Who Do You Want To Back-up Elliott?

[Slush]

I would rather go with Ortio as backup especially since he will be the cheapest and I think he'll do a pretty good job for being a back up.

 

[Gritty]

I wouldn't mind gauging the market for another trade. Darcy Kuemper is clearly stuck behind Dubnyk and might be available.

My guess is we sign Chad Johnson.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Would be cool if we could somehow acquire Greiss.

 

[FLAMESFAN]

Poor Ortio, season hasn't even started and everyone already wants to get rid of him.
He showed to be pretty decent during his run, much better than you all expected then. Lets see how he does before claiming guys like Griess/Montoya/Johnson are better options.....

 

[JPeeper]

Ortio scares me as a back up because we have seen two kinds of Ortio. One who is really good, and the other who is mediocre/fairly bad.

I voted Ortio because I don't want to lose him and I think he could do a good job. But I'd rather have a .905 back up, then one who is either .930 or .880 but you don't know which one you're going to get on any given night. meaning someone who is consistent even if that means consistently mediocre.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Poor Ortio, season hasn't even started and everyone already wants to get rid of him.
He showed to be pretty decent during his run, much better than you all expected then. Lets see how he does before claiming guys like Griess/Montoya/Johnson are better options.....

What has Ortio accomplished? I do not feel good at all about him starting 25-30 games if we're serious about the playoffs. He's had a couple stretches where he's been okay, and a couple where he's been terrible including in the AHL. God forbid if Elliot gets hurt and he's the guy.

I'm sure he can be a backup at some point, but I'm not sold on him and it doesn't sound like the Flames are either. Greiss, Enroth and Johnson are far more proven and I'd take any of them over Ortio.

You must not have watched the Islanders much last season, Greiss was awesome and was better than Halak.

 

[1989]

Would be cool if we could somehow acquire Greiss.

I've been a huge advocate of acquiring Greiss as a platoon goaltender (vs acquiring a true #1.) But I don't know if New York bites on the premise of Ortio + or something similar. His caphit is only 1.5, but like Elliott he is a UFA after this season. Really hard to see Calgary going into the next season with two UFA goaltenders two seasons in a row.

Greiss will probably get paid 3.5m, and Elliott is likely a 4.5m+ goaltender if both were to be retained.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

Poor Ortio, season hasn't even started and everyone already wants to get rid of him.
He showed to be pretty decent during his run, much better than you all expected then. Lets see how he does before claiming guys like Griess/Montoya/Johnson are better options.....

That's exactly what the poll indicates too.

We should feel bad that there may be better options out there.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

What has Ortio accomplished?

This comes down to philosophy.
Do you want your backup to get you every possible win like a starter (Hartley philosophy)?
Do you even want there to be a backup (Sutter philosophy)?
Do you want your backup to grow with the team (my philosophy given the age of our roster)?

What has Ortio accomplished? He's shown he's an NHL goaltender. Not a spectacular one, but not a poor one for his age.
What does Ortio have left to accomplish? Plenty. And that's not a bad thing - it means he's yet to plateau.
What is the risk with Ortio? That the Flames miss the playoffs? That speaks more to your insecurities about the roster as a whole. The Preds made the playoffs with Rinne having an awful 66 games:

If the Preds can make the playoffs with a starting goalie who performed measurably on par with Ortio, while scoring less goals than the Flames, then maybe you don't have any confidence in the skater group. And if that's the case, that should be the focus of improvement, not the backup goaltender. Let's also not forget Ortio performing in a high pressure scenario a couple years ago with the playoffs on the line, and he won some huge games, and that was when he was 23.

 

[FLAMESFAN]

What has Ortio accomplished? I do not feel good at all about him starting 25-30 games if we're serious about the playoffs. He's had a couple stretches where he's been okay, and a couple where he's been terrible including in the AHL. God forbid if Elliot gets hurt and he's the guy.

I'm sure he can be a backup at some point, but I'm not sold on him and it doesn't sound like the Flames are either. Greiss, Enroth and Johnson are far more proven and I'd take any of them over Ortio.

You must not have watched the Islanders much last season, Greiss was awesome and was better than Halak.

What has Ortio accomplished?
More than the other 3 by his age. Again, let's see what we have before we toss him out. A couple stretches where he was just OK? Come on man, There were games where he was the best player on the ice.
Yes Greiss had a good year last year. A 30 year old goalie with 1 good year. God forbid if Elliott gets hurt and we have any of these other goalies as our main guy.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Ortio is fine, he's not a bad goalie, but I'm not sold on his upside. I feel like Irving was a way better prospect, he was handled so poorly by the Flames but I just don't see the upside with Ortio. He's not big, he's not spectacular, he's never been dominant for long stretches, and he's been bad for as long as he's been good.

I think he's going to be a regular backup in the NHL, but I wouldn't be sad if we lost him either. I think the only reason he hasn't been cut loose is asset management. I don't think he's in our long term plans.

 

[Snakepit]

Whoever it is, I want them to be a straight up backup. I want Elliot to play like 60-65 games. So if not Ortio, then like Hutton or Chads Johnson. But I don't want a 1A/1B thing

 

[FLAMESFAN]

Ortio is fine, he's not a bad goalie, but I'm not sold on his upside. I feel like Irving was a way better prospect, he was handled so poorly by the Flames but I just don't see the upside with Ortio. He's not big, he's not spectacular, he's never been dominant for long stretches, and he's been bad for as long as he's been good.

I think he's going to be a regular backup in the NHL, but I wouldn't be sad if we lost him either. I think the only reason he hasn't been cut loose is asset management. I don't think he's in our long term plans.

There was a time I liked Irving too. But unlike the majority on here, I didn't blame his poor efforts on the team not "handling him properly". I expect a top young goalie to fight thru a little adversity, which he couldn't. With Ortio I took the same stance, basically the only guy on this board that said let's not right him off yet, let him show what he's made of. He showed with that much more than Irving ever did, while dealing with much the same situation. I think we have to give Ortio this year to really judge him fairly, and many might be surprised. He may also show he can't handle being a backup, but I'm going to take the wait & see approach.
BTW - he is the same size as Irving.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Ortio was one of the best goalies in the AHL over the two years he was starter. Both in terms of winning and save percentages. What more can you ask a goalie?

The Heat was pretty weak when he didn't play.

He's deserved a kick at the can. One he hasn't got.

Enroth, isn't an upgrade and doesn't have the upside of Ortio.

Chad Johnson is garbage. Definitely not an upgrade on Ortio.

im confident Ortio will win at least half his games next year. Don't know what else people expect of a back-up for a cap-strapped team.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

There was a time I liked Irving too. But unlike the majority on here, I didn't blame his poor efforts on the team not "handling him properly". I expect a top young goalie to fight thru a little adversity, which he couldn't. With Ortio I took the same stance, basically the only guy on this board that said let's not right him off yet, let him show what he's made of. He showed with that much more than Irving ever did, while dealing with much the same situation. I think we have to give Ortio this year to really judge him fairly, and many might be surprised. He may also show he can't handle being a backup, but I'm going to take the wait & see approach.
BTW - he is the same size as Irving.

That's fair, for sure. Like I said, I'm just not sold on him. I look at him, I don't see anything special other than being a backup, which is fine. But there's tons of guys like him out there.

Also, Snipes you should go look at Chad Johnson's numbers. He had a really good year and was a nice surprise for Buffalo.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

That's fair, for sure. Like I said, I'm just not sold on him. I look at him, I don't see anything special other than being a backup, which is fine. But there's tons of guys like him out there.

Also, Snipes you should go look at Chad Johnson's numbers. He had a really good year and was a nice surprise for Buffalo.

Johnson had a great year. But I think it's a bad idea to look at one year of a guys career and say he's better. Pretty much every other year/point in their development, Ortio has been ahead of him.

The year before Buffalo aquired Chad Johnson at the deadline for Enroth because Enroth was playing well and Johnson basically sealed Tim Murray's tank.

 

[Calculon]

Johnson's nothing more than a career backup. And given where the Flames are at, it makes absolutely no sense to bring someone like that in. There is no "all in" for next season. The cup window doesn't open until Bennett solidifies himself as a top line centre, Hamilton a top pairing defender, and Tkachuk a top-six winger. All of that is at least a season, maybe two or three (or possibly never), away from happening.

Ortio is perfectly serviceable with still some upside, unless, as mentioned previously, the Flames can steal someone like Pickard.

 

[Bouma Fett*]

Anyone but Ortio

 

[MonyontheMoney]

I like Ortio, I think he's shown well for the most part at the NHL level. Could maybe be one of those guys who struggles in the AHL but is ok in the bigs? I like his athleticism though, and think that's his strongest asset which is a good thing in my mind.

Who knows, he could be a good backup, or he could flop. I think it's probably worth giving him a shot anyways.

 

[BigRangy]

Another point in Ortio's favour is that he's only being paid 600k this year. His QO will bump that to 660k, which is cheap and saves the flames at least 300k in cap space, and probably more depending on whichever goalie replaces him. With the Flames in a small but manageable cap crunch, that could be the difference between bringing in a long term player or just a stop gap.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

Bringing in Chad Johnson = Going all in for the Cup?

Guys my point is, Ortio is nothing special. Sorry but he's not, he's very replaceable. Florida just traded Bracco for Berra for example. Johnson, Enroth, Reimer are all backups that would be available (Reimer is better). Next year there will be the same amount of goalies available if not more. Heck we got a legit starter for a 2nd round pick, I'm not concerned about losing Ortio in the slightest. Again he's an asset, that's the only reason I think the Flames haven't cut bait with him. I think he has some upside still, but I don't see him ever being a guy you want playing over 30 games.

And while no, next year we probably aren't challenging for the Cup, I guarantee you that Treliving is planning to make a run for a playoff spot. So whether you agree or not, if the Flames have a chance to improve on Ortio, they will probably give it a long look as they should. I honestly think if Ortio doesn't play well next season, he's probably done in the NHL and going back to Finland.

 

[Wish You Were Here]

Hutton or Montoya would be my choices for backup to Elliott.

I've seen enough of Orito in this organization and am ready to move on from him.

 

[Janks]

I'm good with Ortio

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Bringing in Chad Johnson = Going all in for the Cup?

The point is, if your margin for error is the quality of your backup goaltender, your team has other issues. Trading off the potential of a 25 year old backup for a 30 year old career backup is a meaningless move. It says more about your confidence in Elliott to win the bulk of his starts than it says about Ortio.

You can deny Ortio's potential all you want. However there's many a quality starter in the NHL who had a worse or comparable resume to Ortio at the same point in their careers. The guy starting up north, Talbot, wasn't even an NHLer until age 26 - Ortio won't even be 26 for another year. Heck, you wanna talk about Chad Johnson, he was 27 when he finally made the NHL as a backup.

It seems to me Ortio's primary detractors are all people trying desperately to draw Leland Irving parallels / comparisions when they are two completely different goaltenders based on actual viewings.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Not an Ortio believer at all. Loses his net, ducks on high hard shots, and he plays small. I'd understand if the opening roster had him penciled in as the backup though. If he plays ~25 games we'd be in trouble. Reimer would be the goalie I'd want but it might be weird to bring in a tandem guy when you basically just promised a starting job to Elliott. Plus he'd demand more $ than our starter.