Calgary Flames goaltender Karri Ramo, who was placed on waivers Wednesday, has cleared waivers and the team has officially assigned him to the Stockton Heat of the AHL.
In a manner of speaking, his demotion provides some clarity on the three-headed monster that is the Flames net (so long as they stick with this arrangement and Jonas Hiller doesn’t start playing worse). It means that the team has determined that Hiller is the starter and that they’re keeping young Joni Ortio, who projects as the future of the team’s net, as the back up.
The Flames have found themselves a lamentable 1-5-0 to start the season. Coach Bob Hartley has voiced frustration with the team’s goaltending — one of a handful of problems there — saying that he wants one of the goaltenders to step up saying, “I’m sick and tired of the musical chairs. One has to make a statement somewhere, plain and simple,” according to Aaron Vickers of Calgaryflames.com.
Vocalizing that was maybe a bit of a shot at management as well, hoping that he can light a fire to make something happen and get rid of a goaltender or bring him a new one. Shortly after that burst of honesty, the team placed Ramo on waivers.
Ramo was the clear choice to go, with the statistically superior (historically) Hiller and Ramo on the final year of their deals. Having three goaltenders on the roster meant that the Flames were putting Ortio, who is significantly younger than the other two, in the press box. Putting Ortio and his very reasonable $600,000 cap hit on waivers would be very tempting for GMs around the league.
Whereas placing Ramo’s $3.8 million contract on waivers was much less alluring to prospective GMs, as was discussed yesterday here at THW.
The #Flames have assigned Karri Ramo to the @AHLHeat ~ https://t.co/SoNm1WgXJu
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) October 22, 2015
With Ramo buried in the AHL, he’ll still be receiving his salary, but the team will save $950,000 against the cap.
Ramo, talking about the situation to Torrie Peterson at Calgaryflames.com, said, “It’s not fun, but it’s part of the business. Something happens, and there’s nothing you can do about it. The only think you can control is the way you conduct yourself.”
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