2018/2019 Trade Speculation and Rumors

[VladtheImpaler]

Put me in the "I don't trust any of our goalies" camp. I am entirely prepared to be proven wrong by Rittich, but i just get a bad vibe from him as he plays more games and the pressure mounts. Smith is finished. There is nothing in the system (at least for this season). I am firmly of the belief that the rest of the team is plenty good enough to win the Cup, so I would be going for Howard, maybe Anderson (if you get them to retain), even Varlamov if COK continues to crater. I believe we need someone that can hold the fort for a longish run.

[Poe969]

I dont like the avs either but let's not resort to name calling...

[djsFlames]

I have more faith in Rittich than some people I guess. He settled in over the course of the game and shut the door in the 3rd, OT and stopped 2 of 3 in the shootout. He did what he needed to and looked to be, if anything, regaining traction and composure with more playing time. I think all the time off threw him off a bit, but he's settling in again.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Put me in the "I don't trust any of our goalies" camp. I am entirely prepared to be proven wrong by Rittich, but i just get a bad vibe from him as he plays more games and the pressure mounts. Smith is finished. There is nothing in the system (at least for this season). I am firmly of the belief that the rest of the team is plenty good enough to win the Cup, so I would be going for Howard, maybe Anderson (if you get them to retain), even Varlamov if COK continues to crater. I believe we need someone that can hold the fort for a longish run.

All 3 of those guys have poorer numbers than Rittich.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by transplant99

All 3 of those guys have poorer numbers than Rittich.

It is just a gut feeling. I claim no logic or statistical evidence.

[dino7c]

Rittich doesn't have good home numbers...why? pressure? team is too fancy?

IDK

[flamesfever]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Put me in the "I don't trust any of our goalies" camp. I am entirely prepared to be proven wrong by Rittich, but i just get a bad vibe from him as he plays more games and the pressure mounts. Smith is finished. There is nothing in the system (at least for this season). I am firmly of the belief that the rest of the team is plenty good enough to win the Cup, so I would be going for Howard, maybe Anderson (if you get them to retain), even Varlamov if COK continues to crater. I believe we need someone that can hold the fort for a longish run.

I agree that, in view of the potential with our team to go all the way this year, we have to acquire a backup to replace Smith, and possibly even Rittich for part of the playoffs. The playoffs are different in that some people have the ability to rise to the occasion, and I still think that Rittich could help us go a long way.

As it looks like the NHL may not be the place to find a suitable backup, how about the minors and Europe. I know it's a big jump for most goalies, but is there a good reason not to look there?

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

It is just a gut feeling. I claim no logic or statistical evidence.

Fair enough.

And it just goes to show how difficult it is to upgrade that position during the season.

I am not opposed to BT looking to upgrade that spot but I think 2 things come into play.

1) I think BT wants to see how BSD does down the stretch and in the PO before moving to change him. Information is power and im not sure he has enough yet.

2) Smiths stead among his team mates. Fans may not want to hear or admit it, but that whole "chemistry" thing is...a thing. And on this club maybe moreso than others. Wreck that and you wreck your season possibly.

BT is in a tough spot in some ways.

[PlayfulGenius]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Put me in the "I don't trust any of our goalies" camp. I am entirely prepared to be proven wrong by Rittich, but i just get a bad vibe from him as he plays more games and the pressure mounts. Smith is finished. There is nothing in the system (at least for this season). I am firmly of the belief that the rest of the team is plenty good enough to win the Cup, so I would be going for Howard, maybe Anderson (if you get them to retain), even Varlamov if COK continues to crater. I believe we need someone that can hold the fort for a longish run.

If think it’s too late for that... I don’t see it as likely that a new G can come in, at this stage, and flourish.

The adjustment time for goalies seem to be somewhat lengthy.

[GranteedEV]

I have faith in Rittich but zero faith in Sigalet.

The guy's pattern is

Goalie comes in playing really well, but deficiencies suddenly start creeping in without a correction and they leave the Flames as suddenly bad goalies with zero confidence. Sigalet 100% unable to turn anyone's futurd around. And Sigalet was a guy promoted to the NHL because of his work with Ortio, who didn't even make it as an NHLer.

Even Elliott, who got off to a shakey start statistically, was worse in his final few Flames game than he was when he first came in.

Just seriously sick of us pandering to a goalie coach with such a brutal resume. I don't think it's a coincidence Holtby and Grubauer haven't looked so great without Mitch Korn while Lehner and Greiss are suddenly the best goalie tandem in the NHL.

[djsFlames]

Yeah it seems like Sigalet does #### all. Or isn't reading these goalies well enough to gauge the real problems.

Every vet goalie has specific issues in their game crop up (that is clearly identifiable) and seemingly nothing is done to work out those weaknesses over time. They merely persist until said goalie is chased out of town.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Put me in the "I don't trust any of our goalies" camp. I am entirely prepared to be proven wrong by Rittich, but i just get a bad vibe from him as he plays more games and the pressure mounts. Smith is finished. There is nothing in the system (at least for this season). I am firmly of the belief that the rest of the team is plenty good enough to win the Cup, so I would be going for Howard, maybe Anderson (if you get them to retain), even Varlamov if COK continues to crater. I believe we need someone that can hold the fort for a longish run.

Yeah, I like Rittich too, but I am not sure he is the guy to play nearly every game between now and the end of the playoffs. He is only 26 and has little NHL experience and has never had this kind of workload in his entire career. And I hate to say it, but he has looked pretty human lately. We need someone to take some of the pressure off of him. Having Smith as a back up only adds extra pressure on him. Getting even a minor upgrade on Smith would also be addition by subtraction if it got Smith out of the picture.

[icecube]

Flames have had objectively mediocre goalies coming in since Kipper. Everyone around the league knows that. We may have finally found a number one in Rittich but it's still too soon to tell.

The blame Sigalet meme is so dumb, so lazy and reeks of desperation to find a patsy. Nobody knows anything about goalie coaching. I don't know if Sigalet helps or hinders but I do know we have been a joke in net for a long time and most of that is on mediocre or expiring talent. If Sigalet sucked so bad and it was his fault they'd have fired him by now.

[1qqaaz]

For Sigalet, I care about his development skills more than his actual coaching skills.

As long as goaltenders improve under him, I don't really care.
Rittich is looking better this year, and that's been huge for the team.

Of course, in order to develop goalies, they should probably be younger than 35.

[Ozy_Flame]

Jordan Sigalet has been the consistent factor through a range of goalies. If one was to look at how effective he has been improving goaltenders and their ability to perform during their tenures in Calgary with Sigalet in his role it would be shotty at best.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

I have faith in Rittich but zero faith in Sigalet.

The guy's pattern is

Goalie comes in playing really well, but deficiencies suddenly start creeping in without a correction and they leave the Flames as suddenly bad goalies with zero confidence. Sigalet 100% unable to turn anyone's futurd around. And Sigalet was a guy promoted to the NHL because of his work with Ortio, who didn't even make it as an NHLer.

Even Elliott, who got off to a shakey start statistically, was worse in his final few Flames game than he was when he first came in.

Just seriously sick of us pandering to a goalie coach with such a brutal resume. I don't think it's a coincidence Holtby and Grubauer haven't looked so great without Mitch Korn while Lehner and Greiss are suddenly the best goalie tandem in the NHL.

I don't want to turn this into a blame Sigalet thread but it sure does seem once a flames goaltender goes into a funk it just snowballs and he never regains his confidence. Elliott's game started deteriorating later into the season where he melted down in the playoffs. Smith has been no good since this time last season. Zero improvement. Rittich after the offseason came out in the first the months playing fantastic but his game is on the decline and you get the feeling the wheels can fall off at any time. It sucks that this season's team may be held back by goaltending but the window at least is just opening for this team so the GM knows it's his top priority in the offseason and possibly time to get a fresh face replacing Sigalet.

[Bunk]

For a team that’s first in the west and second overall, our fan base seems a bit freaked out here. Teams and players hit flat spots in the course of a long season. There’s nothing to really worry about here.

[icecube]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I don't want to turn this into a blame Sigalet thread but it sure does seem once a flames goaltender goes into a funk it just snowballs and he never regains his confidence. Elliott's game started deteriorating later into the season where he melted down in the playoffs. Smith has been no good since this time last season. Zero improvement. Rittich after the offseason came out in the first the months playing fantastic but his game is on the decline and you get the feeling the wheels can fall off at any time. It sucks that this season's team may be held back by goaltending but the window at least is just opening for this team so the GM knows it's his top priority in the offseason and possibly time to get a fresh face replacing Sigalet.

All goalies have their ups and downs over a season. Did you expect Rittich to be vezina calibre all year when he's finally emerging? He's going to need a bit more time and patience to see what we have.

Brian Elliott has always been inconsistent and frustrating. Mike Smith is old, and probably still banged up since last year.It's like you guys expect a goalie coach to mold the Venus Di Milo out of a pile of dog turds. That's pretty much what he's been given since he's been hired.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by icecube

All goalies have their ups and downs over a season. Did you expect Rittich to be vezina calibre all year when he's finally emerging? He's going to need a bit more time and patience to see what we have.

Brian Elliott has always been inconsistent and frustrating. Mike Smith is old, and probably still banged up since last year.It's like you guys expect a goalie coach to mold the Venus Di Milo out of a pile of dog turds. That's pretty much what he's been given since he's been hired.

To me that's still an excuse as he's either part of the problem or part of the solution and regardless of the goaltenders he's had to work with he's not shown by any measure that he's part of the solution. He's the last coach standing going back two head coaches yet the same issue is rearing it's ugly head that plagued the last two coaches. Is it coincidence? I don't think so.

[FlamesAddiction]

I hate to be that guy, but I almost feel like the goaltending coach situation needs its own thread.

Replacing Sigalet isn't going to change anything this season, nor does it answer the question whether a goalie trade is needed to capitalize on this season's window.

I think the future is bright for Rittich, but looking at the present, I have my doubts that we can continue to expect him to carry the team through the rest of the season and playoffs without a reliable partner in the crease to take the pressure off of him and the rest of the team.