Confirmed with Link: Coyotes sign Kuemper to two year extension, $4.5m AAV

Jakey53

Registered User
Aug 27, 2011
29,978
9,040
It doesn’t matter. Hill is the defacto #3 and would be sitting on the bench no matter what. Only difference is in which uniform he puts on.

Coyotes get a free look at a goaltender prospect for a bargain basement price. But their ass is also covered in the meantime.
Their ass is covered by Hill. Remember last year? Either something is going on with Hill, or they are not happy with Hill, or they think Comrie is better than Hill. Comparing the two, their age, stats and salary are almost identical.
 

BUX7PHX

Registered User
Jul 7, 2011
5,581
1,350
Their ass is covered by Hill. Remember last year? Either something is going on with Hill, or they are not happy with Hill, or they think Comrie is better than Hill. Comparing the two, their age, stats and salary are almost identical.

You are making a mountain out of a molehill. Right now, we have two goaltenders each worth about $4 - 5 M each. Kuemper had 55 starts last year. I think he could be a #1, based off of workload alone. Raanta can't stay healthy. Both are probably top 12 goalies in the league, provided that they play effectively and are healthy. Effective play has occurred in both. Staying healthy has been the issue.

If Raanta can stay healthy and prove that he can do so for 55 games, then we have a viable trade piece in Kuemper. If Raanta struggles with health, but is an effective goalie when healthy, we still have a viable trade piece in Raanta, just one that can't be counted on to shoulder a #1's minutes. We could also say that if both are equal, then it may not matter whom we could give up in the offseason - bottom line is that I don't see us carrying $9+ M in salary at our goalie position next year. Trading someone is the only way to get through that. If we did wind up carrying them both next year, it was because we couldn't find a trade that we liked, so it made more sense to keep both, and then bring Hill up after the 20-21 season. Remember, we are at $62.0 M with a need to add 3 or 4 F and 1 D to the roster. Three of those forwards are Soderberg, and extensions for Hinostroza and Fischer, respectively. We can manage with two higher paid goalies for one more year.

When Raanta comes off of the conditioning assignment, we send Hill back to see shots. A lot of them. Start him all 74 games, or however many they play in the A. Put him through a workload like he has never had. As long as he doesn't fold/bend/break and appears to be getting better, Hill becomes the backup of the future. There is never an issue with having a number of really good goalies. I would rather have to make the decision of getting rid of a goalie out of a strong group of 3 than finding a goalie to make your group of 3 top of the line.

Raanta/Kuemper >> Hill >> Comrie

Once we have a little better sense of what Raanta's health picture is and where we see Hill, we determine course of action.
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->