Cheap goaltending UFA options for the Flames

The Calgary Flames have a starting goaltender, but they do not have a backup.

At the draft, both Brad Treliving and Brian Burke expressed praise for Joni Ortio, but neither would fully commit to his being the backup, inclining to instead talk about always being open to other options to improve the team. Ortio had a much improved second half of the season, but is that worth pursuing? Or is there someone else available?

Karri Ramo isn’t going to get a $3.8 million salary again. Would he be fit to be a backup? He’s familiar with the organization, and wouldn’t be relied on for the bulk of starts; at the same time, he’s played heavier workloads, and Elliott has never really gone the distance in a single season. Will he be brought back at reduced rate?

Or will it be someone totally new? Let’s take a look at those possibilities.

Goaltending is much more difficult to evaluate, largely in part because it’s an isolated, static position. A goalie can singlehandedly save a game for his team; he can also be let down by his entire team in another night. To that end, we’re trying to avoid team-based stats such as wins and GAA, and focus on save percentage. A goalie may not be able to control how many shots he faces (rebounds aside), but he can control how many he saves.

Here, we see five goalies all in their late 20s or early 30s who put together solid seasons in 2015-16. Some are more impressive than others. If you’re worried about Elliott’s ability to carry a fully season, then Reimer and Johnson are the most intriguing options; if you’re confident in him, then Enroth, who had the best numbers out of everyone in this group (penalty kill aside) could be the way to go.

An added bonus: Enroth has played 50 games in a single season before, when he split time between the Buffalo Sabres and Dallas Stars in 2014-15; however, his save percentage in a purely backup role with the overall better Los Angeles Kings was much higher.

Reimer is an interesting name on this list. Does he want to be a starter? Almost certainly. Are there any spots in the NHL available to him? Not really; he could get a shot duelling Elliott on the Flames, or he may be able to find a better situation elsewhere (how much do the Blues feel Jake Allen is ready? Will Winnipeg prepare to move on from Ondrej Pavelec?). 

Why do Montoya and Hutton have such better penalty kill save percentages than the others? Remember, these are backups; they didn’t play much on the kill. Enroth and Hutton both played fewer than 90 minutes on it, which likely skewed their save percentages in opposite directions. Reimer and Johnson, with much heavier minutes, played over 200 minutes on the kill; their numbers are likely more sustainable.

If the Flames are moving on from both Ramo and Ortio, then the guy to go with is likely Johnson. For the most part, he’s posted good numbers throughout his career. He’s used to playing in both high and low volume roles, which would make him flexible, depending on where Elliott is at. He put up good numbers across the board for the Buffalo, a notably bad team (Enroth had the best numbers overall, but the Kings were good, which could have skewed them). And he likely won’t be as expensive as Reimer.

Either way, whoever the Flames pick, they’re likely looking at spending under $4 million on goaltending for the upcoming season. That’s cheaper than one Jonas Hiller, and roughly on par with last season’s Ramo. They bled money from the cap in net, and they have plenty of options to keep it low for 2016-17 – and improve it, at that.