Todd Cordell: The Calgary Flames should go after Nikita Gusev

One can only dream! Gusev will do well in the NHL, he has put up better numbers than Panarin and Kucherov did.

We need to get rid of Stone, Frolik, and probably Brodie as well. Neal is unmovable at this point.

Would love to see this happen but at the end of the day there is zero chance Vegas who is in win now mode trades a player within their own division.

That would be like Edmonton and Calgary swapping goalies or something.

It's definitely out of the realm of possibility. Vegas and Calgary are in the same division. There's no chance they're moving him to Calgary unless Calgary is willing to massively overpay. There'll be no shortage of Eastern teams willing to give up a draft pick or two if Vegas decides they can't sign him.

If he's only looking for 4 million a season, I'm surprised he hasn't been offer sheeted. Even if he wants a bit more a 1st and 3rd seems fairly reasonable.

Agree the only way the Flames get him is through an offer sheet.

Neal should request a trade

Neal should request a trade
- truthservedcold

For Lucic...

For Lucic...
- oilpatch

to Columbus with Brodie, for Savard and Dubinsky.

Deadweight for deadweight, then go after Dzingle to get more speed to go with Gaudreau

JG/Mon/Dzing
MT/MB/Lindy
SB/Janko/Czar
Mang/Dub/Ryan

Gio/Anderson
Hamonic/Hanifin
Savard/Valimaki

I think Dube could use a year. He got lined up for to many hits last year so needs to learn to keep his head up more with his style of play, hate to see him getting injured due to pushing him up to fast and having play on the 4th line.

to Columbus with Brodie, for Savard and Dubinsky.

Deadweight for deadweight, then go after Dzingle to get more speed to go with Gaudreau

JG/Mon/Dzing
MT/MB/Lindy
SB/Janko/Czar
Mang/Dub/Ryan

Gio/Anderson
Hamonic/Hanifin
Savard/Valimaki

I think Dube could use a year. He got lined up for to many hits last year so needs to learn to keep his head up more with his style of play, hate to see him getting injured due to pushing him up to fast and having play on the 4th line.
- numbear

No! You’re starting to sound like Hunk. Lol

No! You’re starting to sound like Hunk. Lol
- Clyde334

fair enough....now that Coyle is in Boston, I had to same a different name lol

It's definitely out of the realm of possibility. Vegas and Calgary are in the same division. There's no chance they're moving him to Calgary unless Calgary is willing to massively overpay. There'll be no shortage of Eastern teams willing to give up a draft pick or two if Vegas decides they can't sign him.

If he's only looking for 4 million a season, I'm surprised he hasn't been offer sheeted. Even if he wants a bit more a 1st and 3rd seems fairly reasonable.
- Hunkulese

He can't get an offer sheet since he's never played in the NHL.

fair enough....now that Coyle is in Boston, I had to same a different name lol
- numbear

Gusev would help take the sting out of the Talbot signing As long as he gets something done. Brodie & Frolik need to be dealt--bonus if he's able to dump Stone.

Gusev would help take the sting out of the Talbot signing As long as he gets something done. Brodie & Frolik need to be dealt--bonus if he's able to dump Stone.
- Saskabush

Why all the doom & gloom on the Talbot signing???? It's a 1 year deal FFS. He's either going to be amazing or he'll be gone as quick as he was signed. I dont get why everyone is down on this. He's 31 & has a great chance of rebounding. We couldnt afford Varlamov get over it. Lehner wanted bigger $$$ & the only way he got it was a 1 year deal but we couldnt afford that either. Mrazek had a good year last year but he was horrible the year before that. Who do you think would have been better with the experience & ability to play 30 + games?

Why all the doom & gloom on the Talbot signing???? It's a 1 year deal FFS. He's either going to be amazing or he'll be gone as quick as he was signed. I dont get why everyone is down on this. He's 31 & has a great chance of rebounding. We couldnt afford Varlamov get over it. Lehner wanted bigger $$$ & the only way he got it was a 1 year deal but we couldnt afford that either. Mrazek had a good year last year but he was horrible the year before that. Who do you think would have been better with the experience & ability to play 30 + games?
- Kevin R

Not to mention BSD is going to be the starter anyway.

Why all the doom & gloom on the Talbot signing???? It's a 1 year deal FFS. He's either going to be amazing or he'll be gone as quick as he was signed. I dont get why everyone is down on this. He's 31 & has a great chance of rebounding. We couldnt afford Varlamov get over it. Lehner wanted bigger $$$ & the only way he got it was a 1 year deal but we couldnt afford that either. Mrazek had a good year last year but he was horrible the year before that. Who do you think would have been better with the experience & ability to play 30 + games?
- Kevin R

There were 3 legit starting goaltenders on the market and 2 of them signed for a pretty reasonable 5 mill. Tampa got a 1st for JT Miller and they're in a worse position than us--BT could clear cap if he had to/wanted to.

I'm just tired of the constant band-aid fixes in goal...(Hiller, Ortio, Elliott, Johnson, Smith, etc.)

I have the exact same *meh* feeling I had when we brought in Elliott, Smith and Hiller. I'm tired of hoping our goaltenders will "regain form"; or be hot at just the right time; or wondering if we were getting the guy who can make 49 saves in a 1-0 win or the guy who let's in 2 floaters from the blueline in the first 2 minutes of the game... I was hoping we could finally get someone we knew for sure was going to be "the" guy in net. We didn't do that.

BT's rolling the dice on Talbot regaining form and Rittich stepping up to show he's more than just a good backup.


I'll be okay with the Talbot signing if BT manages to make a signifcant upgrade, preferably a goal-scorer.

Why all the doom & gloom on the Talbot signing???? It's a 1 year deal FFS. He's either going to be amazing or he'll be gone as quick as he was signed. I dont get why everyone is down on this. He's 31 & has a great chance of rebounding. We couldnt afford Varlamov get over it. Lehner wanted bigger $$$ & the only way he got it was a 1 year deal but we couldnt afford that either. Mrazek had a good year last year but he was horrible the year before that. Who do you think would have been better with the experience & ability to play 30 + games?
- Kevin R

It's a bad signing because every other goalie that was in the same situation as Talbot signed for less, and in some cases a lot less. There's really no reason to think Talbot will be any better or worse than any of them. If it was less than 2 million, whatever. 2.75 is too much when there were so many other options. Were teams lining up to sign Talbot?

I know it's not the easiest city to recruit players to, but they probably could have signed one of the other goalies and resigned Hathaway for the same amount that it's going to cost them for Talbot and whatever scrub they choose to replace Hathaway with.

There's also the fact that if the Flames really want Rittich to be their starter going forward, is Talbot the best guy to pair with Rittich. Is Talbot going to embrace the veteran backup mentor role? Probably not. Talbot is going to be looking out for Talbot so he can get paid again next year.

There were 3 legit starting goaltenders on the market and 2 of them signed for a pretty reasonable 5 mill. Tampa got a 1st for JT Miller and they're in a worse position than us--BT could clear cap if he had to/wanted to.

- Saskabush

None of those goalies had any interest in signing with the Flames.

The Flames don't have anyone nearly as attractive as Miller who's expendable. If Miller only had a year left on his deal, he would have been much harder to trade.

Todd Cordell: The Calgary Flames should go after Nikita Gusev
- ToddCordellCGY

I heard Tkachuck wants 10 m per year,

I heard Tkachuck wants 10 m per year,
- oilpatch

Who wouldn't want that ?

It's a bad signing because every other goalie that was in the same situation as Talbot signed for less, and in some cases a lot less. There's really no reason to think Talbot will be any better or worse than any of them. If it was less than 2 million, whatever. 2.75 is too much when there were so many other options. Were teams lining up to sign Talbot?

I know it's not the easiest city to recruit players to, but they probably could have signed one of the other goalies and resigned Hathaway for the same amount that it's going to cost them for Talbot and whatever scrub they choose to replace Hathaway with.

There's also the fact that if the Flames really want Rittich to be their starter going forward, is Talbot the best guy to pair with Rittich. Is Talbot going to embrace the veteran backup mentor role? Probably not. Talbot is going to be looking out for Talbot so he can get paid again next year.
- Hunkulese

What goalies signed for cheaper? Lehner & Varlamov got 5.0mil, we cant match that as we dont have the cap room. Both have issues. Mrazek wanted term & $$$ but he was horrid the year before & Detroit parted with him for a bag of pucks. Yeah it would have been nice to get Talbot for 2.0 mill but it's $750K higher. Whatever, it's only a 1 year deal. He is more than capable of playing 30-35 games. I dont think we want BSD playing more than 55 games.

Mccelhinney wanted to stay out on the East coast, he wasnt coming here. He may have been the only other reasonable option that financially made sense of the UFA's.

Sorry Mike Smith needed to move on & glad he did. Chemistry with Rittch & the players versus Smith was very evident when at the games & how they celebrated. Dont know how many games you get to but I get to quite a few & it was noticeable. Rittch is well liked by the players. Thats important. Tired of hearing how Talbot signing is so bad. Lets watch some games & then you can be an I told you so. You just may be surprised.

I heard Tkachuck wants 10 m per year,
- oilpatch

So do I

Why all the doom & gloom on the Talbot signing???? It's a 1 year deal FFS. He's either going to be amazing or he'll be gone as quick as he was signed. I dont get why everyone is down on this. He's 31 & has a great chance of rebounding. We couldnt afford Varlamov get over it. Lehner wanted bigger $$$ & the only way he got it was a 1 year deal but we couldnt afford that either. Mrazek had a good year last year but he was horrible the year before that. Who do you think would have been better with the experience & ability to play 30 + games?
- Kevin R

Think this will largely be a make or break year for both guys, and I'm wondering (if Rittich struggles and Demko emerges) if the Flames will make a run at Markstrom next year...

Would have preferred Lehner or Mrazek, but like you say, this is a one year pact. I'm more miffed with how the draft played out myself

What goalies signed for cheaper? Lehner & Varlamov got 5.0mil, we cant match that as we dont have the cap room. Both have issues. Mrazek wanted term & $$$ but he was horrid the year before & Detroit parted with him for a bag of pucks. Yeah it would have been nice to get Talbot for 2.0 mill but it's $750K higher. Whatever, it's only a 1 year deal. He is more than capable of playing 30-35 games. I dont think we want BSD playing more than 55 games.

Mccelhinney wanted to stay out on the East coast, he wasnt coming here. He may have been the only other reasonable option that financially made sense of the UFA's.

Sorry Mike Smith needed to move on & glad he did. Chemistry with Rittch & the players versus Smith was very evident when at the games & how they celebrated. Dont know how many games you get to but I get to quite a few & it was noticeable. Rittch is well liked by the players. Thats important. Tired of hearing how Talbot signing is so bad. Lets watch some games & then you can be an I told you so. You just may be surprised.
- Kevin R

Yeah I agree. It's a one year contract. If Talbot poops the bed he's gone at the end of the season. Having said that it isn't a Flames thread without some ridiculous overreactions so this is really just par for the course.

We haven't seen Talbot play a single game in a Flames jersey yet. At least wait until we see that before panicking.

What goalies signed for cheaper? Lehner & Varlamov got 5.0mil, we cant match that as we dont have the cap room. Both have issues. Mrazek wanted term & $$$ but he was horrid the year before & Detroit parted with him for a bag of pucks. Yeah it would have been nice to get Talbot for 2.0 mill but it's $750K higher. Whatever, it's only a 1 year deal. He is more than capable of playing 30-35 games. I dont think we want BSD playing more than 55 games.

Mccelhinney wanted to stay out on the East coast, he wasnt coming here. He may have been the only other reasonable option that financially made sense of the UFA's.

Sorry Mike Smith needed to move on & glad he did. Chemistry with Rittch & the players versus Smith was very evident when at the games & how they celebrated. Dont know how many games you get to but I get to quite a few & it was noticeable. Rittch is well liked by the players. Thats important. Tired of hearing how Talbot signing is so bad. Lets watch some games & then you can be an I told you so. You just may be surprised.
- Kevin R

If the Flames weren't in such cap trouble, the Talbot signing would be fine. But seeing them pay Talbot too much and seeing Hathaway leave on a pretty reasonable contract doesn't look good. Maybe Hathaway wanted to move on, but if he didn't, he did everything right and was a kind of player that the Flames are lacking. The 750k for Talbot is the difference in being able to bring back Hathaway.

The Flames obviously didn't have a chance at the decent goalies available this year, but is Talbot really worth paying as the best of the rest? Is Talbot better than Elliot? Is Talbot better than Smith? Is Talbot better than Kinkaid? Is Talbot better than McEhinney? Is Talbot better than Pickard? Is Talbot better than Nilsson? Is Talbot better than Miller? The answer to all of those questions is maybe. Even though some of those goalies were never going to sign in Calgary, why is Talbot getting paid more than all of them when they're all basically at the same level after last year.