A SERIOUS DISCUSSION: Alex Nedeljkovic

[Drivebytrucker]

Better than Ned would be great. Who fits that category of goalie, is available, and won't blow the budget? That is going to be a very short list if there is even a single player on it. The reality is we can do what you suggest, but it will cost us in other areas of the team because it will mean spending more of the cap on the goalies compared to this year.

And the reality is that we had very good goaltending all year, even when it was just Alex and James. They are not why our season is done.

I think if we change goalies with Tampa, we win that series

That's not possible and only one team can have the best goalie in the world. I get it....

But their goalie played better than ours.

 

[MinJaBen]

I think if we change goalies with Tampa, we win that series

That's not possible and only one team can have the best goalie in the world. I get it....

But their goalie played better than ours.

I think we change Svech for Kuch then we win the series, too. I know that not possible, but their scorers played better than ours.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

I think we change Svech for Kuch then we win the series, too. I know that not possible, but their scorers played better than ours.

Svech wasn't great and Kuch was great on their PP but I actually don't think we win the series if we make that swap. Their PP is lethal with or without Kuch, it's just coached so well, and their depth was better than ours, somewhat significantly. Plus Vasi would rob Kuch like he did all our players...

 

[Blueline Bomber]

Ned has earned the starter spot next year, but it'd be foolish not to grab a capable backup that can play solid hockey for a stretch of time if the need be.

Who that backup might be is up in the air, but Ned's certainly done everything we've asked of him and more.

 

[Svechhammer]

I think if we change goalies with Tampa, we win that series

Unless Vasi himself scored 2 goals per night, I strongly disagree.

 

[Chrispy]

Unless Vasi himself scored 2 goals per night, I strongly disagree.

Agreed. Vasilevsky isn't stopping that first goal on Point last night. He isn't stopping most of the PP goals in game 4 that Tampa scored into wide open nets via spacing and quick passing.

Vasilevsky is going to regularly play better than almost every goalie in the league. If you don't have the forwards or system to beat an elite goalie, you're eventually going home in the playoffs.

 

[Chrispy]

Going back to who you pick up for next year:

If there isn’t much interest in Reimer on the market, I wouldn’t be opposed to

Ned
Raanta
Reimer

I don’t feel great about adding Raanta if the #3 is Bibeau or a prospect. But if it’s Reimer I’m willing to roll the dice on Raanta’s health.

 

[MinJaBen]

Going back to who you pick up for next year:

If there isn’t much interest in Reimer on the market, I wouldn’t be opposed to

Ned
Raanta
Reimer

I don’t feel great about adding Raanta if the #3 is Bibeau or a prospect. But if it’s Reimer I’m willing to roll the dice on Raanta’s health.

They aren't going to go with three NHLers next year unless it is again mandated. They will use Warm or Bibeau as the 3rd/4th options.

 

[Roboturner913]

THG on Youtube was like "Nedeljkovic played really well and his numbers are fantastic but he got no run support, so I'm not sure how to grade him" and I'm just sitting here incredulous.

Like, what in the hell exactly do you think a goalie has to do to earn a good "grade"? The man can't score the goals himself. People are so weird about goalies with this sport man.

 

[Chrispy]

They aren't going to go with three NHLers next year unless it is again mandated. They will use Warm or Bibeau as the 3rd/4th options.

I realize it may not be realistic, but I can't see trying Raanta without a more reliable backup plan of some kind.

12 games in 18-19, 12 games in 20-21, ended the season hurt again. Can't take that chance if Warm/Bibeau are the next man up.

 

[MinJaBen]

I realize it may not be realistic, but I can't see trying Raanta without a more reliable backup plan of some kind.

12 games in 18-19, 12 games in 20-21, ended the season hurt again. Can't take that chance if Warm/Bibeau are the next man up.

I agree, which is why I don't think he is really an option.

 

[LakeLivin]

Exactly


You need to be getting somebody better than Ned.

You want a serious battle

Going with like Reimer / Ned is not an option

Waddell needs to stop by Goalies-R-Us on his way home and pick up one of those.

Seriously, I understand what you're getting at and don't disagree with most of it. But as others have already mentioned, getting someone better than Ned might not be realistic. Ned led the entire league in regular season save% and GAA (min 14 games played). Granted, that's only 23 games played and we all know the problem with small sample sizes. But his playoff performance was solid (.920 s%, 2.17 GAA) and he's been very successful at every level he's played so far. We don't know for sure that Ned is going to be a long term 1A solution, but he at least has that promise.

When it comes to choosing Ned's partner next season, seems like it's still likely to be a bit of a crapshoot given how variable (schizophrenic, lol?) goalies are. At one point Lehner seemed like the best goalie option available, and probably worth paying a premium. At another point, didn't it seem like Holtby? To further complicate matters, when in effect, the Regression Towards the Mean principle means that a goalie that had a great season one year might disappoint the next, while a goalie that had a disappointing season can pleasantly surprise. So until a goalie gets a very large body of work, choosing one based on recent performance can almost be counter-intuitive.

Hopefully our analytics department has come up with some advanced analyses that might reduce the voodoo involved with picking goalies. The last 3 years I'd argue that we've done much better than most would have anticipated given who we've rolled out, so maybe they're on to something.

 

[emptyNedder]

1. Ned played better than Vasilevsky did (in Vasi's first playoff appearance). Ned should have some playoff series where he is even better than this year, that would put him darn close to elite goalie level.
2. I would consider Rinne for one year. Tripp may overstate things (imagine that), but apparently Rinne is friendly with both Aho and Teravainen. Pekka has fallen off, but he actually was a middle-of-the road backup last season. Used correctly, he could be an inexpensive option.

 

[Roboturner913]

I think we need to get somebody that can play at least 40-45 games, preferably a bigger goalie so there's a contrast in style between he and Ned. I don't pay too much attention to the free agent/trade market so I don't know who's available, but we've gotten some pretty good mileage out of dudes like McIlhinney and Reimer so I'm not super worried. I think the org has a pretty good handle on evaluating that position.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Better than Ned would be great. Who fits that category of goalie, is available, and won't blow the budget? That is going to be a very short list if there is even a single player on it. The reality is we can do what you suggest, but it will cost us in other areas of the team because it will mean spending more of the cap on the goalies compared to this year.

And the reality is that we had very good goaltending all year, even when it was just Alex and James. They are not why our season is done.

I think if we change goalies with Tampa, we win that series

That's not possible and only one team can have the best goalie in the world. I get it....

But their goalie played better than ours.

I think you guys are both right.

If we switch goalies, we likely win.

If we switch offensive execution, we likely win.

Either of those conditions (better goaltending, better offensive execution) could have been met. Not even that Ned needed to outperform Vasi or that the forwards needed to outperform their counterparts; just that they needed to be slightly better. We whiffed on both. That's why we lost.

 

[Drivebytrucker]

Unless Vasi himself scored 2 goals per night, I strongly disagree.

I think we win game 4

That makes it 2-2.

I think he turns one of game 1 or 2 or 5.

 

[A Star is Burns]

I still wouldn't mind trying to land someone like Kuemper. Not crazy expensive, only locks you in for a year while you evaluate Ned further, a pretty damn good goalie when healthy. Guess it depends on the acquisition cost.

 

[Roboturner913]

I kinda like Brossoit as an unheralded guy with some upside.

 

[Bunch of Jurcos]

We scored 1 goal or less 3 times in the series and we're on about goalies. Ok.

 

[A Star is Burns]

We scored 1 goal or less 3 times in the series and we're on about goalies. Ok.

I agree. We only have prospects signed right now, and the rights to Ned and nobody else NHL caliber, but we should not be on about goalies. Also, this nor any other team has ever been bitten in the ass by failing to make sure they have multiple quality NHL goalies.

 

[Chrispy]

We scored 1 goal or less 3 times in the series and we're on about goalies. Ok.

Ned played 3 games vs Tampa and held them to 2 goals every time.

If the solution is to hold the Tampa Bay Lightning to 1 goal or fewer every game to win, you need to review your other assumptions.

There's clearly a need to preserve a tandem setup, whether with Mrazek or someone else. But "there's a need to upgrade on Ned?" No, based on the series that just ended there's a need to get more goal scoring.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

We scored 1 goal or less 3 times in the series and we're on about goalies. Ok.

And our guy was a Calder finalist having not even played half the team's games, lol.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

The obvious concern is Ned turning out to be a pumpkin, like so many upstart keepers before him.

That said, it's not as if any of these names thrown around are making my heart flutter.

 

[Roboturner913]

We scored 1 goal or less 3 times in the series and we're on about goalies. Ok.

That's because we have only one goalie under contract for next year and I like Ned, but I find it highly unlikely he'll be able to start all 82 games

 

[sheriff bart]

I think you guys are both right.

If we switch goalies, we likely win.

If we switch offensive execution, we likely win.

Either of those conditions (better goaltending, better offensive execution) could have been met. Not even that Ned needed to outperform Vasi or that the forwards needed to outperform their counterparts; just that they needed to be slightly better. We whiffed on both. That's why we lost.

I think we win if we switch scores