lies between Hart and the rest of the team.

[Erick Estrada]

I like Vladar but his stats weren't amazing or anything last season and almost all goaltenders get a bit of a performance bump playing under Darryl Sutter. It's possible he could be a starter one day but he could easily be David Rittich.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I like Vladar but his stats weren't amazing or anything last season and almost all goaltenders get a bit of a performance bump playing under Darryl Sutter. It's possible he could be a starter one day but he could easily be David Rittich.

Possible, but I think the pedigree and history for Vladar provides some reason to be more hopeful this is not the case. I thought he looked much more confident and has moved a lot better in these first couple pre-season games 5than last season, and he has never been so emotionally invested in the game, which has always been a big problem with Rittich.

Sent from my SM-G986W using Tapatalk

[VilleN]

Originally Posted by Yikes

Move on from Vladar? I figure he is our starter by mid season.

Lol what? We have a Vezina finalist starter who lead the league in shutouts, I will take that bet.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Yikes

Move on from Vladar? I figure he is our starter by mid season.

I doubt Vladar will ever be a starter for any kind of decent team in the NHL.

And unless Marky gets injured, certainly not Calgary.

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Too early to say either way, but we shouldn't discount keeping both and moving Markstrom in 2 years.

In two years Vladar will be 27, Wolf will be 23, and Markstrom will be 34 and turning 35 in the January of that season.

If you could move the 2 x $6M that Markstrom would have left and move forward with the tandom of the two younger goalies that seems like the right long term move. Especially if Wolf and Vladar continue to impress.

I doubt that moving Markstrom in 2 years is an option. One of the reasons he left Vancouver was that they wouldn't give him a NMC. The current contract has a NMC all the way through, and I doubt he waives it.

[Goriders]

Originally Posted by Toonage

Wolf will be cheaper, team will move on from Vladar at the end of the year.

Vlader was a bridge to Wolf I believe

[Calgary4LIfe]

I would say that it is a bit early to make any definitive assertions about goaltending next year and beyond.



Wolf - He looks legit. He is everything that I thought Parsons was going to be. If he was elite in his first season of pro hockey in the AHL, and that's a big step to take from Junior. Flames have had a plethora of 'elite' junior goalies who then proceed to falter for one reason or another in the pros. There is a lot to be optimistic about when it comes to Wolf.


Vladar - did people forget that Vladar's past season was his rookie season? He is by FAR not a finished product. If Wolf had the same exact season as Vladar had last season - both statistically and 'visually', I would be happy with that. Vladar performed well, and I do expect him to improve this season. To say that he won't be a starter in the NHL - I don't see any reason why someone would reach that conclusion based on his experience.


A good comparison is Rittich. Maybe we have forgotten a bit, but Rittich was among the league leaders in those 'elite level goal saving saves' (I forget what they are called, but whatever In-Goal magazine referred to them as). Rittich was a heck of an athletic goalie. However, he was near the bottom at long range saves (the easy ones). That shows a lack of focus. Vladar seemed like the best version of Rittich, but also more composed and more focused. He didn't SEEM like a rookie goalie last season.


Markstrom - people will point at his performance in Edmonton, but that's stems from the whole damn team being rattled. He had to make highlight reel saves over and over to keep the Flames in it. Flames allowed way too many high-danger chances (I feel that's not descriptive enough - Flames allowed way too many 'Sure Goal Chances') over and over and over. Not only did they allow those, but they allowed those to some of the NHL's best players and snipers. I don't fault Markstrom - I think he ended up just as rattled as everyone else, and probably felt like he had to over-compensate for having McDavid, Draisaitl, Kane and Hyman take wide-open uncontested shots from the slot (and closer!).


I don't think we know how good Wolf will be - certainly the NHL is littered with goalies who exceeded for a season, and then suddenly disappeared. I don't think we know what Vladar is going to be either - there is no reason to think he won't continue to improve. I also don't think we can be sure of how long Markstrom stays this good (and yes, he is this good - he is elite). He turns 33 in January, so who knows?


I think some of the other goalies in the system are interesting too. There might be an injury. There might be a trade bringing in another guy in a year or two (though less likely).



I am just happy for what the Flames have thus far in the pipeline and on the team. If all things go well, then at some point you trade Markstrom, Vladar is the starter, and Wolf is the backup. After a couple of seasons, maybe those roles flip? Maybe Wolf will be the starter and Chechelev will be the backup?



It just is so nice to have actual options and possibilities without 'hoping' for them.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Too early to say either way, but we shouldn't discount keeping both and moving Markstrom in 2 years.

In two years Vladar will be 27, Wolf will be 23, and Markstrom will be 34 and turning 35 in the January of that season.

If you could move the 2 x $6M that Markstrom would have left and move forward with the tandom of the two younger goalies that seems like the right long term move. Especially if Wolf and Vladar continue to impress.

There's a big difference between starting 20 games and playing 50+ with regularity like Markstrom does.

It's great that Vladar is proving to be highly competent as a backup for a workhorse goalie, but as we've seen before many, many times - backups like this can have a very hard time transitioning to being the guy and even upping the workload from 20-40 starts. Vladar had some issues down the stretch last season that don't exactly instill the utmost confidence that he's able to play more, and at a high level until he proves otherwise. What we are seeing thus far is only preseason hockey.

Make no mistake, Markstrom is the guy for this team for the next 3 years at least. It likely means moving on from Vladar next year and slowly ratcheting up Wolf to be able to handle a large NHL workload during that time. Unless of course Vladar end up playing 30-40 games for some reason this year and absolutely show that everyday starter potential, there's not a huge reason yet to bank on him as a long term answer in net.

[FanIn80]

I was thinking about this some more... if Markstrom were to get hurt (please no), I would feel comfortable with Vladar taking over. I assume they'd leave Wolf starting for the Wranglers instead of having him ride the bench for the Flames. Danske probably gets the call to back up Vladar.

If Vladar were to also get hurt, or just suddenly forgot how to stop a puck... I don't know that comfortable is the right word, but I would certainly be interested to see how Wolf handles it (assuming, of course, that Wolf would then get the call to start for the Flames.)