Flames free agent targets: Robin Lehner

The Calgary Flames had a decent goaltending situation for much of last season. Starter Mike Smith began the season well. And after Eddie Lack was pretty lousy early on, general manager Brad Treliving wasted no time punting him to the American Hockey League and promoting Stockton Heat starter David Rittich to back up Smith. It worked out really well for several months, until Smith was injured and Rittich had to be the starter for the better part of a month.

With Smith being 36 years old and coming off a fairly substantial injury, the Flames will need to have a backup goaltender that they’re comfortable with being the starter if Smith goes down again. If they choose to go to free agency to seek one out, Robin Lehner might be a good option to explore.

Lehner’s 27 years old, and hits the open market with 219 NHL games under his belt. He’s a product of Sweden, having played with Frolunda’s junior team before joining the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds after the Ottawa Senators drafted him in 2009.

His career as a pro has had three basic phases:

If nothing else Lehner will be reasonably inexpensive, as the NHL’s worst team chose not to qualify him so they could play Linus Ullmark instead. He’s definitely shown that he can do well in a secondary role. He’s got a reputation as a fiery competitor, often getting emotional during games and getting really mad when his team loses or if he gets pulled. Given the professed issues with the Flames – that they didn’t exactly go down swinging last season when adversity hit – adding the vocal Lehner to an equally outspoken Smith might help keep everyone’s feet to the proverbial fire. Consequently, Lehner’s reportedly a big fan of the Swedish death metal band In Flames, so playing for the Flames would be a pretty interesting fit.

Can Lehner be a good backup? Sure. Would he necessarily be an upgrade over Rittich or Jon Gillies in the event Smith went down? It’s unclear. As good a goaltender as Lehner can be, he was acquired at great cost by Buffalo and paid by the Sabres to be a difference-maker for them. He wasn’t, and whatever the reasons for why it didn’t materialize the Flames would have to strongly examine what happened before trying to sign him.

There’s also the fact that the Flames already have six goaltenders under team control – four signed and two as restricted free agents – meaning they’d be going out of their way to create a backlog to bring in Lehner. Given the emphasis placed by Treliving on developing Gillies and Tyler Parsons, it would be challenging for them to do so if they had more goaltenders than they had pro roster spots for them.

Whether or not the Flames bring in Lehner probably hinges on one simple thing: what do they think they’ll be doing this year? If the notion is that they have a limited window with a core group, they might as well take a gamble on Lehner in the short-term because they’ll probably be better off this year with a veteran goaltender if they want to win. However, if the idea is they have a young, maturing group and some interesting goaltending prospects that need to be outside of their comfort zones in order to grow – as in: Rittich needs to be in the NHL and Gillies and Parsons need to play a ton – then the Flames have to take their medicine and live with having a few growing pains with a relatively inexperienced goaltender as their backup because of the longer-term benefits it’ll provide to them.

Lehner’s a decent enough goalie and he’d be an inexpensive veteran option, but signing him would definitely lead to some roster complications for the organization.

Founded in 1950, Sports Excellence Corporation represents over 150 family-owned independent hockey retailers across Canada and the United States. Our highly knowledgeable hockey specialists are available to assist all your equipment needs. Find your closest Sports Excellence retailer here: Find a location near you!