No team has won the Stanley Cup on shaky goaltending.
But is it possible solid goalie play is more imperative the next two-plus months than in any prior stretch in NHL history? It’s arguable, but certainly not far-fetched.
For a few years now, teams have been pivoting towards investing more in netminders so that they can play both almost equally. And, wouldn’t you know it, teams that have had vast success in recent seasons have had a pair of goalies they could lean on mostly the same.
For that reason, many of the 24 teams involved in the NHL’s return will grapple with the decision of who to put in net. It’s a good problem to have, but one that probably will keep a number of coaches up at night over the next few weeks.
Per usual, maybe it was John Tortorella who put it best.
“We have no clue who’s going to be our goaltender when we start playing (games),” Tortorella said Monday, via NHL.com.
He’s tasked with choosing between Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo. Although Korpisalo entered the season as the starter following Sergei Bobrovsky’s departure, an injury that sidelined him for weeks paved the way for Merzlikins, after a slow start, to grab the NHL by storm.
However, in the games leading up to the pause, Merzlikins seemed to come down to earth, and now Korpisalo is fully healthy.
“I think they’ll make that decision for us,” Tortorella said. “I’ll tell you right now, both of them deserve the opportunity in the way they’ve played this year.”
The Vegas Golden Knights already had one of the better starting goalies in the game, but they pulled off a borderline stunner by swinging a deal with the Chicago Blackhawks to land Robin Lehner, who was a Vezina Trophy finalist last season with the New York Islanders.
Now, it’s up to head coach Peter DeBoer to figure out which guy he’s supposed to roll with. It appears he’s taking a straightforward approach.
“We have two starting goalies and we’re going to play them both,” he said, via NHL.com.
Lehner has been the better goalie this season, and that was with an erratic Blackhawks team in front of him for all but three of his games. However, Fleury is the far more seasoned postseason performer. The Golden Knights already have a playoff spot locked up and will just play in the Western Conference round-robin, so one has to think there will be a little tinkering between those games.
Maybe no one has it harder though than New York Rangers boss David Quinn.
His decision is between three goalies, though there are two that can be considered frontrunners. Igor Shesterkin and Alexander Georgiev both are young options that have played well this season, in effect phasing out Henrik Lundqvist.
The decision probably will come down to Shesterkin and Lundqvist, in which case Shesterkin should be the guy that gets the call. But each of the myriad factors at play surrounding the trio will go into Quinn’s ultimate decision of who to send out against the Carolina Hurricanes.
“A lot is going to go into the decision because of the unique circumstances,” Quinn said, via the New York Post. “I actually had a meeting with all three of them today to tell them how important the next three weeks are going to be. But that being said, it’s not just about these (next) three weeks. There are a lot of other things to take into consideration — Henrik’s success against (the Hurricanes), the seasons guys were having, what was going on when we left off …
“So there’s going to be a lot that goes into it, but this one position probably more than any, these next three weeks are going to be pivotal.”
All told, about half of the teams involved in the restart, give or take, don’t have a clear-cut starter, which is a testament to where the future of NHL goaltending is heading.
More NHL: Winners, Losers Of League’s Return To Play Format
Here are some other notes from the past week:
— Jim Benning can deny the Brock Boeser rumors as much as he wants, but the Canucks are one of the teams put in a tough spot by the salary cap freezing.
So he might not intend to trade the star center, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen this offseason.
“I have no intention of trading Brock Boeser,” Benning said about the matter, via NHL.com. “I haven’t had one conversation about that, so I don’t know where this stuff comes from.”
Reading between the lines, the possibility of Boeser getting moved will be predicated on how hellbent the organization is on re-signing Jacob Markstrom. The market for good goaltending is as robust as ever, and if the Canucks think they can win now then they have to invest in it appropriately. Thatcher Demko very well might be a useful NHL goalie, but it might not be the most prudent move leaning on him as the No. 1 guy right now.
And while Vancouver isn’t too tight on space right now, you can see how by signing Markstrom — or any starting-caliber goalie — the Canucks will be in cap hell real quick.
I dont think the Canucks are desperate for cap space next year. ? https://t.co/l0C700fFSM pic.twitter.com/rvlWQfGpDi
— $19M=OffseasonCapspace (@bruinscapspace) July 10, 2020
Eventually, money is going to have to be moved, especially with Elias Pettersson set to become an RFA after next season.
In other words, it would be shocking if Boeser trade chatter subsides anytime soon, even if it is conjecture.
— The Calder Trophy race is going to come down to Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar, meaning Dominik Kubalik will likely finish a distant third.
But he deserves plenty of recognition for the season he had on a largely underwhelming Blackhawks team. His hands are fantastic, he’s an absolute delight to watch and seldom has a 30-16-46 line in a rookie season flown so much under the radar (which only underscores how sharp Hughes and Makar were). It didn’t hurt that he spent the lion’s share of his ice time with Jonathan Toews, but it’s clear he really could grow into an impact player.
Chicago has a lot of issues it needs to hash out before it becomes a legitimate contender again, but their short- and long-term top six forward situation looks promising between Kubalik, Toews, Patrick Kane and Alex Debrincat.
Here’s to hoping the Kubalik gets a little more national attention since Chicago is in the return to play.
— One other award note: Tortorella should win the Jack Adams.
It was announced Wednesday to be between him, Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy and the Philadelphia Flyers’ Alain Vigneault. All are deserving candidates, but what Tortorella got out of Columbus is simply unbelievable, regardless of how it fares in the NHL’s return.
The Blue Jackets lost Artemi Panarin, Sergei Bobrovsky, Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel this offseason, with their main signing being Gustav Nyquist, a fine player, but certainly not enough to offset the slew of departures. They lost Korpisalo for a chunk of the year, which allowed for Merzlikins to blossom. They had a number of young, unproven players come out of the clouds and become impactful enough while logging stunningly big minutes.
Again, Cassidy and Vigneault are deserving, but this should be Tortorella’s year for the award.
— Because of the timing of the pause, most guys moved at the trade deadline have played fewer than eight games with their respective teams.
For that reason, over the coming weeks, we’ll all have plenty of “Oh right, that’s who they play for now.”
So, here’s a quick refresher on who is where.
Boston Bruins
Nick Ritchie, Ondrej Kase
Calgary Flames
Erik Gustafsson, Derek Forbort
Carolina Hurricanes
Brady Skjei, Vincent Trocheck, Sami Vatanen
Chicago Blackhawks
Malcolm Subban
Colorado Avalanche
Vladislav Namestnikov
Columbus Blue Jackets
Devin Shore
Edmonton Oilers
Tyler Ennis, Andreas Athanasiou
Florida Panthers
Erik Haula, Lucas Wallmark
Minnesota Wild
Alex Galchenyuk
Nashville Predators
Ben Harpur
New York Islanders
J-G Pageau, Andy Greene
Philadelphia Flyers
Nate Thompson, Derek Grant
St. Louis Blues
Marco Scandella
Tampa Bay Lightning
Blake Coleman, Barclay Goodrow
Toronto Maple Leafs
Denis Malgin
Vancouver Canucks
Tyler Toffoli, Louis Domingue
Vegas Golden Knights
Robin Lehner, Alec Martinez, Nick Cousins
Washington Capitals
Ilya Kovalchuk, Brenden Dillon
Winnipeg Jets
Dylan DeMelo, Cody Eakin
