The Goaltending Carousel

[agulati]

The last few years have seen a lot of goaltenders come and go through Calgary. Some with solid resumes on the downswing (Hiller, Smith, Elliott), some looking at another chance (Ramo, Talbot), some developed internally (Ortio, Rittich) and some who just serve as stop-gaps (MacDonald, Berra, Johnson). One thing common, is most of them have been well short of spectacular. Ever since #34, we have not had much, in the sense of consistency, in the backend.


2012-13
Miika Kiprusoff 24 GP (8-14-2) 3.44 GAA 0.882
Joey MacDonald 21 GP (8-9-1) 2.87 GAA 0.902
Leland Irving 6GP (2-1-1) 3.33 GAA 0.883

2013-14
Karri Ramo 40 GP (16-15-4) 2.65 0.911
Reto Berra 29 GP (9-17-2) 2.95 0.897
Joey MacDonald 11 GP (5-4-1) 2.90 0.890
Joni Ortio 9 GP (4-4-0) 2.51 0.891

2014-15
Jonas Hiller 52 GP (26-19-4) 2.36 0.918
Karri Ramo 34 GP (15-9-3) 2.60 0.912
Joni Ortio 6 GP (4-2-0) 2.52 0.908

2015-16
Karri Ramo 37 GP (17-18-1) 2.63 0.909
Jonas Hiller 26 GP (9-11-1) 3.51 0.879
Joni Ortio 22 GP (7-9-5) 2.76 0.902
Niklas Backstrom 4 GP (2-2-0) 3.35 0.881

2016-17
Brian Elliott 49 GP (26-18-3) 2.55 0.910
Chad Johnson 36 GP (18-15-1) 2.59 0.910

2017-18
Mike Smith 55 GP (25-22-6) 2.65 0.916
David Rittich 21 GP (8-6-3) 2.92 0.904
Jon Gillies 11 GP (3-5-1) 2.88 0.896

2018-19
David Rittich 45 GP (27-9-5) 2.61 0.911
Mike Smith 42 GP (23-16-2) 2.72 0.897

2019-20
David Rittich 48 GP (24-17-6) 2.97 0.907
Cameron Talbot 26 GP (12-10-1) 2.63 0.919

2020-21
David Rittich - Under Contract
Jon Gillies - Under Contract
Cameron Talbot - UFA

At the same time, we have missed out on top/other goalies who we have been rumoured to be interested in (Bishop, Fleury, Andersen).

What happens next? Do we go back with the tandem as this year? Do we go for one of the major UFAs available this year? It is expected to be a massive crop (Lehner, Markstrom, Holtby) . Do we trade for a goalie?

[SeanCharles]

Talbot is 33 so he clearly isn’t the answer long-term.

I don’t mind keeping Rittich but I think we need a legit guy to lead the way.

With the expansion draft looming there will be plenty of opportunities to add a good goalie.

It’s on the GM to ensure we don’t miss the boat on that.

[The Yen Man]

I've been saying the first thing Flames need to do before anything else is get rid of Sigalet. How he still has a job is beyond me.

[1qqaaz]

I want Lehner more than Hall.
He's exactly what the Flames need.

Goaltending has a much larger impact on team success than wingers do.
If Vegas doesn't sign him, I'd be all-in.

[Geeoff]

I don't mind the idea of being cheap in net in a salary cap world. It's just that the rest of the team has to be on point to make it work

[agulati]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

I want Lehner more than Hall.
He's exactly what the Flames need.

Goaltending has a much larger impact on team success than wingers do.
If Vegas doesn't sign him, I'd be all-in.

At what term and cap hit though? If we can get him for under 6 million, it would be a pretty decent signing

[EVERLAST]

I think Rittich could still be a good goalie. I think the Flames made a mistake running Talbot as hard as they did. I get why they did it but I'd have rather tried Rittich and then reverted to Talbot if need be ....but we all know the results.
Regardless, either goalie carrying the team on his back ain't cool.
I think we still have hope in Parsons and Wolf in the future. We're as hard on goalies as we are on coaches and management here. ....what a tire fire.

Hopefully we have a short turnaround and have hockey again real soon.....wow what a year.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by EVERLAST

I think Rittich could still be a good goalie. I think the Flames made a mistake running Talbot as hard as they did. I get why they did it but I'd have rather tried Rittich and then reverted to Talbot if need be ....but we all know the results.
Regardless, either goalie carrying the team on his back ain't cool.
I think we still have hope in Parsons and Wolf in the future. We're as hard on goalies as we are on coaches and management here. ....what a tire fire.

Hopefully we have a short turnaround and have hockey again real soon.....wow what a year.

We pay for mediocre coaches. We pay for mediorce managers. We pay for mediocre goalies.

That's pretty much the reality. You get what you pay for.

[1qqaaz]

Originally Posted by agulati

At what term and cap hit though? If we can get him for under 6 million, it would be a pretty decent signing

Maybe a James Neal contract: 5 years at 5.75 mill
With the flat cap, I could see him taking it.

[Yrebmi]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

I've been saying the first thing Flames need to do before anything else is get rid of Sigalet. How he still has a job is beyond me.

It seems he's well liked and well respected, but the results are pretty damming.

[EVERLAST]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

We pay for mediocre coaches. We pay for mediorce managers. We pay for mediocre goalies.

That's pretty much the reality. You get what you pay for.

Let's not forget ....those high end goalies need to WANT to come here.

We have had some that didn't wanna pkay here so there's that.

[Vinny01]

Blow up the goalies again. Find a team that needs a second goalie for their platoon and send Rittich there. Go get Lehner or Markstrom and let Talbot go. Get a cheaper backup option

[Toonage]

Treliving has let Lehner sit in free agency twice now. He clearly doesn't have interest in him. Well, not while he was cheap anyway.

[Kiran403]

Go hard for Holtby. Premier goalie plus he's from Lloydminster so geographically it might be a good fit in terms of him wanting to move here.

[Poe969]

I agree Vinny, I'm good with letting Rittich go at this point and let Talbot go to UFA. They need to either get Lehner, go after a trade candidate like Murray or Georgive or hell, go see if Holtby wants to play for the Flames (at a discount). If they don't have a legit #1 goalie there really is no point.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by EVERLAST

Let's not forget ....those high end goalies need to WANT to come here.

We have had some that didn't wanna pkay here so there's that.

Oh definitely.

It's why I think we need to draft goalies (and centres, and defenders).

Relying on free agency for your key positions doesn't work. There is no quick fix here. If this team actually wants to win a cup, they need to make moves and bring in picks like crazy.

Originally Posted by Toonage

Treliving has let Lehner sit in free agency twice now. He clearly doesn't have interest in him. Well, not while he was cheap anyway.

Yep, and Tree has got the results he deserves because of it.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Toonage

Treliving has let Lehner sit in free agency twice now. He clearly doesn't have interest in him. Well, not while he was cheap anyway.

Lehner, Raanta and Halak were all available more than once while Treliving was GM. Maybe he tried, who knows.

[Strange Brew]

Rittich gets bought out.

Can't have a Treliving off season without a buyout and he's most likely.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

Maybe a James Neal contract: 5 years at 5.75 mill
With the flat cap, I could see him taking it.

I sure don't.

VGK has made an obvious commitment to Lehner in how they have balanced his play with Fleury's. I think they see him as the heir apparent, and if it means moving soon-to-be-36-year-old Fleury in order to accommodate Lehner's new contract, then this is their first choice.

[PepsiFree]

Yeah people can salivate over Lehner and Markstrom all they want. Why in the world are Vegas and Vancouver letting their best goaltenders go when both teams are obviously ready to be competitive? That's ridiculous. Vegas is going to run with a couple more years of Fleury and Vancouver is going to hitch their playoff hopes for the next 5 years to Demko? lol

If we're going free agent hunting, our options are likely:
Holtby
Dell
Khudobin
Greiss

...and Talbot was better than all of them this year.

Really inspiring stuff.

In fact, Talbot (in less games played) was as good as Markstrom and Lehner. They're both younger and played more, so you can see why people want them, but at this point we might as well sign Talbot. Or trade for a younger "maybe" and hope for the best.