Would you re-sign Brian Elliott?

[Rick M.]

Originally Posted by madmike

Rittich I think will be 25 next year, so he's not really a super young prospect. If the Flames don't offer him an NHL deal, I could see a bottom feeder offering him one and the Flames losing him.

That's provided Rittich plays well down the stretch.

Unless Elliott shows something more than he has so far, there's no reason to bring him back. He's had decent moments, but overall he hasn't been anywhere close to where he needs to be as a starting goalie for a team with playoff aspirations. We've seen enough of the team at this point to know Elliott's poor numbers are a result of his lousy play and not the team in front of him.

The Flames need to have a look at Rittich at the NHL level to determine if he is starter or backup material. The fact that we are fighting for a playoff spot makes this a more complicated business than if we were solidly in or definitely out of a playoff spot.

[Mass_nerder]

I would rather sign Johnson, and see if we can find a better option in free agency. Elliott would be 2nd or 3rd option if nothing else was available. I guess it also depends on how the org sees Gillies or Rittich.

Anyone know how the 3rd to St.Louis works? I'm assuming we only give it up if we sign him to an extension, but not if we sign him after July 1st?

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Par

One has to wonder if Elliot was a product of Hitchcock's system, Hitch's system makes average goaltenders look good.

The same Hitchcock whose team is 30th in the NHL in SV% right now? That Hitchcock?

Maybe, just maybe, goalies have up years and down years and this is a down year for Elliott.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

The same Hitchcock whose team is 30th in the NHL in SV% right now? That Hitchcock?

Maybe, just maybe, goalies have up years and down years and this is a down year for Elliott.

I think you mean every year away from St. Louis is a down year.

[TheoFleury]

When I first saw this thread I assumed it was a necro bump from the summer. Seriously? Re-sign Elliott? I'd go after Ryan Miller on a 1 or 2 year deal or pretty much anyone else really. Who would do worse? Guy can only beat bad teams and he still lets up at least one stinker in those games. He's probably the worst established goalie in the league at the moment. Honestly, who is worse?

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Weitz

I think you mean every year away from St. Louis is a down year.

To be fair, young goalies struggling and then rounding into form after 25 is not an unheard of thing.

[Inferno]

While I don't think he's been as bad as some on here claim and better the five games prior to last night than some want to give him credit for; I also don't think he's been good enough to warrant extension at this point. It could change by the end of the season but at the moment I'm expecting only Johnson to be brought back.

[ResAlien]

I know that as a fanbase we're desperate for a clear cut starter after the goaltending fiasco the last few years but some of the excuses made for Brian here border on parental blind love. He's either the unuckiest human on the face of the earth or mayhaps he's having an awful year but he's as bad or worse as Hiller was. Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll go on a hot streak but damned if buddy doesn't let in 1 to 2 beach ball softies every game. God no don't re-sign and I hope they're active in the trade market to try and bring in a real starter.

[Flamescuprun2018]

Originally Posted by madmike

Rittich I think will be 25 next year, so he's not really a super young prospect. If the Flames don't offer him an NHL deal, I could see a bottom feeder offering him one and the Flames losing him.

That's provided Rittich plays well down the stretch.

Unless Elliott shows something more than he has so far, there's no reason to bring him back. He's had decent moments, but overall he hasn't been anywhere close to where he needs to be as a starting goalie for a team with playoff aspirations. We've seen enough of the team at this point to know Elliott's poor numbers are a result of his lousy play and not the team in front of him.

Agree. At age 24 we do not need to shelter Rittich. Rittich is 4th in the AHL in GAA and 3rd in SA this year albeit with limited minutes.

It is time now to see what he can do. Get him a string of AHL games this month and call him up in February.


1 Zane McIntyre 682:27 1.41 0.951
2 Juuse Saros 782:39 1.76 0.938
3 Ken Appleby 717:22 1.84 0.928
4 David Rittich 703:19 1.96 0.929
5 Troy Grosenick 1019:38 2.12 0.928

I do not care one bit if Elliott sits or gets waived. Huge drop off in Save Percentage this year. He has the lowest SA (0.889) of any goalie in league this year who have played more than 12 games!

Chad Johnson (0.920) sits at 16th across league just above Talbot, Luongo and Smith. I have a hard time blaming the team for Elliott's woes.

[Corral]

Elliot will have no interest in signing here next year unless things turn around for him dramatically - there's no need to ask whether the Flames should re-sign him at this point.

[Corral]

Originally Posted by ResAlien

I hope they're active in the trade market to try and bring in a real starter.

which is why you need to be careful in how you treat Elliot. Everyone in the league knows he was signed here to be the 'real starter'. Cast him adrift like yesterday's garbage, and you and I can guess how many 'real starters' will look seriously at Calgary as a destination. ZERO.

[Gaskal]

Originally Posted by Corral

which is why you need to be careful in how you treat Elliot. Everyone in the league knows he was signed here to be the 'real starter'. Cast him adrift like yesterday's garbage, and you and I can guess how many 'real starters' will look seriously at Calgary as a destination. ZERO.

He hasn't been playing like a "real starter" for most of his games this season, so he only has himself to blame.

[drewtastic]

Originally Posted by ResAlien

I know that as a fanbase we're desperate for a clear cut starter after the goaltending fiasco the last few years...

For me, this is the key (Elliott debate aside for a moment). And the way I figure it, we desperately need one of our "deep goalie draft pool" to step up and take charge in the next few seasons (like a Holtby) because we haven't had much success in the FA market, overall.

Arguably, without Kipper's reign, our goaltending history since the mid-90s has been Flyer-level bad. Who was the last goalie we DRAFTED to become a consistently successful NHL starter AS A FLAME? Vernon? (Surely not The Kidder, you jest!)

With respect to the Elliott debate, I'm not a big fan of his upright-style. He seems to be cut from the "puck blocker" cloth. The more I watch, the more I think his stint in St Loo was successful because of the team defensive structure. Our young team needs a guy who can make a save he shouldn't possibly make every now and again (possibly even more regularly than that) as we strengthen team D. I'm not sure Elliott is that guy.

Kipper spoiled us because he kept a lot of sub-par Flames teams afloat post 2004 (as many posters have elsewhere mentioned on this board). So many unreal saves that seemingly only he could make. It is probably unrealistic to expect this level of goaltending again...right?

Here's a link to the list of Flames goalies since 1980, for interest's sake.
http://goaliesarchive.com/flames/index.html

(Year by year: http://goaliesarchive.com/flames/yearbyyear.html )

[Huntingwhale]

I feel bad for leaning towards ''no'', because I was a big fan of Elliot in St. Louis and was genuinely excited we got him. I thought for sure our goaltending issues were a thing of the past. If anything it just shows have good you have to be to be a legit starting goalie in the NHL. Probably the hardest job in all of sports.

But it's really hard to bring him back in anything less then a backup role, but I doubt he wants that. So really unless he pulls a Johnson and is able to somewhat carry us into the post season in the 2nd half, BT has no choice but to look elsewhere. I hate to think that,because l think Elliott is better then what he's shown. But as someone said earlier, it's a result oriented business and the fact is unless Elliott goes on a tear the 2nd half, he hasn't got us the desired results.

[btimbit]

Huntingwhale nailed my thoughts as well. I watched a lot of the Blues last year and was a huge fan of getting Elliott. Almost ordered an Elliott jersey too. I firmly believe he's better than what's he's shown, but at the end of the day the proof is in the pudding and the results speak for themselves. Unless he's lights out the rest of the year, so far I say no, don't bring him back

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Rick M.

The Flames need to have a look at Rittich at the NHL level to determine if he is starter or backup material. The fact that we are fighting for a playoff spot makes this a more complicated business than if we were solidly in or definitely out of a playoff spot.

Scouts have the ability to watch players at lower levels and project how good they'll be in the NHL. Rittich does not necessarily need to be tried at the NHL level before the Flames project him.

[Corral]

Personally I hope Johnson steps up and lands the starter role for several years. Its a good story. A revolving carousel in the net - by that I mean a new starter every year - painfully reminds me of the years between Vernon and Kiprusoff.

[IgiTang]

Originally Posted by BigTuna

Freddy Andersen was the guy to get. Great trade. In his prime years, and 5 million is a nice contract.

Here we go ... ugh ...

[Macho0978]

I would sign both Elliott and Johnson to 1 year deal for combined 5 mil or less. Hopefully less. I think Johnson deserves a raise and Elliott a 2nd crack. Committing to them 1 more year for this cheap allows Gillies another year in the AHL as well allows us to continue to build up front. To me the biggest issue with the team is the Bennett line. Backlund line as been amazing and Monahan and Gaudreau have been more dangerous since Johnny came back. The 4th line has been great too but you can't expect much scoring from them. Bennett's line has consistently been invisible in the offensive end.

We also need to improve the defense after the big 3

Goaltending can wait one more year and I believe a 2nd year with the same tandem may improve our goaltending as well

With Bennett on pace for 40 points I see a bridge deal worth around 3.5. Spending 5 or less on the goaltending would give us options to give Bennett more help on his line and another year in the league and a short term deal hopefully he breaks out with the motivation of getting a big contract. I don't see Ferland getting a huge amount with his recent goal drought and none of the RFA's will demand huge raises. By spending less than 5 on Elliott and Johnson and bridging Bennett I could see 6-7 million to spend on a 2nd line player or top 4 dman. To me that is more important if you can find the right fit at that price

[BigTuna]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

The same Hitchcock whose team is 30th in the NHL in SV% right now? That Hitchcock?

Maybe, just maybe, goalies have up years and down years and this is a down year for Elliott.

You want to see what the stats are for Hitchcock for the previous 20 years?