Mike Smith is one of the NHL’s busiest goalies. Is it time to give him fewer starts?

When the Flames traded for Mike Smith back in June, they knew exactly what they were acquiring: a bonafide NHL starter. Throughout his six years in Arizona, he averaged 52 starts a season; three of those seasons, he started over 60 games, including his career-high of 67. He averaged a .916 save percentage through his years in the desert, as well, so most of those starts were quality ones.

So far this season, Smith has started 29 games: the most in the NHL. To date the Flames have played 34 games, so only five times he has not been called upon, just once due to injury. He has faced 893 pucks: the second most in the league. He carries a .918 save percentage, so he’s certainly holding up, but fact is at 35 years of age, Smith is one of the busiest goalies in the NHL.

Three games into his Flames career, Smith endeared himself to Flames fans far and wide by doing the impossible: not just getting a win in Anaheim, but shutting the Ducks out. For nearly 13 years, the Flames had failed to take two points out of the Honda Center. Smith came in and did it with flourish.

It was a part of a stellar October. Smith posted a .931 save percentage over the course of 11 games that month, and looked great even in losses. It was so easy to herald him the Flames’ saviour because, that month, he pretty much was.

Over 11 games in November, Smith posted a .918 save percentage. The shine was starting to wear off, but who honestly expected him to carry a .931 save percentage throughout the entire year? Only one goalie, Sergei Bobrovsky, did that in 2016-17. Carey Price had a .933 save percentage as a starter in 2014-15. That’s about it. It’s rare, and it’s not like a .918 save percentage is bad.

This brings us to December. Though the month is only half over, Smith has played in 11 games, and for his efforts he has a .894 save percentage. That’s where the cringes come in – because even though that number certainly isn’t entirely on him, it’s still a reflection of what has not been a particularly good performance.

So yeah, the Flames got a starter out of Smith. And there is a chance that his dipping numbers are the part of the natural, imperfect oscillation that goaltending can be. But there’s also the chance that Smith, on pace to start 70 games as one of the oldest goalies in the league, is being run into the ground.

Maybe. The thing is, the Flames don’t exactly have an established backup at the moment. They had Eddie Lack, but then they never played him because they were busy giving Smith almost every single start, and so, he performed poorly, posting numbers even worse than his weak Carolina years. He made two starts, losing both, and has come in relief twice. Lack’s best performance came in his one win, a .867 save percentage. So… not great.

With Lack not performing as a suitable backup and the Flames wanting Jon Gillies to have more starts than not, they called up their AHL backup, David Rittich. Rittich had a .931 save percentage over six games when he was brought up. Since then, he has had the chance to start three games, and he’s won all of them. He made one appearance in relief during a blowout and was unfortunately tagged with a loss. But Rittich has a .919 save percentage so far this NHL season; take out that relief loss, and he jumps up to .938. That’s a trustworthy backup, albeit with a very small sample size.

But how do you go on to trust your goalie without giving him any starts?

It isn’t as though Rittich has had only easy games to work with, either. Against the Canucks, he had an easy night: he only faced 17 shots. But in his first start, he saw 26; he won. In his second, he faced 37 in an overtime win. No matter how many pucks he’s faced, Rittich has looked calm and poised, his emotions never getting the better of him. Yes he’s young, yes he’s inexperienced, but there isn’t really much else the Flames could be asking of him.

Part of the reason Smith has started so many games is because the Flames’ schedule, to start the season, has been relatively spread out. There have been a couple of two-day breaks. There was a four-day break for some reason, giving Smith plenty of time to recover after starting both games in a back-to-back. (But part of it might also be just an over-reliance on the player, at this point.)

The Flames have two games coming up before getting five days off for Christmas, both at home. It’s easy to see Smith getting both starts.

But once they come back, things get crazy: three games in three different cities in four nights, including a back-to-back. Rittich will probably be getting at least one of those starts.

This takes us into January, when the Flames play 11 games, but also have a five-day break in the middle of the month, plus the All-Star Break at the end. There are, however, two sets of back-to-backs in the month. But even with all of the breaks, it’s a little daunting to think of Smith starting nine games and Rittich just two.

And then that brings us to February, when things get really crazy: 15 games in 28 days, only five at home, and three back-to-backs. If the Flames continue to over-rely on Smith leading up to then, it could be a very painful month that could decide the team’s fate at the trade deadline.

Following the holiday break, it’ll probably be time to start using Rittich more frequently.