The Goalie Dilemma

Seems these days your team only goes so far as your goalie will hold you up...

For example, look at New Jersey in the playoffs this year vs Carolina. Now, people were talking NJ up BIG time coming in - and they were right in doing so. During a regular season in which Martin Brodeur missed half the games injured they finished 3rd in the Eastern Conference, winning the extremely competitive Atlantic division. Hopes were high.

And then Brodeur decided he needed a few minutes off at the end of some crucial games...and the rest is history.

The NHL has teams with similar stories this season:
- Edmonton faltered at the final hurdle of the regular season because they relied on just 1 goalie, the ageing Dwayne Roloson.
- In Columbus, Steve Mason almost singlehandedly carried his team into the playoffs for the first time in that franchise's history.
- Detroit struggled all season with consistency and a Chris Osgood who for some reason only really showed up once the playoffs began.
- Anaheim goalie JS Giguere found himself and his $5M per season benched this playoff run because of previously unheralded Jonas Hiller.

And in Ottawa, Martin Gerber (again) failed to live up to expectations and the pipes were left in the care of Alex Auld and Brian Elliott.

Elliott, just 24 years of age and fresh out of the AHL (well, ok, he'd played 1 NHL game before this season...) was somewhat of a revelation to the Senators organisation, posting solid numbers and improving each game. However, his rebound control is cause for concern. Alex Auld, too, was a very solid backup but tended to run in hot and cold stretches; amazing for 5-6 games and mediocre for 5-6 more. Later in the season, GM Brian Murray turned Antoine Vermette into highly touted youngster Pascal Leclaire (and a 2nd round draft pick used on Robin Lehner). Things were starting to look up in Ottawa.

And then...Ottawa traded Alex Auld and his very reasonable 1 year, $1M contract away to Dallas - for a 6th round draft pick. That was a BAD move.

Alex Auld is 28. In goalie terms that is a youngster. He makes the right amount of money for his ability. He was only signed for 1 more year. I consider him to be one of the best #2 goalies in the league right now. And the Sens trade him for a 6th BEFORE the season even starts??? They could have signed him for similar money next season, or they could have traded him at the deadline...but this move is almost zero benefit to the team.

Pascal Leclaire has not played for the better part of a season. There is already a lot of pressure on him to perform here in Ottawa and prove that playing behind Columbus D is not the only reason for his stats.

Brian Elliott has started a grand total of 32 NHL games, and certainly has issues with his consistency and especially rebound control. Forgive me for being pessimistic but that is not who I want to be the default starter should Leclaire falter, or need more time to heal (or, heaven forbid, re-injure himself). Don't get me wrong, I am happy we signed him to a very reasonable contract ($850K for 2 years), and he shows promise...but I just don't see him being ready to take over as a starter at this very early stage of his career.

Now, I'm struggling to leave Heatley out of this blog (I'm really trying here! :P) but you gotta wonder if his trade demands have forced Murray's hand here. What I do know for sure, is that a lot of Ottawa's success this season depends on the performances it gets from its goaltenders. And no matter how you slice it - that is still one of this team's biggest question marks until proven otherwise.