Flames Claim Joey MacDonald

 

Word on the twitter is the Flames have claimed Detroit Red Wings backup Joey MacDonald off of waivers. The 33-year old has bounced around the majors and minors over this career, most recently with Leafs and Red Wings. With 100 games of NHL under his belt, MacDonald is definitely older and more battle-tested than either Irving or Taylor. On the other hand, his career SV% of .903 in the show and only marginally better results in the AHL suggest he probably isn’t much better than the rookies.

This suggests a couple of things:

1.) Kipper is out for longer than what the team is letting on.

2.) The guys in charge aren’t terribly confident in either Irving or Taylor to carry the ball.

Point number two is fair, although I’m not sure how or why Joey MacDonald adds much comfort. Sure he’s older and has more experience, but that additional information has told us he’s really not all that good a goalie. The only thing I can really stick this decision to is the typical anxiety decision makers get in handing over meaningful minutes to untested commodities like the Flames current goaltending duo. 

The addition of MacDonald also means the club is scraping up against the 50-contract ceiling (49). That’s not a terribly big deal right now, but does cut down on the org’s flexibility should other issues or opportunities pop up later.

Expect one of Taylor or Irving to get re-assigned to Abbotsford as early as today in response to this move.