hooverdam
Registered User
- Feb 21, 2013
- 2,499
- 1,748
We will see how this looks when Varly is out for 2 months next season. Hope the Frenchman can play
I mean, the solution to that is to move on from Varlamov and bring someone more stable in. With the way goalies play musical chairs in this league, that's totally feasible.
People have an attachment to Varlamov thanks to his flashes of great play, but a) he hasn't proven he can sustain that level of play over long periods of time outside of exactly one season several years ago b) he's never healthy long enough to sustain any kind of play, good or bad, over long stretches and c) people kind of assume that if he's healthy he's playing top tier hockey when that has not been the case since 2014.
This isn't popular but I'd buy Varlamov out this June if he can't be moved and bring in someone more viable in goal, then let that person battle it out with another unknown in Francouz. Even if that new goalie isn't as good as Varlamov's peak, as long as they can maintain some level of average play they should be fine. Varlamov thrives in an environment we should be moving away from: 30+ shots against and miracle saves on every shift. Even if the Avs feel like they need to shelter Francouz and Goalie X, that's better than thinking they can rely on Varlamov to make those crazy saves every time. It's just not a sustainable style of play and when the bottom falls out it gets really ugly. See the Habs, the Rangers, the Senators, the Flames a few years ago, etc.