FlamesNation Mailbag: Goalies and other things

We’re talking goalies: major league, minor league, and historical. Also the future of the 3M line, some potential trade plans, and other things.

It’s hard to speculate right now given the unknown nature of the injuries (both are lower body, but Jon Gillies is listed as day-to-day while Tyler Parsons is listed as week-to-week), but barring a Gillies trade, I feel that the most likely option is that Artyom Zagidulin sticks in Stockton while Parsons is sent to Kansas City under the guise of conditioning.

But the team can’t do that long term. Gillies doesn’t have a future in the organization while Parsons does, and the org won’t be doing Parsons any favours by sticking him in the ECHL. A three goalie approach doesn’t help either: Stockton usually only plays two back-to-back games per week, so a rotation means at least one goalie is only seeing action once every two weeks.

Gillies is the odd man out, so the organization should look to move him as soon as Parsons is healthy enough to play. Loan, trade, I really don’t care, but it’s clear he doesn’t have a place here.

I think there’s a healthy amount of wanting the trade to not be as bad as many said it was, but it’s mostly that last point. Fans love tough guys, always have and always will. Milan Lucic taking on noted villain Nikita Zadorov is satisfying, and if his presence in the lineup gives the appearance of security for Flames players, he’ll be appreciated for just being here. Not a bad job to have, really.

It’s those first two points that can turn the tide against him, as it did in Edmonton. Lucic’s inability to physically keep up with the play is at odds with the game’s recent focus on speed, which limits his usefulness against even average NHL players. On the physical side, he does rack up the PIMs, but the funny thing is that he’s not even that much of a fighter, only recording two scraps last year and four the year prior. If Lucic is not doing either of those things and is forced to just play hockey (which will be the majority of the time), he’s a low impact guy with a propensity to take dumb penalties.

There’s going to be a low tolerance threshold for that, especially considering his cap hit. Lucic’s start to his Flames tenure has been well received, but there will be times when remembering that he’s under contract at $5.25M until 2023 (with a NMC, to boot) brings nothing but gloom.

It’s hard to say this early into the season because we don’t really have a good read on Cam Talbot. His preseason was up, down, and limited, so there’s no telling whether we’ll get good Talbot or bad Talbot.

Of course, the only way to figure that out is to play Talbot. But if Rittich keeps up this form, it’s hard to see where he steals a start. He’ll play the back to backs, but with an exhausted team in front of him it’s not going to be entirely indicative of his true ability as a goaltender. In a division race that projects to be very tight at the top, there’s no room for error, and I would expect Peters’ goaltending decisions to reflect that.

To pick from the numbers, I would say 60/22. Rittich wants to prove that he’s a starter in the NHL, and I have no problem with letting him. Of course, goaltending is voodoo, so this could all be topsy-turvy two weeks from now.

Assuming that one and two are Miikka Kiprusoff and Mike Vernon, and also assuming that it’s too early to say Rittich, let’s take a dive into the history of Calgary Flames goaltending and solve this question of the utmost historical importance.

I think the only correct answer is Rejean Lemelin, mostly because he played for the team from 1980-87, which makes him the third longest tenured Flames goalie. He’s a 80s goalie, so the numbers aren’t pretty to look at by modern standards (I never saw him play, so this is all I have to go on), but he was the starter for teams that consistently made the playoffs which is some indicator of quality.

Otherwise the rest of Calgary Flames goaltending history is very sad. Do not look at it.

The same reason that they haven’t done it up at any point under Bill Peters’ tenure: the Gaudreau-Monahan-Lindholm line is working and there’s no reason to break it up.

Yes, early in the season, but five of the six Flames goals this season have been scored by members of that unit. Only four non-first line players have points (Mark Giordano x2, Sam Bennett, Matthew Tkachuk, and Derek Ryan), and I don’t think any other line has looked as deadly as the Purple Gatorade boys.

The solution – for now- is not to break up the line in an attempt to spread out the scoring. We know that the Flames have secondary scoring, it just hasn’t arrived yet. I figure we see some breakthroughs in the next week or so, and then Peters might experiment. Until then, don’t expect any major shakeups.

Very likely, but very difficult.

The cap situation is still a disaster. When trade deadline rolls around, the Flames will likely only be able to add ~$720K in cap hits, presuming they don’t ever find themselves with injury issues at any point until then. Unless a big money name goes on LTIR (in which case, the Flames would have bigger issues than cap space depending on who it is), they really don’t have much flexibility. They will probably look into moving expiring contracts, but that adds another degree of difficulty. We’ll have to wait until then to see how the trade market breaks, but I think it’s fair to say that the Flames already have their hands tied.

It might play out a lot like last trade deadline, where the Flames were sniffing around the top trade targets, but wound up settling for more depth instead of a game changer.

Yes on all counts.

It’s Michael Frolik’s final year and the Flames aren’t going to bring him back, so the original 3M line is playing its final tour with its original lineup. I don’t think Peters breaks up the band just yet though. The duo of Tkachuk and Mikael Backlund will remain until Backlund either ages out of the role or someone else steps up. That’s not going to happen this season, so we’ll have a rump-3M line until another centre steps up.

Adding another top six winger would absolutely help, but as explained above, they will look internally first before looking to the trade market. Peters has already tried Andrew Mangiapane in that spot, which I feel should be given a few games. Sam Bennett is also a popular candidate for a promotion, and heck, even Austin Czarnik scored a few goals on that unit. Jakob Pelletier is also playing RW very effectively in the QMJHL, so there’s another potential option.

I think this question has been asked in some way or another at the beginning of every season since his rookie year, so the wise advice is to not get your hopes up. If it hasn’t happened yet, it’s probably not happening.

After 300 NHL games played, it might be time to accept that Bennett is what he is: a 30 point bottom sixer who plays with a major chip on his shoulder. That’s fine. Every team could use one of those, especially if they’re on a team friendly contract. It would save everyone a lot of stress if we though of Bennett as a role player instead of a prospect in waiting.

Maybe he finally gets a full time promotion into the top six, but again, bet against that. I wrote last week that the pressure should be on Bennett to be a top six player, not on top six linemates to carry Bennett. Frolik hasn’t looked the part of second liner thus far, but neither has Bennett. Peters has tried Bennett in the top six for a handful of games last season (both when Frolik was and was not healthy), and I think it’s telling that he hasn’t stuck with it. I’m obviously reading too deep into it, but I don’t think Peters put Mangiapane in the top six against Vancouver by mistake or strict adherence to keeping the 3M line composed of Ms.

I’ll leave you with a sliver of optimism. As Pat pointed out, Bennett does a lot of the right things to not be rewarded more often. Maybe the luck finally breaks his way, and he could kick it up a notch, but I still don’t think he finishes at anything higher than 45 points. Even then, that is pretty good for a bottom sixer.