Agent for goaltender Karri Ramo confirms his client signed two-year deal with Avangard Omsk

Mark Gandler, the agent for goaltender Karri Ramo has signed a two-year deal to play for Avangard Omsk of the Russian Kontinental Hockey League. Gandler said Ramo, a restricted free agent who was to be the backup for Mike Smith, has been told he will be Omsk's No. 1.

"Of course," Gandler said. "He wouldn't go over there otherwise."

Gandler said Ramo's contract (he would not divulge the value) has an option that would allow Ramo to opt out after one season.

"I don't want to get into the reasons other than to say all of us, including Karri, feel he's better off stepping out for a year and play for Omsk. ... Tampa Bay wanted to sign him but we saw it otherwise."

Ramo, who will be 23 on July 1, was 4-10-7 in 24 games last season with a 3.66 goals-against average and an .894 save percentage. He played well in spurts, and drew praise from the coaching staff for quieting his game. But Ramo, a terrific athlete, was inconsistent and still would sometimes, through aggressiveness, would take himself out of position.

Ramo's move means Riku Helenius is next on the depth chart after Smith, which means the team must find a backup either through free agency or trade.

Comments

[ZERO]

I thought 43-45 mil was ridiculous. Now it could be 40. Speculation, though...

I said it before...if they do that, they need to call it a complete "rebuild" and stop with the BS "retooling" term.

And yes, if it is an even trade, then the salaries coming back would pretty much meet or exceed Vinny's. Which means for them to stay at 40, a fleecing has to take place instead.

Try selling that to the fans...

[Steve-O]

Zero- I agree with your double shock scenario. I for one just can't get past the idea that dumping V4 gets you under the $40mil spend number. The blockbuster trade that has to happen also has to bring back salary. No? So it is either a complete rebuild or a build around. Dumping V4 isn't going to save any money unless we get fleeced.

So if it is to be $40 mil and a rebuild, we draft one of the centers, accept the fleecing and move on with minimal expectations and diminished gate revenues. Either way we have to get younger in order to rebuild or keep Vinny as that would be the only way to get the salaries down to $40. If that # is accurate

[ZERO]

Don - As much as Duemig can be wrong...the weird thing is that the Lightning requested he broadcast his show from the draft tomorrow and Friday. And they definitely know his feelings about Vinny staying...and also the past with Boyle. Obviously he'll be having guests (I would assume Lawton and maybe OK).

I think we're all desperate for answers. So even the smallest things give me some kind of hope.

I'm at the point where I'll be shocked if they trade him, and I'll be shocked if they keep him.

[Don in St. Pete]

Patrick, In no way was I inferring that any of the bloggers here were marginal fans, in fact I've met quite a few of you and know you as rabid hockey fans. I meant the fans that hear the Lightning are doing good and decide off hand to come down and see a game. Maybe Duemig is onto something here but going on past experience, I'd be more doubtful of him than of the print reporters. Romano obviously had an inside sourse or he wouldn't have written about it. Lots of discord in the management ranks it seems. If you remember, Duemig also said he had straight from the owners they weren't trading Danny Boyle. While I wasn't 100% against moving Danny, Lawton got fleeced on that deal. I hope history doesn't repeat itself but I'm not convinced.

[hyjyljyj]

"...said last week that his number was 49. So this week a blogger says 40 and it is throw around to create doomsday."

That's what created doomsday?? Nah, this club is already doomed for the upcoming season, even before the playoffs were over (playoffs...that second season other teams get to participate in). Why?

HUGE problems in net (no certain #1 or #2) - enough BY ITSELF to cast gloom over season

HUGE problems on D left over from last yr, which the BLOKheads (Barrie, Lawtongue, OK) can't be trusted to fix in any significant way

HUGE problems at the very top of ownership

HUGE problems with fan base and ticket sales (and scoring) will result if they trade Lecavalier

Dark days indeed for fans of the Lightning...another long miserable steaming summer followed by six months of 'whatever' on the ice, soap-operatic turmoil and early golf - yummy, sign me up >:^p

[karma]

not sure how much to read into this, but Gandler has a history of sending his players back to russia in order to screw the NHL club. Remember, this guy was Yashin's agent...

It all doesn't look good, however. None of the MSM can give fans a straight report on what's happening in the OK ivory tower - who said what, who wants V4 traded, who supports Lawton, who has the cash, etc...I'm wondering how the Wallbangers are feeling about Oren's apparently not being as forthcoming in those meetings as he led on?

[Ray]

When your backup goaltender jumps ship, you know the franchise is in trouble.

And Helenius doesn't need to be sitting on the bench here, he needs to play full-time in the minors.

[Boltflasher]

Here's the way I am reading all of this...there's no press conference and no statements about all of this from the owner's and the commish due to the gag order other than the status quo to be maintained which makes the ESPN statement make since that the GM is in charge of the draft and any trades since the 2 owners can't agree which makes Lawton for at least a week the guy that will shape the future of this club.

I think who the Bolts draft will have a big impact on Vinny being traded. If they get the big D, I think it unlikely Vinny will go, but if the Isles take him then all bets are off as they may feel they can go with Tavares or Duchesne to take Vinny's place and let Vinny go...if they end up with Hedman they have nothing to replace Vinny with if they dump him and they'll have a huge hole at center with only Stamkos as a reliable scorer. So in short, with Hedman, Vinny stays, if Duchesne or Tavares, Vinny gets dumped...

[Patrick]

Flasher,

If everything we heard about the multiple guys signing players is true, then as embarrassing as this meeting with Bettman was, at least Koules knows both he and Barrie can't be having a tug of war with the personel decisions. And now he may have the commissioner's support backing him up on it.

[Patrick]

Don,

Koules wanting to keep Lecavalier and increase the payroll fits with his past statements. He told the bloggers at a game he planned on adding d-men so Mez and Ranger were the second pair, not the top pair. He very recently said he the payroll will be around 49 mil. It came out of left field to associate that with Barrie.

You also have Jon Jordan saying Romano doesn't even go to all the games and will admit as much. Duemig has been invited by the lightning to travel and cover the draft. He's historically been very much involved with the lightning.

And again with your condescension of fans that actually care about the team and its players? We're marginal hockey fans? I am waiting for you to figure out that people wouldn't even know about the individual hockey players if they didn't care about hockey in the first place. It's not just the star power of our big name players. I was glad to see Feds win another cup. I don't get your narrow view of what a hockey fan is. Even though we obviously disagree, I consider you no less of a hockey fan.

[Don in St. Pete]

Sorry guys but to value the gasbag over bonafide print reporters who put there name on the line each time they right a story seems like you grasping for straws, While I agree no deal has been done and no statement made, that in itsef should be of concern to the Fans ( myself included ) who would prefer the Bolts keep Vinny. If it's untrue why isn't Koule's coming out with a presser or a statement? I'm not trying to discourage you just suggesting you may be grasping the short straw this time around and that all of us will be peeved at the outcome. If Lawton had come out and said I'm foced to trade V4 to ice a competetive team and a top 2 d, a center and scoring forward were coming back in exchange and payroll would be around that $49 mil # then I would be okay.

[2WayCenter]

There is a lot of talk, especially when people lose their jobs. It has become almost a new sport to bash your ex employer by any means possible. Again, over the past 9 months I have been more than critical of OK management and Lawton. But the timing, and the lack of a source reference wreaks of unfair.

[Leanmean43]

Stick a fork in the Lightning, they're done.

[2WayCenter]

But at the same time "some blogger" might be too much of a slight.

[2WayCenter]

Come on Don - That is way over the top. Damian, Romano and Erlendson are not saying 40 million in a united voice. Romano the Times Sports Columnist said it and the others reference it.

From the column that Flasher first posted:

"The talk is that Koules wants to keep Lawton as GM, wants to trade Lecavalier to get out from under his $85 million contract and wants to pare the payroll to the low $40 million range."

"The talk is....." Blah, Blah, Blah....

I'm not saying it is not true, but that does not make it good journalism.

Seriously, you reference your sources better than Romano does, sometimes;)

[Randy C]

Flasher,

Oren doesn't want the same mistakes made again. This year there will not be 2 separate owners making deals. They are not going to tip their hand, they have a plan that Len hasn't been here every day to help create. We are in a very good position to help this team, OK didn't want the same crap to happen again, so Mr Commish was brought in to make sure it didn't. IMO!

[Boltflasher]

This ongoing saga reveals that these guys have learned very little from last year. To some credit, they quickly pulled the plug on the Melrose fiasco but wouldn't it have been nice for that money to be able to go to Vinny? These guys don't think ahead and have flawed thinking to have even considered Melrose and haven't improved much since...

ESPN reporting that Lawton is calling the shots regarding personnel so the Vinny thing is up to him as well as the draft pick...

[Randy C]

It is amazing how quickly many here are willing to believe the worst. Our writers quoted sources and Duemig quoted Oren. We have to wait and see.

[Don in St. Pete]

2Way and Randy, I guess we'll find out on friday. I'm not sure Damian, Romano and Erlendson would all go there without some backup so to call them "some blogger" may be a disservice to these print reporters. However I agree that we've heard nothing from ownership yet, though I'm not sure they'd tell us anyway. I'll be a fan no matter who owns the team or dons the sweater, but it makes it dicey for a lot of the marginal hockey fans who associate more with the names of the stars than the game itself. No matter the internal drama he drama at the draft should be entertaining enough in itself.

[2WayCenter]

Yeah Randy - probably best to just watch. As you say, a lot of stuff in the air at the moment.

Jeez, OK just said last week that his number was 49. So this week a blogger says 40 and it is throw around to create doomsday.

[Randy C]

2way,

Glad for who is signed. Way to much being made here IMO. Not much has changed except the bloggers here are jumping in the water before the ship has even hit the iceberg. At least we won't have a whole month of this. It is still wait and see time.

[Don in St. Pete]

Geo & McGz, You can probably forget a UFA goalie signing if the rumours that Koules wants a $40Mil payroll are true. See my post on the blog about Bettman for details. It will get uglier before it's over.

[McGz]

Geo,
I hear ya, I didn't see that Ramo got tendered. And I guess I assumed we would have a new ECHL affiliation.
The best thing for all our stud goalies is to be the primary starter, preferably in a pro league. If Tic ends back up in Spokane, I have no issues with it.
From what I've read, with him being signed it sounds like he is Norfolk bound...
Wherever the youngins end up, we need to sign a credible backup to Smith now that Ramo is going (mistakenly) overseas.

[Geografer]

McGz
According to what I've seen we did tender him an offer. My guess is after being the primary starter for part of this year after Smitty went down, he has an over-inflated view of his worth $$$ wise. Let him go over to the KHL and carry his own bags and equipment for a year - see how quick he is back. Hope he takes his own defibrillator and makes sure it is always charged (not to mention his own Dr and disinfectant).

As far as Tic goes. No way should the ECHL even be part of the discussion. Riku's development is behind because of this (he was too old to go back to Seattle last year). We don't have an ECHL team (unless there is an agreement made soon). Riku ended up only playing 5 ECHL games last year as Bolts affiliate went belly up and he was bouncing around before they could find him a team. Only time he finally got any play was when Mac and Karri got called up. Either Tic is a starter in AHL (which is what Riku should be next year – development wise) or he comes back to the Chiefs for his over-age (20) year. It's one or the other. Sitting on a bench behind Riku in the AHL or even worse Smitty in the NHL will kill this kid and that would be just disastrous. Believe me when I say this kid is going to dominate the league in a few years and for many years to come (unless we screw up his development). Sign Clemm, Conks or Andy – maybe even two of them if Smitty isn’t on the ice by July 1.

[McGz]

At least it alleviates a spot for Helenius at Norfolk to start and for Tokarski to be the man in the ECHL or a 5th year in WHL.

It's a shame though, we should have tendered him to retain his rights.

I'd love to see Clemmenson, Conklin or Anderson signed here as a backup.

[Boltflasher]

Yeah, no crying over this one...moron leaves just when he finally had secured at least a backup goalie position in the NHL...

[Herb]

Hey Ramo.....don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya. Good riddance to one of the most inconsistent goaltenders to ever play in the NHL. The Bolts won't miss you in the shootout as well. Just remember that the Calder Trophy winner and a Vezina Trophy finalist for the past season was picked AFTER Helenius (Steve Mason).

[ZERO]

Patrick - Nobody knows the payroll. We've heard every number now.

Don - You are correct about Duemig. Who knows. Sometimes he can be right.

[RealBoltsFans.com]

What happened to Mike Mckenna? Is he off to Siberia Also to drink Vodka with the Grahmer and Ramo ?

[Don in St. Pete]

Duemig is a Gasbag as far as I'm concerned. I guess only time will tell.

[Patrick]

ZERO,

That is the best news I've heard all day. I hope you are right. Both Romano and Eric Erlendsson of trib have now reported that it's Koules that wants to 40 mil payroll, but I will hold on to shred of hope still available.

[2WayCenter]

Imagine what it would be like if they had to sign core players this year. Seems like we should be thankful for any and all signed contract at this point.

[ZERO]

Patrick, according to Duemig on 620, Koules wants to keep Vinny and Barrie was the one talking about a trade. We'll see...he's broadcasting from the draft Thursday and Friday. I'm sure they'll be guests. Gonna be interesting.

[Patrick]

Looks like we all lose. According to EE, Koules gets to make the decisions.

"Koules is believed to be in favor of moving Lecavalier, despite negotiating the deal with Lecavalier’s agent last summer, to shed payroll down to the low $40 million range."

Even the people who wanted to trade Vinny can't be happy with a 40 mil payroll. Even trading Vinny straight up for picks and prospects only lowers than payroll to 30 mil with only 2 defensemen with a full NHL season's experience or more signed. And there's the fact we will have lost without question the most talented player in team history.

[Don in St. Pete]

It would still be a good opportunity here for a goalie looking to prove himself. Otherwise the 3 Ring Circus continues.

[gus georgiou]

I have no problem with losing Ramo as he was very inconsistent last season. Either one of the young goalies,(Tokarski or Helenius) if available to back up Smith would be great.
That is assuming Smith makes it back and plays like he did last year before he went out with the concussion. This will be a very interesting draft and possible trade scenario coming this week especially with the circus atmosphere with the two owners who can't get along. One one hand I hope they don't trade Vinny yet if they keep him and have to knock their payroll way down and can't get some other good players, it is time for Vinny to go and hopefully make this a better team.

[NHL Jeff]

"Mark Gandler, the agent for goaltender Karri Ramo has signed a two-year deal to play for Avangard Omsk"

So Mark Gandler signed the deal?

[Joe]

I like Ramo but he can be replaced and the position upgraded.

The ownership situation is a mess cant blame anyone for wanting out at this point.

[Geografer]

Clemmenson
Conklin
Anderson

Get one of these guys. Clem or Conks would be awesome additions to this team and both have proved they can be a number one when called upon. Please do not rush the development of the goalies we have. In a couple of years Tokarski/Helenius (who faced each other often in the WHL) will make a great tandem. But both need some serious development time in the AHL (and preferably Tokarski another year with the Chiefs).

Karri has made a huge mistake. I sure hope the $$$ he is getting is worth it. I've got to think though that current ownership issues are playing into this a lot as well. Let's hope that doesn't hurt us come free agency either. I wouldn't want to sign here with the current state of this ownership group.