would not like to get Ekblad with his injury history

And Dermott should first prove to be a top 4 d before moving him to the first pair.

Also, rather have Andersen than Murray right now

Dallas trade seems fair
Doubt Pittsburgh does that.
Florida trade is odd, seems like a wash but due to term and age Florida probably declines.
Flames arent moving their 2020 1st for a rental goalie, they can just draft Askarov with it of needed. Or if they go on a run this playoffs they dont need a goalie.

I see. But I would differ with you here.

Ekblad is still incredibly young player and one of the best young Dmen.. he was healthy this past season and I dont think his health would be an issue tbh.

Dermott for me proved it when Rielly and Muzzin were out. Andersen is 5yrs older and UFA next year. Murray is barely 26 and pretty cheap to get for career .917 goalie.

Murray is apparently on his way out of Pittsburgh and they can get solid two-way center who can play behind Malkin and Crosby. That seems like a fair deal to me. Andersen trade is similar to Raanta one which was pretty much the same thing. You get top goalie in the league but with small asterisk and thats that he is UFA after next year. That trade was designed in similar fashion to Raanta one.

Pittsburgh will choose in a couple weeks and probably over the next season who they want to be their long term starter. They also already have a lot of centers for the 3C role and are trying to move out Bjugstad. I would argue McCann is as good (maybe even better) as Kerfoot.

As for the Flames trade I am not discounting the value by any means. I am saying that there is no reason for Calgary to do it. If they loose to Winnipeg they pick in the top 13 guaranteed so there is a good Chance Askarov can be available, he might even be there at 16 too. If they win the Play-In and give a good run in the playoffs then they don't need a starter since they already have one.

I think McCann is best at wing and him with Kerfoot and possibly Poulin next year could give them a banger of a third line.

As for Calgary. For sure they can choose to just draft Askarov. I have them picking Askarov with 1st rounder this year actually. But on the other hand, Askarov would be in NHL at age 22 or 23 at earliest. Thats 4-5 years from now. They can do it, but I dont think they are winning anything relying on Rittich. I just dont see it.

I think Flames goalie situation is highly dependent on this tournament. Rittich definitely has starter potential and has proven he can be a clutch goalie multiple times, however he hasnt proven he can consistently be that clutch goalie yet. I personally dont have Flames drafting Askarov, they are pretty high on Wolf as a prospect and are embarrassing thin on center prospects. With Backlund aging out, they will need to look to replace him sooner than later.

Agree on this side too. Dallas trade is def fair. I’d do it

So the argument here is that Andersen is a proven NHL starter, whereas Askarov hasn't started his NHL career.
The point is, in Andersen Calgary gets a guy who just steps into the number 1 role but the other option is still going to be a question mark?

Anyway, I think you make a solid point regarding the Flames off-season. It's going to depend on what happens in this tourney. Calgary may have to make a tough decision on Rittich.

I don't disagree with Andersen being proven vs Askarov not. However 1 year of Andersen does not logically make sense if you are trading 8 years of a goalie heavily compared to Price. If Flames made WCF and got a late 1st then that's probably fine, otherwise their pick is guaranteed top 20. At the same time though if the Flames make the WCF then I don't think they are in the market for a goaltender. I'm not saying Rittich is a reliable goalie yet but he still shows sparks of being a top tier starter. Not to mention he was the Pacific goalie for the All-Star this year