Calgary Flames: Five Goaltenders Who Would Make Flames Contenders
5. Thomas Greiss
Whoever comes to Calgary to play goal next season, they are going to play a platoon type role with David Rittich. No matter who the Flames decide to be the other goaltender, they aren’t going to play 65 games, and they aren’t going to sit on the bench and watch Rittich play 60 either.
Greiss has been playing a platoon role with the New York Islanders for years. Whether he was splitting starts with Jaroslav Halak or Semyon Varlamov, the German netminder was playing between 27 and 51 games per season. The year he played 27 games, he spent six weeks on injured reserve.
In other words, he is perfectly suited to take on the role the Flames are offering. This season, Greiss played 31 regular season games for the Isles, posting a 2.74 GAA and a .913 SV%. He started four games in the postseason and was fantastic, putting up a 2.02 GAA and a .929 SV%.
A year ago, he was even better, Greiss played 43 games in 2018-19. The team went 23-14-2 with him in net and he had a 2.28 GAA and a .927 SV%. The 34 year old has been great the past two seasons and is an unrestricted free agent, so the Flames would not have to give anything up in a trade to acquire him.
The problem with Greiss is, the Islanders play a tight defensive style. Would be be able to post those numbers on a team that actually tries to score goals from time to time or has his defence been inflating that save percentage a little bit by limiting quality chances?
Greiss would make a solid tandem with Rittich, but he is 34, there has to be a younger option, right?
4. Matt Murray
If the Flames want an available goaltender that could potentially be in town for a decade, Matt Murray fits that description. The Pittsburgh Penguins have said they are extremely likely to move one of their restricted free agent goaltenders and Tristan Jarry had the much better 2019-20 season so Murray could be on the way out.
The problem with acquiring Murray is you don’t really know which Matt Murray would step off the plane in Calgary. He has played five seasons with the Penguins, and this one was not his finest. He had 38 starts and while his record of 20-11-5 looks great, he had a heck of a team in front of him.
Murray’s GAA jumped to 2.87 and his save percentage dipped under .900 for the first time in his career. Those are not the numbers of a high quality number one goaltender in the NHL.
Nonetheless, Murray has a pretty impressive resume. He started just 13 games as a rookie in 2015-16, but had a 2.00 GAA and a .930 SV%. His 2.41 GAA and .923 SV% the following year left the impression he was a budding future Vezina Trophy winner. Especially since he was the man in the crease when the Penguins won back to back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017.
However, Murray hasn’t been able to reach those lofty heights in the past three seasons. His 2017-18 campaign was a bit disappointing. He bounced back the following year to have decent stats in 50 starts but this season wasn’t great.
If you are getting the Matt Murray that won two Cups and was excellent in his first two seasons, you found the backbone of a franchise. If you get the guy who struggled this season, it would be a busy season for David Rittich next year.
Also, the rumoured asking price of a 1st round pick is way too steep. If it drops and the Flames can get him for much less, then it might be worth the risk. But there are still a few better options.
3. Ben Bishop/Anton Khudobin
Matt Murray had playoff success three years ago but Anton Khudobin’s has been far more recent. The Stars backup for most of the season, Khudobin was thrust into the spotlight when Ben Bishop was injured in the postseason.
Khudobin has shown to be up to the task and it should be no surprise. The Russian goaltender led the league in save percentage in the regular season. His .930 SV% in 30 games was the best in the bigs. His 2.57 GAA and .922 SV% have carried the Stars all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. He is going to get a long look for the Conn Smythe Trophy as Playoff MVP if the Stars can win the Stanley Cup.
Khudobin has been in a platoon role for the past two seasons with the Dallas Stars and played a similar role for a year with the Boston Bruins before that. He started between 30 and 41 games each of those seasons and has had solid numbers each year. He is 34 years old so he won’t get top dollar on the free agent market, but a two or three year deal with a $4 million cap hit would likely entice him to join the Flames.
Getting a potential Conn Smythe winner who led the league in save percentage in the regular season would be a tremendous acquisition for Calgary.
Of course, it would make sense for the Stars to try and keep him. If they do, maybe they want to move out Ben Bishop who has three more years left on his contract that carries a cap hit just over $4.9 million. Bishop was runner-up for the Vezina Trophy just over a year ago and would be a great platoon-mate for Rittich as well.
2. Darcy Kuemper
There have been plenty of rumours swirling around the Arizona Coyotes this offseason. They are looking to slash payroll, they can’t afford to pay guys their signing bonuses, they have hardly any draft picks because they either traded them for Taylor Hall or lost them for cheating by hosting a private draft combine.
So, they want to move out players who make money and bring in draft picks. One player that has gained a lot of attention is goaltender Darcy Kuemper. The Arizona Coyotes netminder has been phenomenal for the past two seasons in the desert.
He finished 6th in Vezina voting this season and was tied for 5th last year. If not for injuries he could have been even higher on that list. He had a 2.33 GAA and a .925 SV% in 55 games in 2018-19 and this season he posted a 2.22 GAA and a .928 SV% in 29 starts.
Kuemper was fantastic in this year’s postseason. In the Coyotes three wins, I’ll say that again, I’m talking about games they won here, he faced 43, 40 and 52 shots. Again, those were the games that the Coyotes won. Obviously, Kuemper was their MVP in the postseason.
He is signed for two more years with a cap hit of $4.5 million. They Flames could certainly absorb that contract but the Coyotes won’t be giving him away. A trade for Kuemper would at the very least cost the Flames their first round pick which is 19th overall. Depending on any other offers that the Coyotes receive, Calgary may even have to add something else to that.
It would be a steep price to pay, but the next two years are going to be enormous for the Flames franchise. Johnny Gaudreau and Mark Giordano could be an unrestricted free agents in two years and Matthew Tkachuk will be a restricted free agent again. Having an excellent goaltender for those two seasons is imperative to give the team its best chance to win with this group.
Of course, getting a stud goaltender without giving up assets from your own roster would be ideal…
1. Jacob Markstrom
The Vancouver Canucks nearly climbing back from a 3-1 deficit in the second round of the postseason could turn out to be a blessing for the Calgary Flames. How? Because of the emergence of Thatcher Demko.
The Canucks have leaned heavily on Jacob Markstrom in goal for the past three seasons. Demko served as his backup this season and though he wasn’t tremendous in the regular season, he was flat out unbeatable in the postseason.
Demko played four games against the Golden Knights and posted a ridiculous 0.64 GAA and a .985 SV%. Will that give the Canucks confidence they can count on the 24 year old to be their starter next season? If so, that means they are going to allow the 30 year old Markstrom to leave as a free agent.
If Markstrom becomes a free agent, he needs to be the number one priority for the Calgary Flames. He has been consistently good for the Canucks since he started playing on a regular basis in 2015. He hasn’t been putting up the greatest numbers in the league, but he’s been above average each season on a team that was not close to average.
The Swedish netminder can carry a heavy workload if needed, but would likely play a bit less than he has been forced to in Vancouver. This would help him stay rested and ready to go when playoff time arrives. He had a .919 SV% and a 2.85 GAA this postseason, once again being above average with that save percentage while the team was not the stingiest defensively in front of him.
If the division rival Canucks allow Markstrom to hit the open market in just over two weeks, the Flames should be the first team to call. The “go with the hot hand” method has worked okay for the Flames the past few years. However, they need a guy they can go to when the season is on the line. Markstrom would be an excellent fit.