[Signing] Flames re-sign Rittich avoiding arbitration (1 yr, $800k, one way)

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Itse

Sample size is an issue with those numbers.

Well of course, but equally so with the pst I responded to (about low percentages). It’s apples to apples.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Toonage

Love that clip of the Rittich save but it also makes me angry because it reminds me of how bad the Flames were trying to hold leads at the end of a game last year.

Come on. That clip is a carbon copy of the final minute in 80% of NHL games.

[Geeoff]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Well of course, but equally so with the pst I responded to (about low percentages). It’s apples to apples.

Well my point was that Rittich has not established himself as an NHL goalie. I'm also a little apprehensive because the Flames rarely have a good backup goalie. It would be nice to have Smith play 55 games because the backup played well enough to handle that many starts, instead of having Smith play 55 games because we overworked him and then he got injured.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

Well my point was that Rittich has not established himself as an NHL goalie. I'm also a little apprehensive because the Flames rarely have a good backup goalie. It would be nice to have Smith play 55 games because the backup played well enough to handle that many starts, instead of having Smith play 55 games because we overworked him and then he got injured.

If that was your point, you should have just said that. But we all know that Rittich (and Gillies) are not established yet. However, purely as a backup and not as a forced number one, Rittich was as capable as we've had, including veterans like Lack, Johnson, etc.

[Toonage]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Come on. That clip is a carbon copy of the final minute in 80% of NHL games.

"it reminded me"

As in it brought back bad memories of the Flames trying to close out games.

They weren't great at it.

Think of it as hockey PTSD

[shogged]

What a bargain

[TheScorpion]

Yes or no: Steve Mason, training camp PTO?

[gilligans_off]

No

[Toonage]

Still waiting for that Forsberg trade to go through.

In all seriousness, the Flames have 3 goalies for China and 3 for exhibition here.

Smith, Rittich, Gillies
Parsons, McDonald, Schneider

No need for any more

[gilligans_off]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Yes or no: Steve Mason, training camp PTO?

Plus, we now have three goalies signed to one way deals (Gillies doesn’t become 1 way until yr 2 but still). No need to bring in anyone else. There will be a battle for the backup spot as is.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by gilligans_off

Plus, we now have three goalies signed on one way deals. No need to bring in anyone else. There will be a battle for the backup spot as is.

And Parsons and McDonald will be at camp as well. There's only so much net time.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

Well my point was that Rittich has not established himself as an NHL goalie. I'm also a little apprehensive because the Flames rarely have a good backup goalie. It would be nice to have Smith play 55 games because the backup played well enough to handle that many starts, instead of having Smith play 55 games because we overworked him and then he got injured.

Frankly I thought Rittich as a rookie performed as well or better than most of the Flames backups of the past 5 years. He should be able to handle more starts in his second season. He looks like a capable NHL goalie so far despite the expected rookie inconsistencies.

[Geeoff]

Well I guess the key difference in our arguments is semantic. Seems like the popular view is that the backup role is Rittich's to lose and I think it's a competition that has not yet been decided.

At the end of the day, our backup's going to be a young player who is theoretically only going to improve over last season, which is pretty exciting. Plus, the standard he has to meet to be better than past backups is extremely low.

As long as we don't park Gillies in the press box, we might not Ortio this thing up LOL

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Sure but we don't know that yet. He wasn't outplayed by Lazar, Foo or Mangiapane last year (yes they had limited games, but even in camp they didn't). He wasn't outplayed by Czarnik on a different team in limited games.

6 goals 16 assists and -7.

Had Mangiapane seen the amount of power play time and the 10+ games with Backlund and Tkachuk that Brouwer was gifted, he would've been at least that productive.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Sure but we don't know that yet. He wasn't outplayed by Lazar, Foo or Mangiapane last year (yes they had limited games, but even in camp they didn't). He wasn't outplayed by Czarnik on a different team in limited games.

He wasn't outplayed by any of them, no. But he also didn't outplay any of them either.

And the simple fact of the matter is that he costs 5 times as much as some of them. And the Flames are tight against the cap.

If you need cap space, and you can replace a guy with no discernible reduction in performance and save over $2M, that creates a very large headwind for him.

[gamesaver]

Got to say, aside of some little things, I am very impressed how Treliving handled this offseason so far. We got better, younger and we do not have serious cap problems. Congrats to Rittich getting one way deal, guess that was his main goal, if he wanted to get paid he could have left to KHL. I am really happy for him.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

He wasn't outplayed by any of them, no. But he also didn't outplay any of them either.

And the simple fact of the matter is that he costs 5 times as much as some of them. And the Flames are tight against the cap.

If you need cap space, and you can replace a guy with no discernible reduction in performance and save over $2M, that creates a very large headwind for him.

I think he outplayed each of those guys. Even in his last two seasons which were far from his previous standard, he was still hitting (5th on the team IIRC) and killing penalties relativey well (when paired with someone other than Stajan). I think you are overestimating the impact of a Foo or Mangiapane, in their first year.

That all said, I've always agreed that as soon as his cap hit becomes an issue, be can be replaced. And even if those guys don't play as well, if the savings are needed, you do it because the impact on a fourth line is minimal.

[FlamesFanTrev]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

Well I guess the key difference in our arguments is semantic. Seems like the popular view is that the backup role is Rittich's to lose and I think it's a competition that has not yet been decided.

At the end of the day, our backup's going to be a young player who is theoretically only going to improve over last season, which is pretty exciting. Plus, the standard he has to meet to be better than past backups is extremely low.

As long as we don't park Gillies in the press box, we might not Ortio this thing up LOL

Yea, I don't see it that way at all actually. I think Rittich has the back-up role, and the organization is actually higher on Gillies, and are leaving him to get lots of game time in the AHL. I think that competition has been decided as early as the beginning of last year, once Rittich crossed the waiver eligibility threshold. There will be a battle in camp, but as long as Winnipeg has Brossoit as a back-up, there is at least one team making a waiver claim if you try and swap back-ups and waive Rittich. With the uncertainty with Mike Smith for next year, this club isn't going to potentially lose a keeper that might be half of a 1A/1B next year. What other solid contingency plan do they have?

[Geeoff]

I'm like 90% certain Rittich would clear waivers. Rittich and Brossoit have a lot of the same question marks.

I think that the backup goalie role should go to whatever goalie plays best in camp.


I meant to imply that popular opinion was that Rittich would be the backup. I apologize if that was unclear. I probably should have used a comma and a "while" instead of an "and".

[gamesaver]

This is how I see Rittich:

Character
Pros: intelligence, determination, work ethic
Cons: Hot temper, too emotionally invested in the game (stinker goal can affect his play afterwards)

Goaltedning
Pros: Positioning, flexibility, quick legs, quick glove
Cons: Finding pucks through traffic, breakaways / shootout, right post coverage (for some reason he is struggling at stick side post, especially when play goes from behind the net.)
Indifferent: puck handling. I thought that was his biggest weakness when he came here, but practicing with Smith really helped him a lot, now he looks way more confident and is not afraid of proactive plays.

When you look at his career stats, after close examination you realize that everytime when he went up one tier, he had a mediocre season, followed by an excellent season, atleast statwise. Then he went up again and the pattern continued. This is why I think its hard to say where his ceiling really is. He could have reached it already with this one way deal, or this could be his break out year. Will be interesting to see what he really is.