Write off Pavel Francouz at your own risk. Halak may have to reprise his 2009-10 Montreal Canadiens’ playoff form if he’s going to maintain his heady numbers this season. The Bruins have played shutdown ‘D’ for a while now, while no team in the entire NHL had a worse expected goals against than Vancouver (118.4) at 5-on-5 last season. The ability to rely on their backup will be a prerequisite for Vancouver to take up that mantle.Ī word of caution, though: it would be difficult to find more two more contrasting environments to play in than Boston and Vancouver.
Though the Canucks are coming off a dreadful year, the Pacific Division is wide open for a surprise team to emerge as a playoff contender. Even that workload is probably past ideal at his ‘advanced’ age, but Halak is a good bet to provide Vancouver with more dependable play in Demko’s stead this season. 922 SP with five shutouts in 37 starts for the Bruins. He’d previously taken home the plaudit as a member of the Blues in 2011-12 as the 1A to Brian Elliott’s 1B. He shared the Jennings Trophy with Tuukka Rask in 2019-20, as the tandem with the fewest goals against in the NHL that season. Halak spent the past three seasons in Boston, where he posted a combined. To that end, they brought in 36-year-old Slovak stopper Jaroslav Halak on a one-year worth up to $3 million (depending on Halak’s performance this season). Though Demko, who turns 26 in December, looks well on his way to establishing himself as a top NHL starter, the Canucks nonetheless could do with some veteran savvy in the crease alongside the American netminder. That left the Canucks with a void behind incumbent starter Thatcher Demko. Vancouver subsequently bought out his contract on July 27. After signing a two-year, $8.6-million contract with the Canucks in October 2020, Holtby had a disastrous season on Canada’s West Coast, with career-worst marks in SP (.889) and GAA (3.67) in 2020-21. The Braden Holtby experiment didn’t work out in Vancouver. He was shaky at times when asked to carry the load after Price’s late-season injuries but performed better early in the season in the defined backup role. He bested starter Carey Price in both SP and GSAA for the season. 907 SP and 2.68 GAA in the firewagon North Division. His first season in bleu, blanc et rouge was fair, if unspectacular, with Allen posting an 11-12-5 record. In coming to Montreal, Allen returned to the city where he played a season-and-a-half of major junior between 2008-09 and ’09-10. Louis needed space, so he was traded to Montreal last September in exchange for two 2020 draft picks. 851 in the 2020 playoffs.īut Allen carried an expensive ticket –$4.35-million cap hit in 2020-21 – and St.
He was also the Blues’ better stopper in the Edmonton bubble, posting a. The backup role suited him well, though, with Allen posting career-best numbers in save percentage (.927), goals-against average (2.15), goals saved above average (11.25) and quality start percentage (.667) in 24 games as the Blues backup in 2019-20. He should continue his strong run of form in a weak Pacific Division as a result. At the least, Seattle does have several talented D-men who could help shelter Driedger from being shelled too often.
But then again, neither did Vegas at the time. The team doesn’t look – on paper – to be as primed for success as those Knights.
#Backups hockey capsy pro
But thankfully for the Kraken, Knight is Florida property, and Driedger was set free.Īfter the Vegas Golden Knights set a new standard for expansion teams in the big four pro sports with their miraculous run to the 2018 Cup final, both pressure and expectations are high in Seattle. If not for the Panthers having wunderkind Spencer Knight on the way, Driedger may well have never reached the free-agent market given his strong play in South Florida. Driedger provided the Panthers with a steadying influence in the wake of Sergei Bobrovsky’s shaky play. He ranked fifth in GAA and tied for fourth in SP among qualified goalies last year. 927 SP, 2.07 GAA and three shutouts in 23 starts for the Cats in 2020-21. The 27-year-old from Winnipeg, Man., was originally a third-round selection of the Ottawa Senators but found his footing the past season-and-a-half with the Panthers in Florida. Driedger will be a factor, though, regardless.
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