Waiver wire Sept 21. UPD: Martel claimed by TB.

[PaperBagger'14]

During his time here, whenever Butler was on the ice for a goal against my roommate and I would tell at the TV "THE BUTLER DID IT!"

[Geeoff]

We should fire the guy who thought having Butler in the top 6 was a good idea

[Party Elephant]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

We should fire the guy who thought having Butler in the top 6 was a good idea

Jay Feaster?

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Waivered early so that he clears and other teams haven't found out if their guys are NHL ready.


Hutchinson waived as Luoungo and Riemer will be the Panthers goalies.

102 NHL games 43-39-11 on a team that was missing the playoffs on a regular basis.

Last year in the AHL 17-5-1 2.08 GA .935 Sv % 2nd Team year end AHL All Star.


Flames won't pick him up as they hope Rittich and/or Gillies will be better.

Hutchinson is a solid goalie, and while I do think he might be a slight upgrade on either of Rittich or Gillies, I'm not fully convinced of it. Rittich has it in him to steal some games, and early on last year his save percentage was hovering between .920 and .930. Gillies has high end potential as well, so long as he cleans up the bad goals that he tends to give up. A trend that Hutchinson hasn't gotten away from yet either.

In my mind, the Flames have several bullets in the chamber if you include Parsons down the road as an option. Picking up Hutchinson now tells the goalies in your system that are currently competing for an NHL job that you don't think much of them and their confidence may be lost as a result, especially if they're close to the NHL. That's not a smart way to develop your goalies. All for what, a guy that might be a marginal upgrade, but probably not?

It's just not worth the risk.

[Monahammer]

I would take a chance on dansk

[N26]

I still think Gillies is progressing towards being a good NHL goalie. His progression is at a steady, normal rate.

There was a moment or two when we thought he might get there at an exceptional rate but he didn't. Goalies rarely do. Look at most of the goalies considered top level in the NHL

Carey Price 4 years junior --> great rookie season --> 2 difficult years --> breakout year

Pekka Rinne 2 years backup in Finnish league --> 3 years AHL --> breakout

Bobrovski 2 years Russian 2nd division --> 3 years KHL with average stats --> great rookie season --> difficult sophomore season --> breakout

MA Fleury 3years in junior slightly above average stats --> alright rookie year -->lockout with average stats in AHL --> tough year --> breakout

Lundqvist 4 years in SHL (mostly good stats) --> great rookie year --> continued success

Luongo 4 years in junior average stats --> ok rookie year --> ok second season --> breakout

Vasilevsky 3 years Russian junior leagues --> good KHL year as as 1A/1b goalie --> 2 years split seasons as backup and AHL goalie --> breakout

Hellebucyk 2 years NCAA (great stats) --> good AHL year --> good year split between AHL and NHL --> up and down year as #1 in NHL --> great breakout

Corey Crawford 4 years junior (good stats) --> 5 years AHL (average stats) --> breakout

Holtby 3 years junior --> 3 years AHL (with 2 good NHL callups) --> split AHL/NHL season -->good NHL season --> breakout

And so on. Only Hellebucyk and Lundqvist got to their breakouts quite fast and only Lundqvist did it smoothly. Hellebucyk's 2016-17 led to the Jets giving Steve Mason $8 million dollars.

Gillies looks like this:

2 years USHL (ok stats) --> 3 years NCAA excellent stats --> season lost to injury --> ok AHL season --> good AHL season with ok NHL callup

I see progression. I am happy with Gillies. He has a 2 year-contract and I think that's perfect. If the progression is not there by the end of the contract then we cut him loose perhaps.

I am happy with him being a 60 game AHL goalie this year. Or maybe he and Rittich platoon the backup role (1 up 1 in the AHL) until one of them definitively grabs it. Or maybe he backs up Smith this year. All of those scenarios can potentially take him to the next step.

I am not discounting the possibility that he is our number one goalie next year. It could happen. His progression has been pretty good and he can make enough progress this year to get there.

I can't see any reason to bring in Dansk to complicate the situation. Behind Smith we have three goalies with NHL potential, one who has lost his way (McDonald) and one who probably isn't going to get anywhere close (Schneider). Too bad about the last two but I am happy with the situation on the whole.

[djsFlames]

If Dansk had more NHL games under his belt while holding those numbers then maybe.

He's as proven as Gillies, and less so than Rittich.

[Robbob]

I don't think Dansk is a clear enough upgrade to guarantee him a roster spot.

[OutOfTheCube]

Any takers on Moulson? Anyone?

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Dansk has looked good in the preseason and basically whenever he's played in North America in recent years. He's exactly the type of gamble the Flames need to make. I want to see a new face in goal in this organization.

Change for the sake of change because you are impatient is how terrible asset management happens.

[CSharp]

Originally Posted by PugnaciousIntern

We need to give Bennett a break. Perhaps a Butler pickup will establish CP balance

Bahahaha! Now, that's funny! I guess the only thing that'll balance out is one or the other will be crappy on either ends of the ice!

Now that Brouwer is gone, I'd like to see if Bennett actually shows up this season. There's no where to hide and no more excuses.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

I disagree. I'm almost completely over Gillies and Rittich. I think at a certain point we're stifling progress in favour of misguided loyalty to the mediocre options we already have. I think the Flames are going to shoot themselves in the foot if they don't pursue external options very soon.

Classic example of how Canadian fans are too impatient, and put pressure on their favourite team for change far too quickly and often.

BOTH goalies progressed last year. Both. And they have only been with the organization for 2 years.

How the hell is that stifling progress? Or misguided loyalty for that matter?

JC.

[TheScorpion]

Both goalies progressed last year? Idk about that. Rittich looked very shaky as the season progressed and performed poorly in the AHL as well. And Gillies is still wildly inconsistent and hasn't shown many good starts at the NHL level.

I'm all for patience when it looks like there's a spark of NHL greatness there -- it's why Bennett should be kept, for all his faults -- but too much patience is how you get stuck with Brent Krahn as your best goaltending prospect for eight years.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Dansk has looked good in the preseason and basically whenever he's played in North America in recent years. He's exactly the type of gamble the Flames need to make. I want to see a new face in goal in this organization.

Kind of ironic given you have Klimchuk as the Flames top prospect? Patience on the one hand...

Dansk might be intriguing but no way you guarantee him an NHL spot over what we have.

[TheIronMaiden]

Honest question, has an NHL goalie ever been claimed off of waiver wires before?

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Kind of ironic given you have Klimchuk as the Flames top prospect? Patience on the one hand...

Dansk might be intriguing but no way you guarantee him an NHL spot over what we have.

Well, two things about that. For one, Dube has far surpassed Klimchuk by now, although I still hold the latter in high regard. And in a position as fickle as goaltending, you need to cycle through options until you find somebody with potential. The Flames have been far too deliberate in testing out options doomed to fail in recent years while only bringing in mediocre veterans from the outside to counteract their own mediocre prospects. The only goaltender with any real potential in the Flames' system right now is Parsons and maaaaybe Gillies.

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

Honest question, has an NHL goalie ever been claimed off of waiver wires before?

Yeah, Curtis McElhinney was claimed by the Leafs in 2017. There are other cases too

[dammage79]

Gillies I get but I don't hold high regard for Rittich. I could live with him being elsewhere.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

Honest question, has an NHL goalie ever been claimed off of waiver wires before?

Yes.

Last season, Vegas claimed Subban off waivers and Florida and Montreal both claimed Niemi.

[TheIronMaiden]

Thank you for the answers.

I should rephrase: Has a goalie who turned into legitimate starter been found on the waiver wire before?

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

Thank you for the answers.

I should rephrase: Has a goalie who turned into legitimate starter been found on the waiver wire before?

Pretty sure Devan Dubnyk was waived at one point. Wouldn't be surprised if Craig Anderson was too years ago

Edit: yes to both counts. In fact, Anderson was claimed three times in 2005-06

Edit 2: Mike Smith was waived by Tampa in 2011