Rumor: Flames close to signing 23 year old KHL goalie Artyom Zagidulin

[FameFlame069]

Not if MAF is still injured.

He will help LV with the reverse sweep

 

[Digitalbooya]

By the Avs? Yeah they'd need some luck, I'm good.

Cockiness always ages well. Look forward to the matchup IF it happens.

 

[Rubi]

Cockiness always ages well. Look forward to the matchup IF it happens.

Yeah.. who knows. The Avs might not be even good enough to make the playoffs.

 

[Snakepit]

KHL backup. Who knows how these things work, either way getting more goalies on the farm can never hurt

Rittich was a meh Czech league goalie and everyone in Calgary loves him now

 

[greasysnapper]

KHL backup. Who knows how these things work, either way getting more goalies on the farm can never hurt

Rittich was a meh Czech league goalie and everyone in Calgary loves him now

I brought up this exact point in a different thread yesterday.

Top KHL Players for the 2019 UFA Market

He's not the greatest goalie, but I had seen Rittich a few times as well and would never have thought he'd be where he is now.

 

[ThorNton Apologist]

Right now MAF is injured (injured on Mar 17) and there is no timeline for his return. If MAF is not available for the 1st round series and Vegas has to play Subban the Sharks odds of winning that series just went up tremendously. If MAF is healthy and if I was a betting man, I'd place my money on a Vegas win. Fleury is much better than Jones and the TDL pick up of Stone has really improved the Vegas offense.

Regardless if Fluery is back or not... I still like Vegas’ goalies more than SJ

 

[crackdown44]

So how bout this goalie eh?

 

[Rubi]

So how bout this goalie eh?

I'm not that overly excited about him. At first glance his numbers look great but when you compare his numbers to his KHL contemporaries he's just ok. The best thing he has going for him is his age. Lots of time left to learn. Also you can never have too many goalie prospects.
One question I do have is... do the Flames organization have room for him since the Flames currently have Gillies, MacDonald, Parsons, and Schneider in the system?

 

[super6646]

I'm not that overly excited about him. At first glance his numbers look great but when you compare his numbers to his KHL contemporaries he's just ok. The best thing he has going for him is his age. Lots of time left to learn. Also you can never have too many goalie prospects.
One question I do have is... do the Flames organization have room for him since the Flames currently have Gillies, MacDonald, Parsons, and Schneider in the system?

Meh, Mac is nothing special and gillies is probably all but done with this year’s performance.

 

[McFlyingV]

Always worth a shot looking at goalies from other leagues. KHL stats really are a crap shoot and most goalies with great stats don't pan out over here. Honestly a bit surprised that Samsonov's stats have translated so poorly this year in the AHL. Too early to make a judgement on him though as there's often an adjustment period between KHL and AHL/NHL.

 

[hangman005]

We are here to discuss a potential goalie signing, not the goalie situations and playoff histories of every other team in the league. Please keep on topic.

 

[CraigsList]

If this goalie becomes the backup of Rittich, I don't like our goaltending situation next year. At least with Smith we had a goalie that could either backup Rittich or be our starter with needed, and with a lot of hockey experience.

 

[GOilers88]

Couldn't even make it a full page before it turned into a my team is going to do better than your team in the playoffs.

Anyone acting like any team is a shoe in to win any rounds has obviously never watched an NHL post season in their life, because anyone who has knows that the regular season doesn't mean shit, and anything can, and usually does happen.

I really thought Vegas breaking all the norms last year would invite people to shut up a little more, but clearly people don't learn about being wrong when they're wrong.

 

[Rubi]

If this goalie becomes the backup of Rittich, I don't like our goaltending situation next year. At least with Smith we had a goalie that could either backup Rittich or be our starter with needed, and with a lot of hockey experience.

I don't see how he could possibly be Rittich's backup next year. He has zero experience with the North American game. He'll spend the next year in the ECHL or AHL.

 

[CraigsList]

I don't see how he could possibly be Rittich's backup next year. He has zero experience with the North American game. He'll spend the next year in the ECHL or AHL.

There was a rumor he would be signing a contract with no AHL strings attached. Meaning he would be our backup for next season. I don't know how much of that is true, but if that is the case the goaltending situation would look rather scary for the Flames for the lack of experience.

 

[Rubi]

There was a rumor he would be signing a contract with no AHL strings attached. Meaning he would be our backup for next season. I don't know how much of that is true, but if that is the case the goaltending situation would look rather scary for the Flames for the lack of experience.

I agree. I have the sneaking suspicion that Smith will sign a 1 year extension.

 

[Snakepit]

If this goalie becomes the backup of Rittich, I don't like our goaltending situation next year. At least with Smith we had a goalie that could either backup Rittich or be our starter with needed, and with a lot of hockey experience.

Possible But I'm not so sure. He's here to throw in the minors and see what happens, same with when Rittich came over.

NHL backup will be either:

-Gillies. Remember his contract turns into a one way next year, and while his AHL numbers aren't very good it's hard to compare those to NHL success. Remember he was given an extended look in the pre-season and even went to China with the team while Rittich stayed here, and Gillies had a stronger pre-season the Rittich as well. I think next year he's either the NHL backup, or traded.

-Smith extended. Probably not a popular option but the team seems to love him for whatever reason.

-Other NHL free agent/trade. Honestly the most likely route imo. Doubt something big like Bobrovsky happens, but a Varlomov or Talbot tandem with Rittich seems reasonable and realistic

Or

-Zagidulin. Flames really don't strike me as a team that's willing to bet their NHL success on someone they have no experience with and has never played in North America, but if Calgary fails to land something else in the off season a last man standing battle between Zagidulin, Gillies and Parsons for the backup spot could happen I guess

 

[Volica]

Goalies are true voodoo. Calgary must like something about him.

 

[Potty John]

Good pick up for Calgary. Getting the feeling that Rittich and Gillies will be in the NHL next year.

 

[FissionFire]

Am I the only one who thought this was a made-up name? Teammates with Taro Tsujimoto?