2018/19 Goaltending Options for the Flames

[keenan87]

Brodie+Smith+?? for Holtby+Burakovsky...

Next Year:
Holtby
Rittich

[Incogneto]

Originally Posted by codynw

One Philipp Grubauer plz

This.

If you cannot get Grubauer, keep with the program. Smith and Rittich/Gillies.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Did he, though? Here are the games he played after Smith went down:

@ Boston - he was solid, not spectacular. Team was a tire fire in front of him. L
@ Nashville - While he had a gaffe, he was a huge part of this win W
vs Florida - Made some strong saves, allowed one wrister from the slot he may want back, Panthers scored on a partial breakaway and two perfect netfront tips. Hot team beat him but he was solid L
vs Boston - easily the best player on the ice, bar none. Made excellent saves all night and arguably the best goaltending performance we have had all year OTL
@ Vegas - awful game from Rittich, awesome finish from Vegas L
@Colorado - he was the only Flame who showed up. Team pissed the game away with penalties and odd man rushes against. Rittich kept them in it as long as he could.L
@ Buffalo - did his job. W
@ Ottawa - did his job for a period, and then stood on his head for the next two as the team fell apart. W


IMO, the team played just awful hockey after the mandatory break with the exception of (@Nashville, @Vegas, @Arizona, @Pittsburgh, @Buffalo, period 1 @Ottawa, and NYI@CGY).

We can put the Vegas loss on Rittich and the Pittsburgh overtime loss on Gillies. Likewise we can put a loss like Tampa @ Calgary on pre-Injury Mike Smith. Goalies will lose you games sometimes.

But no, I don't think Rittich dropped the ball after Smith went down. The numbers might suggest it, but my eyes don't. The team didn't have it and goaltending was the easy scapegoat. Only Gillies made me nervous.

He is a full year away from being a starter. Hellebuyck went 26-19-4 and the Jets went out and signed UFA Mason to be their #1. Hellebuyck got an idea what it took to be a starter and made the adjustments to become one.

Right now Rittich is focused on doing good in his next start.

Rittich or Gillies have to get 50 starts with a similar performance to Hellebuyck's a year ago before any credence is given to making them being a starter .... ON A WINNING TEAM

Smith was a desperation attempt to fill the goalie spot on the cheap.



He has not had a winning record since his 27-21-10 5 seasons ago...

Maybe Smith is a starter in the NHL but not even close to be a being a starter on a Winning team... There is a about a 5% chance that he improves as a 37 year old. Just because he looks good on bad teams does not mean he is good on a good team.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by InCoGnEtO

This.

If you cannot get Grubauer, keep with the program. Smith and Rittich/Gillies.

Even Grubauer needs a year to establish himself as a starter.

Sticking with status Quo means another 3 years in the wilderness.... provided Rittich and/or Gillies really are the answer.

[sketchyt]

He certainly didn't show it this year, but I think Jake Allen has a very high ceiling and could be a good buy low candidate.

[Toonage]

Jake Allen has several years left on his deal. Carter Hutton (his backup), who I feel has been equally as good as Allen over the past few seasons is a UFA.

Mike Smith may have been thought of as a stop gap to Rittich or Gillies (or even Parsons) but I don't see that now. I think the Flames need to find that stop gap to spell Smith next season and then split duties with one of the aforementioned three goalies the season after that.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by keenan87

Brodie+Smith+?? for Holtby+Burakovsky...

Next Year:
Holtby
Rittich

The Caps certainly wouldn't want Smith back and would have negative value to them.

And I doubt you get a bonus Burakovsky to boot.

They could move Holtby for cheap assets if they wanted to.

[Gaskal]

Goaltending is something that stung us down the stretch, although I'd argue it had more to do with the coaching staff's decisions and how they handled all 3 this year.

First of all, it's reasonable to expect that Mike Smith would be a 60-65 game starter. He is going to fall short of that this year due to the injury that was caused by riding him far too hard and not giving him some relief. A part of that was the whole unwillingness to rely on Lack and so Treliving at least didn't sit on his hands this time and cut ties very early.

But after Rittich proved himself capable he should have gotten more starts so Smith can get the full 60-65 we expect from a starter. But no, he was given far too much of a workload... lo and behold, crippling injury.

That's not the worst part though.

The worst part is how awfully they handled the young goalies. They went with a whole "ride them while they're hot" tactic that Hartley did with Hiller and Ramo in 2014-15. This is about the most naive thing they could have done with Rittich and Gillies, for neither replacement goalies are of the 1B type where you can get 35-45 games from them and maintain reasonable numbers. It was a pretty stupid idea then, and an far stupider idea looking back.

Rittich and Gillies are young backups. They are not 1Bs. The worst thing that could have been done was to put the entire goaltending load on one set of young shoulders until they collapsed, then just put it on the other guy until he collapses. These guys need time to physically and mentally prepare themselves for starts. That is why, when they are given a schedule with starts here and there, they can prepare themselves better for it. They will NOT EVER thrive in a scenario where you know you start the first time you F up, the other guy goes in.

As soon as Smitty went down, as Gulutzan I would have gathered the coaches (plus Sigalet & Pringle) and the 3 goalies together. Long, intensive video sessions on the teams they would be facing during the stretch run and which goalie would be more appropriate to use. Which guys like to shoot? What handedness are they? What does their release look like? Do they like going for any particular spots? Then, bang out a starting schedule right away for the next month while Smith is on IR, using all the info/ideas you learned and bounced around between each other.

Rittich and Gillies are not terribly different from new young hires looking to establish themselves in an organization. What motivates them as younger players? They like direction. They like to know the organization has plans for them and contingency plans for when those fail. And as far as I know, Gulutzan did nothing of the sort to provide this base to them.

[EVERLAST]

Any takers on Robin Lehner??? Dude has a temper but I like this guy. He's like Smith in that he won't take any crap from anyone and has enough fire to motivate the team in front of him.

Plus he's got the perfect goalie Jimmy eyes!!!!

[Drunk Uncle]

Originally Posted by EVERLAST

Any takers on Robin Lehner??? Dude has a temper but I like this guy. He's like Smith in that he won't take any crap from anyone and has enough fire to motivate the team in front of him.

Plus he's got the perfect goalie Jimmy eyes!!!!

I would take Lehner in a second. Would he leave a starters role to be a back-up though?

[Frank MetaMusil]

Rittich was hitting a groove and as soon as Smith was healthy again, he was back between the pipes.

I hate when coaches do this. I still remember Kipper on a 4 game win streak, Brent decides to switch goalies and the team lost all their momentum.

I will probably get some flack for saying this, but I don't even care if it's a back to back. Ride the effing hot goalie FFS.

[Toonage]

Originally Posted by EVERLAST

Any takers on Robin Lehner??? Dude has a temper but I like this guy. He's like Smith in that he won't take any crap from anyone and has enough fire to motivate the team in front of him.

Plus he's got the perfect goalie Jimmy eyes!!!!

Absolutely. He's an RFA but wants out so a low pick ought to get his rights. Hasn't played on a good team in some time and a 1B role might be right up his alley.

[Easeback]

FINAL TWO GAMES: Put Gully in goal, without pads

Dress rest of coaching staff on 4th line and see how 'the system' plays out

[united]

I've been hoping for/advocating for Philipp Grubauer since 2015. Sadly, I don't think there is any realistic way that will happen for next season. Perhaps in future seasons depending on what he re-signs for.

[nightfx]

Originally Posted by sketchyt

He certainly didn't show it this year, but I think Jake Allen has a very high ceiling and could be a good buy low candidate.

I watch a fair amount of Blues games, Allen doesn't have the mental fortitude to be a top goaltender. The last thing a mentally fragile team needs is a goalie that is also mentally fragile.

[Drunk Uncle]

Originally Posted by Toonage

Absolutely. He's an RFA but wants out so a low pick ought to get his rights. Hasn't played on a good team in some time and a 1B role might be right up his alley.

I really hope you are right. Lehner is a very good goalie and would be a definite upgrade on Rittich... and I like what Rittich has done as a back-up.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by EVERLAST

Any takers on Robin Lehner??? Dude has a temper but I like this guy. He's like Smith in that he won't take any crap from anyone and has enough fire to motivate the team in front of him.

Plus he's got the perfect goalie Jimmy eyes!!!!

Just wonder if the guys who are hotheads are able to be liked in the room

I can only speculate but we saw Smith throwing his team under the bus a few times and then have 5 out of 7 games where he lets in 4 plus. I just wonder if a guy like that can get the team on board with him, and to go the extra mile for him.

Depends how Lehner channels his temper. I’ve seen the crazy eyes. Does he also throw his teammates under the bus?

I’d take a Kipper every time but they don’t grow on trees.

[Toonage]

If the team wants more fire, and was considering a guy like Kane, then a personality like Lehner shouldn't cause them to even blink.

[smiggy77]

Originally Posted by memphusk

Taking into consideration that Smith celebrates his 57th birthday this summer, theres a good chance he will get hurt again at some point. Get someone who can play 30-40 games next season and start over again season after that.

jeez the dude is no where near 57 lol

[Roof-Daddy]

Lehner is terrible and surprisingly still over rated.

His high save percentages in the past were propped up by massive amounts of low danger shots he was facing.

That combined with the fact that he's a temper tantrum waiting to happen make him a complete no go IMO.