Speculation: Call up Connor Ingram?

[maplepred]

Both of our goalies are playing miserably and both have save percentage below .900, Ingram is lighting it up big time in Milwaukee.

I can’t help but think of the blues season last year. They brought up Binnington and went from a bottom team to a Cup winning team.

Couldn’t hurt to at least give it a shot?

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[PredsV82]

Both of our goalies are playing miserably and both have save percentage below .900, Ingram is lighting it up big time in Milwaukee.

I can’t help but think of the blues season last year. They brought up Binnington and went from a bottom team to a Cup winning team.

Couldn’t hurt to at least give it a shot?

Wed have to have an open spot from a skater because we cant send Saros down

 

[Legionnaire11]

Has he been lights out in the AHL? And are we ready to you with the confidence of Rinne and Saros?

There's not much to be positive about this season, but I do believe our goalies numbers are trending up, definitely Saros has. Still not good enough, but I'm not sure dropping Vasilevskiy, Bishop or Lehner into this Preds lineup is going to fix the issue either.

 

[maplepred]

Has he been lights out in the AHL? And are we ready to you with the confidence of Rinne and Saros?

There's not much to be positive about this season, but I do believe our goalies numbers are trending up, definitely Saros has. Still not good enough, but I'm not sure dropping Vasilevskiy, Bishop or Lehner into this Preds lineup is going to fix the issue either.

I bet the blues didn’t think they would win a cup or even make playoffs by calling up binnington either.

Ingram is 10-2-2, .928 and 2.14. That’s quite impressive.

Maybe calling him up lights a fire under Pekka or Saros and gets their game back, they have to know they are not playing well. Or maybe Ingram goes Binnington style. Either way cannot be any worse than what we have right?

 

[Legionnaire11]

I bet the blues didn’t think they would win a cup or even make playoffs by calling up binnington either.

Ingram is 10-2-2, .928 and 2.14. That’s quite impressive.

Maybe calling him up lights a fire under Pekka or Saros and gets their game back, they have to know they are not playing well. Or maybe Ingram goes Binnington style. Either way cannot be any worse than what we have right?

I don't know. I really just don't think that trying to imitate the Blues season by changing coaches and calling up the rookie goalie is a very solid plan. The Blues could replay that season 100 more times and probably don't replicate it even once.

I mean, if one of our goalies here was expiring, or could be buried in the minors, then maybe I'd entertain the idea. But as it stands right now, i'd rather not make desperation moves with the coaching staff and roster that we have right now. First thing is first, change the coach and see if that doesn't help our skaters help our goalies (help me, help you!). If that doesn't work, it's too late in the season for a miracle run anyway, so you see what next season brings. I imagine we could move an expiring Saros for a late pick if Ingram comes in and lights it up in that scenario. Then let Rinne ride the bench and come in for relief before his deal expires. Then in 2021 you are starting the season with Ingram #1 and signing a cheap veteran backup, either Rinne back on a big discount or someone else.

But all of that is at least a year away from even getting the ball rolling on such a plan, and even then it's unlikely. This season I don't think it's in the cards at all.

 

[Armourboy]

I guess I could see it as a quick way to try and shake the roster a bit but I'm not sure he is the answer for anything. Long as the team in front of them are giving up the chances they are Im not sure it matters who is in net.

 

[maplepred]

Wed have to have an open spot from a skater because we cant send Saros down

True, but guys like Blackwell, Olivier and Carr have no business in NHL really anyways.

 

[maplepred]

I guess I could see it as a quick way to try and shake the roster a bit but I'm not sure he is the answer for anything. Long as the team in front of them are giving up the chances they are Im not sure it matters who is in net.

Both goalies have awful stats. I mean they are facing higher quality chances at times, but overall both of them should be doing much better overall.

 

[PredsV82]

The way hes playing I wish we could put Rinne on IR for a couple of weeks and give Ingram a chance

 

[Byrddog]

It would not hurt one bit to Bring Ingram up the shock value alone could be a positive. Bring him up for two games one game set Forsberg next game either Duchene or Johansen. I do not know the whole story about Ingram from the Bolts standpoint but he was sent to the ECHL a number of times from the AHL there was one instance of him kicking a puck that got him sent down just before the playoffs. The guy seems to have a skill set and hopefully the behavior issues that caused his being up and down are resolved, but that's not anything that thr Preds has not been thru. Right?

 

[maplepred]

It would not hurt one bit to Bring Ingram up the shock value alone could be a positive. Bring him up for two games one game set Forsberg next game either Duchene or Johansen. I do not know the whole story about Ingram from the Bolts standpoint but he was sent to the ECHL a number of times from the AHL there was one instance of him kicking a puck that got him sent down just before the playoffs. The guy seems to have a skill set and hopefully the behavior issues that caused his being up and down are resolved, but that's not anything that thr Preds has not been thru. Right?

I heard his teammates hid his equipment in the stands on him. Don’t know what caused all of the crap there but it worked out good for us anyways. Kicking a puck is not a big deal in my books. But he is young and some guys mature quicker than others. I have heard nothing but positive from ads fans about him, sometimes a crash start can do wonders.

Would be great to see what he could for us in the NHL, one thing for sure is that we would be very hard pressed to be any worse than what we have currently.

Side note, when was the last time a goalie played for us that wasn’t Finnish? It wasn’t Linback was it? I feel like it was Hutton..

 

[PredsV82]

Hutton was our backup before Saros.

 

[Predsanddead24]

We also had Mazanec to start the 16-17 season for a few games.

 

[maplepred]

I remember when the Preds first got the team, I thought Eric Fichaud was going to be our stud goalie, and Vokoun was going to be a dud lol. Man was I ever wrong there.

I do think that Ingram should get a few games in this season even if just one or two. In a couple years, it’s going to most likely be him and Saros tending the net.

 

[GoldOnGold]

We have a variety of problems. Goaltending is one of them, and calling up Ingram could be a good try to fix it without a trade or anything.

 

[JustaFinnishGuy]

Yup. At this point, call up Ingram and see what he has to offer. But the most optimal way of dealing with our team would be to see if a HC and an assistant swap changes anything

 

[101st_fan]

Weclome back to 2007-08 when the talk was do we callup Pekka Rinne due to the struggles of Mason and Ellis ... back when his bags were delayed costing him a likely start on 22 Mar 08 where #danellisproblems disappeared for a few games and Dan won three in a row, allowing only one goal in regulation across four starts and relegating Pekka to the press box for the rest of the season.

A goalie callup is not the most insane idea on these boards lately. Binnington worked out well for the Blues last season and honestly it isn't as though either Ingram or Grosenick could tank the team's sv% on the penalty kill that much ... Pekka is already dead last in that category among goalies with ten or more games. It might be something that could mitigate one of the many issues the team is having right now. The risk is that the repeated times hanging goalies out to dry remains just too much no matter who we put in net and then we get into a three headed monster of goalie personalities all struggling at once ... and Freud isn't on the staff.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Milwaukee did sign both Appleby and Johnson to minor league deals, so it's possible that we could call up a 3rd goalie for a look, without messing anything up in the system. They're both AHL-capable.

I still don't know that it's warranted until the goalies are actually the lone item costing us games, though. I know the goalie stats are attrocious, but a lot of other things are likewise attrocious, so I'd still rather see a coaching change first. Once you make the move of throwing a grenade at the likely-already-shaky confidence of the goalies, it might be hard to recover from that. It might be nicer if, say, one of them got the flu or something and there was more of an organic opportunity to try out Ingram.

 

[OldFan]

Unfortunately this is probably a good idea.

 

[adsfan]

Milwaukee did sign both Appleby and Johnson to minor league deals, so it's possible that we could call up a 3rd goalie for a look, without messing anything up in the system. They're both AHL-capable.

I still don't know that it's warranted until the goalies are actually the lone item costing us games, though. I know the goalie stats are attrocious, but a lot of other things are likewise attrocious, so I'd still rather see a coaching change first. Once you make the move of throwing a grenade at the likely-already-shaky confidence of the goalies, it might be hard to recover from that. It might be nicer if, say, one of them got the flu or something and there was more of an organic opportunity to try out Ingram.

If Appleby plays, I would probably stay home and do laundry. He was horrible in a game against Milwaukee last season. He must have let in 6 or 7 goals. He made a scoring challenged Admirals team look like a bunch of snipers from a SWAT team.

He had an 88 save % and a 3.92 GAA for the Manitoba Moose over 10 games and let in 34 goals. He is no longer an AHL level goalie.

 

[nine_inch_fang]

I still don't know that it's warranted until the goalies are actually the lone item costing us games, though. I know the goalie stats are attrocious, but a lot of other things are likewise attrocious, so I'd still rather see a coaching change first. Once you make the move of throwing a grenade at the likely-already-shaky confidence of the goalies, it might be hard to recover from that. It might be nicer if, say, one of them got the flu or something and there was more of an organic opportunity to try out Ingram.

Horrible goalie play shakes the confidence of the skaters though. Defensemen over commit to stop any shot. Forwards do too much trying to score. The mentality of the skaters is fragile and breaks when they see one of those all too familiar soft goals. It really becomes a game of the chicken or the egg.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Horrible goalie play shakes the confidence of the skaters though. Defensemen over commit to stop any shot. Forwards do too much trying to score. The mentality of the skaters is fragile and breaks when they see one of those all too familiar soft goals. It really becomes a game of the chicken or the egg.

A good coach will fix that. If the players are that weak mentally, we have problems beyond goaltending.

And yes, we have problems beyond goaltending.

 

[nine_inch_fang]

A good coach will fix that. If the players are that weak mentally, we have problems beyond goaltending.

And yes, we have problems beyond goaltending.

So, you're okay with the goalie being weak mentally and not challenging them but it's not okay for the skaters to feel defeated when they work their ass off all game to tie up a game after a couple of soft goals only to see another soft goal lose them the game?

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

So, you're okay with the goalie being weak mentally and not challenging them but it's not okay for the skaters to feel defeated when they work their ass off all game to tie up a game after a couple of soft goals only to see another soft goal lose them the game?

Not sure how you get that. Letting in a bad goal isn't being weak mentally. Every goalie lets in bad goals at times. If the rest of the team has a collective mental breakdown because of it, that's on them. It's never ok for players to feel defeated and give up.

And if your goaltending is consistently bad, go get better goaltending. That's the whole premise of this thread. That's why we're almost unanimously suggesting here to give Ingram a try.

Independent of that, there is STILL more going wrong with this team than just goaltending. There are other players underperforming to the same degree that our goalies are. But it's the old adage. Forward makes a mistake, hardly anybody notices. D makes a mistake, even a bad goalie still bails him out 80% of the time. Goalie makes a mistake, it's in the net. There's a lot going on with the team right now. Bad goaltending is just one part of it.

 

[nine_inch_fang]

Once you make the move of throwing a grenade at the likely-already-shaky confidence of the goalies, it might be hard to recover from that.

Both of my responses where more toward this comment. Maybe I'm reading to much into what you meant.