The Calgary Flames have announced that they have re-signed goaltender David Rittich to a two-year contract. The deal carries an average cap hit of $2.25 million.
Calgary Flames Re-sign David Rittich
In 45 appearances last season, Rittich posted a record of 27-9-5. He had a goals-against-average of 2.61 and save percentage of .911. He also recorded one shutout.
Over his career, Rittich has a record of 35-15-8 with a goals-against-average of 2.70 and a save percentage of .909.
Rittich originally signed with the Flames as an undrafted free agent on June 13th, 2016.
What This Means for the Future
Rittich split goaltending duties with veteran Mike Smith last season. However, the Flames elected to go with Smith during their Stanley Cup run, which was short-lived as they were upset by the Colorado Avalanche in five games. Rittich may get the opportunity to become the starting netminder next season based on his 2018-19 regular season results. The team’s record with Rittich in goal was outstanding and Rittich owned decent personal numbers himself. However, with small sample size, the verdict is still unclear if he’s a reliable number one netminder.
Considering Rittich is set to turn 27 in August, he is really just entering his prime. He can be expected to take over the starting role as Smith signed with the Edmonton Oilers earlier in the summer. He owns a decent size frame and has shown to the ability to come up with the timely big save. Hence the nickname “Big Save Dave.”
The signing will also allow the Flames to see what they have in goalie prospects Jon Gillies, Tyler Parsons and Mason Macdonald. Both Gillies and Parsons posted underwhelming numbers in the AHL last season. However, Parsons is just 21 and was playing his first season in the pros. He is expected to be the goaltender of the future for the Flames. Gillies, on the other hand, has looked decent in a small sample size at the NHL level.
Macdonald spent last season as the starter for the Kansas City Mavericks in the ECHL. He posted decent numbers with a record of 23-11-2 with a goals-against-average of 2.54 and a save percentage of .917. He could make the jump to the AHL if the Flames decide to move Gillies to the big club.
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
