Question 4: The Calgary Flames will need to expose a goaltender, but Gillies, Rittich, and Parsons are all exempt because they’re first or second year professionals (or prospects). Luckily for the Flames, Tom McCollum was signed just for exposing purposes. But now the Flames have the risk of heading into free agency with no goaltender that has valuable NHL experience. Do you think Flames will make a move for a goaltender this month before free agency?
Jonathan Boulanger
Yes I do. They should consider someone like Marc-Andre Fleury or Jimmy Howard. It’s a good idea to lock one down before free agency so they can focus their attention on other less obvious holes on the team that will propel them into contention. Strengthening the defense with one more piece and the forward core with a crafty winger.
Alex Hoegler
No, I believe the Flames will wait until after the expansion draft to get a goalie. As I’ve written on here before, they have plenty of options in Jimmy Howard, Marc-Andre Fleury, Antti Raanta and others. Wait until after the expansion draft and then find your goalie.
Related Story: Flames Monday Roundtable - Goaltending Edition
Dan Raicevich
There are three goalies who the Calgary Flames could look to adding via a trade. Jimmy Howard, Jaroslav Halak and Marc-Andre Fleury. While Howard and Fleury have two years left on their deals, Halak only has a year left on his. All three of these guys can benefit from a change in scenery, and they can provide mentorship to a young goaltender in the Flames system. Gillies or Parsons can learn a lot from these seasoned veterans.
Ramina Shlah
Sorry Alex, but I agree with Jonathan and Dan. I don’t think they should wait until after free agency to sign someone. That being said, I think an option they could go for is to sign Chad Johnson and protect him since, like we’ve talked about in a different roundtable, he’s a solid backup goaltender. This is hard to predict though, because none of us will know what’ll happen. But whatever Brad Treliving does, I trust it.