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FireBednarsSuccessor
Why do the #s of other KHL goalies matter when he led the league with a weaker team in front of him than pretty much anyone else in the top 10 either of the past two seasons?
Why do the #s of other KHL goalies matter when he led the league with a weaker team in front of him than pretty much anyone else in the top 10 either of the past two seasons?
Because if the league as a whole has goalies with a high save percentage, it may mean that Francouz is simple the best of a group of mediocre goalies who happen to play in a league where fewer shots turn into goals.
Wouldn't that be just as possible if he led the league with a 86%? Granted I'd disagree with the bolded notion in general, and would point to the success KHL kids have had in NA, but I guess I just don't see the connection.
Francouz played on a decent team, but not on the likes of SKA, CSKA or Ak Bars, on average he faced 30 shots on goal per game - while guys like Koskinen, Shestryokin, Larsson, etc faced between 18 to 25 shots per game - , was the biggest reason the team finished in the playoffs as they had the lowest total of goals for out of any team in the East, and the 2nd lowest out of all playoff teams finishing 9th worst in the entire KHL in terms of goals per game, he is .7 higher than his closest competitor in save percentage with 94.6%, while his teammate had 1.5% lower save percentage. He is really good, and one of the most impressive goalies I have seen in the KHL.
I'm not saying he's guaranteed to be terrible, but the KHL is clearly quite different from the NHL, which means that I will always take KHL stats with a grain of salt when looking at players coming from there to here.
It’s reasonable to have some skepticism but the fact that a seeming majority of KHL fans view him as either the best goalie in the league or, if not, then close to and the fact that most Czech fans view him as their nations undisputed top goalie (granted not the strongest group with the likes of Mrzak and Rittich) should soothe some fears. He could fall anywhere from third string goalie to 1B goalie this upcoming season - heck he might even hit that whole spectrum in his first season in North America. But I’d be surprised if he’s not at least an able Bernier replacement by the midway point. I do see the benefit of a strong #3 though in case there are issues settling or what not.
The other thing to consider is if you ask Rangers or Isles fans, they’ll tell you Shetyorkin and Sorokin are ready to step into the NHL and be studs and are merely being held back by contractual obligations - well there’s no question Frankie is the better, more accomplished netminder at this point. And while of course, he doesn’t have their seemingly franchise goalie upside - that’s the other rub here - we are getting a guy who is still pretty young in goalie years.
Cheap, talented, proven at the highest levels outside the NHL (for league and nation), appears to have a great attitude and perhaps even has some additional upside - hard for some of us not be bullish on a very shrewd move by Sakic here.
Tomas Vokoun was the complete epitome of "making the insane save yet letting in the softies" goaler this league has ever seen.
Now this I can get behind. I'm really curious about what he's going to be in the NHL, and I think it's a marvelous move by Sakic to bring him in. I just happen to think all the "who should be our 3rd string goalie?" discussion in this and other threads is silly because I think Francouz is it.
Right handed short ass catching goalie from the Czech Republic. Tomas Vokoun 2.0 confirmed.
I'm still not 100% sold that Frank is going to work out as a #2 next year, I think we really need a plan B around. I wouldn't mind that being Pickard, he's well liked with the org and has NHL experience, but I don't feel good about just saying "This is our backup next year" and closing the book on it.
Francouz isn't going to be 3rd in our goalie depth, if Sakic told him that he would've signed with another team or stayed in the KHL. He's going to get every opportunity to stay in the back-up role with a relatively long leash. It's rare to be able to sign a goalie that has potential to be the starter of a NHL team, I imagine Varly being injury prone is one of the reasons why he signed with us.
Yes, it is a gamble but i'd rather swing for the fences with the hope he'll become our next starter, rather than going the safer route signing a decent backup like Bernier that has no potential to take over the starter role. While this year was an amazing run, at the end of the day it was a developmental year.
I appreciate the approach Sakic is taking by taking calculated risks to try and fill in the holes of this team, rather than simply staying the status quo.
What is your source for the bold part? Are you friends with Francouz or something? Do you have a source from within Avs management? I ask because it seems like you're stating your opinions as fact based on zero real evidence.
As far as I know, we have no clue what Avs management told him or what his expectations are. The clue I'm going on though is that he appears to have specifically mentioned the proximity of the AHL and NHL teams as a reason for his signing - that to me suggests he expects to play in both leagues, which isn't something a guy expecting to the be full time backup would expect. And Varly being injury prone works just as well as reasoning for him willing to be the 3rd stringer, and it works even better if you assume Bernier is the backup because he may be injury prone as well.
How am I stating my opinions as facts, when I even had 'ifs' in my statement as well as explaining why I believe so.
Facts:
- Francouz has been the best goalie in the KHL for multiple years.
- Francouz turned down a significant offer from St. Petersburg
- Francouz mentioned the farm team being close together
- Experienced Russian players have a history of bolting back to the KHL if they have a hard time transitioning or feel like they're treated unfairly.
We don't know for sure what Sakic told him, but I very much doubt it was something along the lines of "We aren't sold on you being our #2, but we would love for you to come in and be our #3". There are teams like Carolina and Buffalo who would've killed to take a flyer on Francouz and given him a better opportunity than the #3 spot.
I do believe he's open to playing some games in the AHL to get acclimatized to the smaller ice, but I can't see him being content playing in the AHL the majority of the year. Maybe Francouz is a patient guy, but he's giving up millions of dollars to chase his dream. If he doesn't see results sooner than later, he'll be back in the KHL.