Mike Smith’s Flames tenure likely ended by cap crunch

Mike Smith played his best hockey for the Calgary Flames in the 2019 playoffs, making 188 saves during the five-game series. However, cap-related challenges for the 2019-20 season will probably end Smith’s tenure with the team.

A mediocre season followed by a great playoff round

Smith turned 37 years old in March. He’s missed time due to injuries in each of the past four seasons, and he was outperformed this season to the point where David Rittich started just over half of the team’s games. Statistically, Smith was in the bottom quarter of the league’s regular goaltenders.

But hey, he was admittedly fantastic in the playoffs and potentially that could’ve swayed Flames management’s feelings…