The Calgary Flames have three goaltenders on one-way contracts and as such they're currently carrying three on their 23-man roster.
Jonas Hiller and Karri Ramo are established NHL goaltenders while 24-year-old Joni Ortio impressed enough in preseason to convince GM Brad Treliving that he and his $600,000 contract probably wouldn't make it through waivers unclaimed.
So, for now, the Flames have three goaltenders on their roster and will continue to carry all three until a goaltending needy team steps up and takes one off the their hands.
Luckily the Flames may not have to wait very long for someone to do so.
In Buffalo's season opener they lost more than just a game as newly acquired goaltender Robin Lehner left the game with an injury that doesn't appear to be minor.
Sabres coach Dan Bylsma on Robin Lehner: further evaluation needed. ''Doesn't look short-term. More than day to day.''
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) October 9, 2015If they run some tests and find out that Lehner is out for the foreseeable future the Sabres will likely look elsewhere for help rather than relying on Chad Johnson to keep the team afloat.
If that's the case Jonas Hiller would make a lot of sense. For some reason the Flames don't seem overly high on him but he posted a very respectable .918 save percentage last season and led the team with a .965SV% in preseason play.
His $4.5 million contract comes off the books this summer - he's set to become an unrestricted free agent - so the Sabres wouldn't be stuck with a long-term deal and have any commitments beyond this year.
Personally I'd be looking to move Ramo, who is also a UFA at year's end, but I'd be surprised if the Flames elect to go that route.
This is just speculation on my part but given the situation at hand it could make sense for these two teams to tango.
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