Karri Ramo and Kris Russell to Calgary
Dobber Sports
2013-07-05
Fantasy Impact: Calgary has its starting goaltender for this season in Karri Ramo (officially announcing a two-year contract), and they also added depth on the back end in acquiring Kris Russell from the Blues for a late pick.
Calgary gets:
A talented goaltender who has spent the past few years developing in the KHL. Ramo has good size (6-2, 210 pounds) and he is 27 years old. The Flames are paying him $2.75 million per – he was obviously getting paid quite well over in Russia if that is what it took to bring him over. Ramo’s numbers over the past few years with Omsk have been sensational. If you are looking for another fantasy option in goal, he may be a guy you could nab and surprise many of your competitors.
More on Ramo:
Ramo's rights had been acquired — with Michael Cammalleri in the Rene Bourque transaction — from the Montreal Canadiens on Jan. 12, 2012.
Over the past four seasons, the Finnish netminder has tended the nets of Omsk Avangard of the KHL, recording goals-against averages of 2.11, 1.97, 1.96, 2.00.
Ramo, picked 191st overall by Tampa at the 2004 draft, owns a 11-21-10 record in the National Hockey League.
Russell (a local Calgary product) was the odd man out in St. Louis, and he brings a lot of mobility to the Calgary back end. There aren’t many skaters like him in the NHL. However, he hasn’t translated that over into offensive production outside of the WHL. He had seven points in 33 games last year with the Blues. However, with more minutes and a bigger offensive role in Calgary, he could be a 25-30-point guy.
Fantasy Players Impacted:
If there were any doubts, the contract confirmed it – Ramo is Calgary’s starter. Russell will slide in on either the second or third pairing.
Fantasy Players this helps, in order:
1. Ramo
2. Russell
3. Ian Cole
Fantasy Players this hurts, in order:
Things are crowded behind Ramo:
Ramo would be in the mix to start for the Flames next season, who also have returnee Joey MacDonald, Finnish prospect Joni Ortio, Edmonton Oil Kings standout Laurent Brossoit and Swiss world championship star Reto Berra under contract.