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The Calgary Flames have a lot of areas that need to be addressed this off-season. Goaltending, as per usual, might be among them.
I think there is real interest in bringing Cam Talbot back but, following a solid bounce-back campaign, he may look for greener pastures – be it more money, more starts, or a combination of the two.
If Talbot walks the Flames need, depending how they view David Rittich, a 1A or 1B goaltender.
This is a pretty deep free agent class.
I’ve already looked at a few potential targets. There are options on the trade market, too, such as Frederik Andersen (the Flames were interested in the past) and Matt Murray (the Flames are rumored to have interest now).
As if there weren’t enough names in the hat already, a couple more appear to be surfacing.
It seems possible, if not likely, Henrik Lundqvist will be bought out by the New York Rangers. Marc-Andre Fleury’s tenure in Vegas also appears heading for a rather ugly ending.
I have thoughts on each as a potential fit. I’ll start with Lundqvist, who would definitely be my preferred choice of the two.
Lundqvist has made a lot of money in his career. He will next season, too. I don’t think he will cost more than a few million, which is enticing. I believe getting, say, 45-50 starts and playing for a decent team is more important than anything else. If the Flames aren’t doing a full fledged retool, and want to remain competitive through their period of change, I think Lundqvist could make some sense.
He may not be the goaltender he once was but he’s still competent. He has a better 5v5 save percentage than Carter Hart, Talbot, and Fleury, among others, over the last couple seasons.
His 5v5 save percentage vs high-danger shots – perhaps a better indicator of raw talent – grades out as 19th best during that span. Darcy Kuemper, John Gibson, Robin Lehner, Jacob Markstrom and Carey Price are some of the many big names who ranked below Lundqvist in that category. And, suffice to say, Lundqvist faced the toughest workload of the bunch playing behind a Rangers defense that hands out chances like candy on Halloween.
If Lundqvist were to sign an affordable two-year deal to be the 1A, I think he could give the Flames what they need to try and bridge the gap to Dustin Wolf.
I don’t have nearly as much interest in Fleury. For one, he makes $7 million. Even if Vegas were to eat a couple million in a trade, he’d still be fairly expensive. More importantly, I don’t think he is all that good anymore.
He ranks 47th among 65 eligible goaltenders in 5v5 save percentage over the last two years. He looks worse when it comes to stopping shots of high quality. His high-danger save percentage of .805 slots him 54th – behind names like Jonathan Quick, Carter Hutton, Jimmy Howard, Aaron Dell, and Marcus Hogberg.
That doesn’t scream a yearly worth of $5 million to me (assuming Vegas is willing to eat a couple).
In short, if Calgary is switching things up while hoping to remain competitive – you know, keeping Mark Giordano, trading Sean Monahan for another name in need of a change of scenery, etc. – I think a guy like Lundqvist could make a lot of sense.
As for Fleury? They’d be better off bringing in a cheaper platoon option in free agency and using the savings elsewhere.
Numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com
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