[Signing] Official: Flames sign Cam Talbot (1 yr, $2.75mil)

[FiveSeven]

Surprisingly nobody touched on the whole Smith playing the puck too much stuff. Sometimes when he wasnt doing the best job with handling the puck I just wanted to scream. Just stay in the net for once!! It did help end the forecheck but also seemed to limit breakout speed because defenders are usually just being still waiting for the pass. Which led to comments of the team playing faster under rittich. Guess we will see but I'm definitely much more optimistic about goaltending this season.

[BigBrodieFan]

Originally Posted by FiveSeven

Surprisingly nobody touched on the whole Smith playing the puck too much stuff. Sometimes when he wasnt doing the best job with handling the puck I just wanted to scream. Just stay in the net for once!! It did help end the forecheck but also seemed to limit breakout speed because defenders are usually just being still waiting for the pass. Which led to comments of the team playing faster under rittich. Guess we will see but I'm definitely much more optimistic about goaltending this season.

You must have missed the post where someone said that Edmonton now has a Number 1 puck moving d-man

[CanadaMatt]

Didn’t love or loath Smith, but the biggest disappointment for me will be the continued debate in 2019/20 on who is the starter. I yearn for simpler times when Kipper was the number 1 and there was no debate.

How much is McBackup getting now? Is it 1.3 million per year? That would’ve been a decent move (assuming it was available) for a number 2.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by FiveSeven

Surprisingly nobody touched on the whole Smith playing the puck too much stuff. Sometimes when he wasnt doing the best job with handling the puck I just wanted to scream. Just stay in the net for once!! It did help end the forecheck but also seemed to limit breakout speed because defenders are usually just being still waiting for the pass. Which led to comments of the team playing faster under rittich. Guess we will see but I'm definitely much more optimistic about goaltending this season.

I think this is key, and when people raised concerns about this element in Smith's game during the playoffs I started to see the position differently.

My problem was not with Smith's play of the puck—he is EXTREMELY good at it, and very rarely ever made mistakes. The problem is not Smith—the problem is how the defence responds to Smith's puck-play. The game probably slowed down whenever Smith played the puck, in part because Flames defencemen were never in such a hurry to get to the goal-line if they never had to, but also perhaps because it gave the Flames defense too much time to overthink plays when they were anticipating the pass from Smith.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by CanadaMatt

Didn’t love or loath Smith, but the biggest disappointment for me will be the continued debate in 2019/20 on who is the starter. I yearn for simpler times when Kipper was the number 1 and there was no debate.

How much is McBackup getting now? Is it 1.3 million per year? That would’ve been a decent move (assuming it was available) for a number 2.

McElhinney is already 36-years-old. He is only 14-months younger than Mike Smith, and older than all but six goalies in the NHL. Besides, there have been suggestions that McElhinney really soured on Calgary when he was moved, and will never come back. I think in the end it was never really an option for the Flames.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by FiveSeven

Surprisingly nobody touched on the whole Smith playing the puck too much stuff. Sometimes when he wasnt doing the best job with handling the puck I just wanted to scream. Just stay in the net for once!! It did help end the forecheck but also seemed to limit breakout speed because defenders are usually just being still waiting for the pass. Which led to comments of the team playing faster under rittich. Guess we will see but I'm definitely much more optimistic about goaltending this season.

The thing that drove me nuts is there is a time and place for going out of the way to play the puck. It seemed a lot of the time Smith was just doing it to show off. "Hey, look what I can do!"

It would throw the defense off and they would have to waste time to re-set the play anyway. It wasn't helping.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I think this is key, and when people raised concerns about this element in Smith's game during the playoffs I started to see the position differently.

My problem was not with Smith's play of the puck—he is EXTREMELY good at it, and very rarely ever made mistakes. The problem is not Smith—the problem is how the defence responds to Smith's puck-play. The game probably slowed down whenever Smith played the puck, in part because Flames defencemen were never in such a hurry to get to the goal-line if they never had to, but also perhaps because it gave the Flames defense too much time to overthink plays when they were anticipating the pass from Smith.

One challenge I saw with Smith’s puck handling (and which was more painfully evident during Gulutzan era) was where the time Smith took would slow down the breakout, and give the opponent time to get in a good defensive posture. Not Flames overthinking, more so slowing the transition.

A second challenge was not ‘mistakes’ so much in the sense of flubs or direct turnovers, as the ultimately unproductive passes to, say, Tkachuk, alone at the far blue line when 4 Flames were in the D zone and 3 opponents close on Tkachuk and force the turnover.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

The thing that drove me nuts is there is a time and place for going out of the way to play the puck. It seemed a lot of the time Smith was just doing it to show off. "Hey, look what I can do!"

It would throw the defense off and they would have to waste time to re-set the play anyway. It wasn't helping.

Again with this nonsense. No, Smith was not showing off. He was trying to win.

[Brick]

NBC NHL Power Rankings following July 1 NHL free agency:

Flames at 16th out of 31 teams.

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/bru...gency#slide-21

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Brick

NBC NHL Power Rankings following July 1 NHL free agency:

Flames at 16th out of 31 teams.

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/bru...gency#slide-21

So, what exactly does this mean?

[timbit]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

So, what exactly does this mean?

Absolutely nothing!

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

So, what exactly does this mean?

It means the second place team in the league dropped to a middle of the pack team by staying pat except for an upgrade on goaltending.

Because they are going to miss Hathaway. A lot.

[mrdonkey]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

So, what exactly does this mean?

It means NBC thinks the Flames are a bubble team because they imploded in the playoffs. But it doesn’t count for Tampa and Toronto.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

It means the second place team in the league dropped to a middle of the pack team by staying pat except for an upgrade on goaltending.

Because they are going to miss Hathaway. A lot.

Okay, so if the Sharks did substantially worse than staying pat (by losing their best forward in Pavelski, along with Donskoi), they must have really dropped, no?

[Brick]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Okay, so if the Sharks did substantially worse than staying pat (by losing their best forward in Pavelski, along with Donskoi), they must have really dropped, no?

8. San Jose Sharks (46-27-9)
The Sharks made it all the way to the end of the Western Conference Final and they’ve resigned Erik Karlsson to a mega-deal extension. Their place toward the top is secured for next season even if they lost Joe Pavelski in free agency.

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/bru...gency#slide-31

[Brick]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

So, what exactly does this mean?

16. The Flames bring in Cam Talbot on a one-year deal and will once again let their goaltending situation shake out as things go along. The question is whether last spring’s playoff experience is going to make this team any better.

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/bru...gency#slide-21

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Okay, so if the Sharks did substantially worse than staying pat (by losing their best forward in Pavelski, along with Donskoi), they must have really dropped, no?

No!

Because they "resigned" [sic.] a broken-down Erik Karlsson.

[FanIn80]

Remember folks, the “educated” outlook amongst media “professionals” is always that any Calgary success is just an outlier to the expected status quo of abject failure.

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

Remember folks, the “educated” outlook amongst media “professionals” is always that any Calgary success is just an outlier to the expected status quo of abject failure.

To be fair, can you really blame them? The team has won playoff series in two years since 1989.

[CanadaMatt]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

So, what exactly does this mean?

It means that many (read: not an immaterial amount) people are concerned the Flames overachieved last year and have done nothing to fix the weaknesses in their side.

I’m not ready to jump off centre street bridge yet, myself, but I do sense growing concern within the fan base (presumably that the “window” is being somewhat squandered). This is further backed up by independent opinions such as the one quoted.

FWIW...flames hover around 8th-10th in the betting markets I just reviewed. That’s where I’d have them too