Training Camp Battles: Goaltending Edition

The Flames have started to make a number of cuts to their training camp roster and despite the fact they have had a few injuries happen the Flames appear to have a problem on their hands.

A very good problem.

The Flames are suffering from depth at all positions as it appears they have too many capable bodies and not enough roster spots for them. The real issue is some of these NHL ready bodies have to be exposed to waivers before being sent down and, as such, Brad Treliving and co. have some very difficult decisions to make over the next week.

Over the next few days I am going to attempt to break down Calgary’s glut of NHL players, what their options are, and the possible outcomes.

So, what are Calgary’s options?

Today I am going to look at the Flames goaltending situation.

Goalies

The Flames have a 3 headed monster crowding their crease at the moment. Jonas Hiller and Kari Ramo are both NHL calibre goaltenders who patrolled Calgary’s crease last season in a 1A/1B fashion. The 2 goaltenders had pretty good years, helping the Flames get all the way to the second round of the play-off's. 

Both goaltenders have their faults and I am not sure  either one of them is a true #1 goaltender, but they both seemed to feed off of the competition last year and any time one hit a slump the other was there to take the ball and run with it for a bit. It worked out well, but if the Flames are looking to be a better team this year they will need to improve on this.

Enter Joni Ortio.

The young Finnish goaltender, who was seemingly hand picked by Miika Kiprussoff in the 2009 entry draft, has taken a while to develop within the Flames system. Chosen in the 6^th, round, Ortio came over to North America in the 2010-2011 season, only to get off to a rough start and decide to head back to Finland for the rest of the season. He did the same in the 2011-2012 season, this time not returning to North America until the 2013-2014 season when he took over the starting goaltender role for the Baby Flames. 

The young goaltender has seen some NHL action over the last 2 seasons while being one of the top goaltenders in the AHL. Most recently Ortio had a 5 game run in January for the Flames where he won the first 4 games, posting a .949 Sv% and a 1.25 GAA including a shut-out in his first game against the Vancouver Canucks before having a tough outing and being sent back to the AHL due to a number of players coming back from the IR.

Joni Ortio finds himself waiver eligible this season and while it isn't a certainty that he would be claimed off waivers, it wouldn't be a risk I imagine Flames brass would be willing to make considering that Ramo and Hiller have expiring contracts and the Flames top goalie prospect, Jon Gillies,  is playing his first pro season this year and is probably still a few years away.

So who goes?

It’s a tough call. My gut says that Ramo has a higher upside than Hiller but the Flames will probably move whoever has the higher value at the moment. Having to go into the season with a Hiller/Ortio combo isn't a bad thing, especially if Ortio can live up to the good run that he had last year and push Hiller for starts.

Another reason I would be surprised to see Ortio and his 600K contract put on waivers is that moving one of Jonas Hiller (4.5 million) or Kari Ramo (3.8 million) would free up some cap space for the Flames. Even if they end up having to eat ½ of their salary for the season it would be worth it for Calgary. If the Flames find themselves in the middle of a play-off push like they did last season they will almost undoubtedly look to bolster their roster at the trade deadline. Having cap space will give them more options.

The question is, will they be able to find a taker?

Out of the blue: Brad Treliving and co. aren't happy with the goaltending options they have, or find themselves a more long term solution in net and make a trade. All 3 goalies have looked pretty good this training camp, so that probably rules out the former. I also don’t think there are many, if any, long term solutions out there at this time so I don’t see this one happening. I do however bring it up because there is a chance, even if it is a miniscule one.

Tomorrow I will be breaking down the Flames battle on the blueline.