GDT: GAME ONE of 2019: Slumps vs. Sharks

[Ivan13]

All I can say is he has yet to prove that he can play well on a team that isn't a top tier team like Washington. Lots of trash starts with a few glimpses of decency is not starting goalie material. He had more than few chances to take the starting job and run with it, but can't seem to do it, I'm getting really fed up with him.

When exactly did he have a chance to take the starting job and run with it? Every time he had a quality start Bednar went back to Varlamov. That top tier Washington team was fighting for a playoff spot until he came in late last season.

 

[Papa Francouz]

Watching the replays of the goals, the ones that went in against Grubauer by Kane and Donskoi weren’t really on him. Barrie has the turnover that led to Kane’s goal, and Donskoi shot the puck in off of Dries’s stick. That being said, I’d love to see Francouz actually start a game here. He’s been great in his relief showings and we might as well see what we have in him.

 

[kl35ha]

Playing catch up from behind almost every game during this stretch...Varly and Gub is seriously hot garbage for us. Please let Frank start the next game, it can’t be any worse than what varly and gub is doing.

BTW for those who keep bashing EJ, I thought he has pretty good the past few games. Hes attacking the o-zone with puck and without the puck, looking like the old EJ. He looking better than doing it than Barrie and Girard (these two are suppose to be our offensive d...). He should keep this up and worry less about covering for Girard.

 

[Ivan13]

I know it seems backwards given Franco's proof so far, but I have a hard time believing in Grub over him. Strong prospect, yes. But barely playing backup quality hockey (again, if memory serves). Grub just doesn't have the pedigree to say he will be a starter for us anymore than Franco does in my opinion. Lots of good backups on good teams went on to never make the leap. Meanwhile at least Franco is showing he can handle the starter's load quite well in the AHL and in his limited reliefs in the NHL he's been superb. Grub hasn't really done much in relief even.

Fair shake or not, I feel like at this point Grub has to prove some of us wrong rather than still get the benefit of the doubt.

When? And I mean he played well in the AHL as well, not to mention he played over 100 games in his NHL career and has a save percentage higher than 92%.

 

[klozge]

Nice retort. Just FYI, Grubauer closed out the last season posting a 93.5% in his last 15 appearances, posting a record of 10 wins, 3 losses and 2 no decisions (kept his net clean on both occasions). In those appearances, he cracked the 93% 9 times, had 92.9% two more times, and three games under 90%.

I really don't know what to tell you... he can cost you games and he does so often. He can also be good - that's why he made it to the NHL - but you never, ever want to rely on him. He certainly wasn't the main reason the Caps made the playoffs (they won the playoffs without him, so there probably were a couple good players on that team) and he certainly hasn't only had "A poor game".
Have we all forgotten how things had been before the trade for Varly was made? I don't want the Avs to have no goaltending again, especially with the window hopefully opening as soon as next year. Varly can't stay healthy but Grubauer is not the answer.

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

When? And I mean he played well in the AHL as well, not to mention he played over 100 games in his NHL career and has a save percentage higher than 92%.

Prior to his last two seasons, I remember quite a lot of chatter about how he was awful and wouldn't even be considered for expansion against someone like Pickard. Which is what happened, likely in the end due to Schmidt being the better selection. But at the time it wasn't the arguments going on.

There's no doubt he had a great year last year on the SC winning team. I just don't use that as a valid argument he's a starter here. How many backups from powerhouses went on to do nothing? Look at Bernier, Darling, Neuvirth (partially due to injury), Lindback... I bet it's a big list.

 

[Ivan13]

No one will select a goalie who could be a starter soon but is still a little bit away (especially with MAF available) when they can pick a clear-cut top 4 D with room to grow in Schmidt. I certainly don't remember anyone saying he is awful, even though he did have a bit of a down year leading up to the draft posting a below 92% mark for the only time in his career.

PS

I am not saying he is a clear-cut future starter, or amazing, but to write him off because he has been uneven in 18 games playing on a team that is playing like hot garbage for a good part of a month is patently absurd after how he looked in the past.

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

I am not saying he is a clear-cut future starter, or amazing, but to write him off because he has been uneven in 18 games playing on a team that is playing like hot garbage for a good part of a month is patently absurd after how he looked in the past.

Personally, I was skeptical before the season started watching his goaltending form. I'm even more skeptical after his performance across 18 games, he's not even really had a good streak. Just sporadically good games. Grub has had significantly more 3+ goal games as a percentage of starts than Varly and people don't even see Varly as the future here.

Again, I hope he proves me wrong. And this isn't targeted at you in particular Ivan. I just don't believe in Grub being a playoff goaltender. Especially not behind our defense.

 

[Perratrooper]

Quick game notes:
- thought have the goals Grubs let in were pretty damn weak
- Rantanen had a really rough night: pucks bouncing off his, missing passes and overall poor decision making
- Kerfoot actually looked like he wanted to win the game in third and started creating a ton of chances
- We player an absolutely horrible defensive game
- It seems the only time we try is in the third period when the other team goes into turtle mode, we need more effort for 60 minutes especially when we have such a god awful OT record
- Franc looked more calm than Varly and bigger and more agile than Grub. Super small sample size, but I’d love to see more.

 

[shadow1]

I want to see Francouz get a start. He’s looked very polished and poised in both his relief appearances.

As for Grubauer, I was never very high on him, but I feel like I’m much higher on him now than most fans are. He’s pretty much your modern day Ken Wregget. He’s a low end starter who you can get by with if the rest of the team is stacked, but otherwise he’s best served as a 1b/backup.

And I know Grubauer had great numbers last season, but look what playing for Barry Trotz has done for the Islanders goalies this year.

 

[Foppberg]

I'm fully in support of giving Frank a real shot.

 

[klozge]

I'm fully in support of giving Frank a real shot.

Avs would be stupid not to imo.

 

[chet1926]

Watching the replays of the goals, the ones that went in against Grubauer by Kane and Donskoi weren’t really on him. Barrie has the turnover that led to Kane’s goal, and Donskoi shot the puck in off of Dries’s stick. That being said, I’d love to see Francouz actually start a game here. He’s been great in his relief showings and we might as well see what we have in him.

That Kane goal was trash. Can't get beat to that side on that play. Even the broadcasters called him out for that. Calling it The "AHL side". He lost his angle and gave Kane an easy target.

 

[HartKinnon]

I am not saying he is a clear-cut future starter, or amazing, but to write him off because he has been uneven in 18 games playing on a team that is playing like hot garbage for a good part of a month is patently absurd after how he looked in the past.

I would like to know what you are seeing in Grubauer that makes you believe he could be starting goalie for Avs? His lateral movement is slow, has a bad rebound control, zero core strenght, has trouble locating puck through traffic and his positioning is questionable many times. He had a nice stretch with Capitals but so did Bernier with Avs last season. He is like Bernier 2.0.

 

[Papa Francouz]

That Kane goal was trash. Can't get beat to that side on that play. Even the broadcasters called him out for that. Calling it The "AHL side". He lost his angle and gave Kane an easy target.

Was it a weak goal? Sure. I won’t argue that. Was it all Grubauer’s fault? Not at all. Barrie was first on the puck, got it stolen from him behind the net, and nobody covered Kane while he was skating out in front. If our primary puck moving defenseman didn’t handle the puck like a grenade on that play, Kane wouldn’t have even had a chance to make that shot attempt.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

Caps were a pretty damn good team and he lost the net as soon as they actually needed good goaltending because teams play a bit harder in the playoffs. He just isn't a goalie you can rely on. It's a shame because I've been waiting for a German to be on this team ever since Krupp played here but he's not good enough.

Just an FYI, if you actually look at the numbers in the regular season last year, the Caps were not good defensively. Gave up a lot of chances.

Also, I’ll continue to say it, but Girard is a problem right now. Teams are forechecking him hard and he’s coughing it up. He also feels like he has to make a highlight reel pass too often. Really needs to start keeping it simple.

I’ve liked Graves so far, but I’m still not sold. He’s getting sheltered like crazy. Definitely need a bigger sample size there. I’m also not sold on his skating at all but he’s playing fearless which is nice.

 

[Iceberg]

Just an FYI, if you actually look at the numbers in the regular season last year, the Caps were not good defensively. Gave up a lot of chances.

Also, I’ll continue to say it, but Girard is a problem right now. Teams are forechecking him hard and he’s coughing it up. He also feels like he has to make a highlight reel pass too often. Really needs to start keeping it simple.

I’ve liked Graves so far, but I’m still not sold. He’s getting sheltered like crazy. Definitely need a bigger sample size there. I’m also not sold on his skating at all but he’s playing fearless which is nice.

I agree about Girard, i wouldn't mind Zadorov getting his place once he returns.

 

[Ararana]

I can't believe we've been playing like such shit and we're still tied for third in the Central.

 

[chet1926]

Was it a weak goal? Sure. I won’t argue that. Was it all Grubauer’s fault? Not at all. Barrie was first on the puck, got it stolen from him behind the net, and nobody covered Kane while he was skating out in front. If our primary puck moving defenseman didn’t handle the puck like a grenade on that play, Kane wouldn’t have even had a chance to make that shot attempt.

No doubts that Barrie blew it as well, but that's the type of play your goalie needs to make to help his teammate out.

 

[Papa Francouz]

No doubts that Barrie blew it as well, but that's the type of play your goalie needs to make to help his teammate out.

Can’t argue with that. Guess I see it more as Barrie’s error than Grubauer’s, is all.

 

[henchman21]

I see and understand why people don't want to turn to Grubauer right now... he hasn't earned the starting spot and has only had glimmers of hope. Nothing sustained. I believe the point of the people saying Grubauer needs to be given a shot comes down to believing and seeing that Varly isn't the answer. When Varly is on his game, he is a top flight NHL goalie... we all know that. What we see is there is an inconsistency to his game that can be rough, but further beyond that, Varly has a pretty lengthy injury history dating before he arrived in Colorado and has continued here. You look back at the list of lower body injuries he has had, and it becomes quite lengthy. This year he is out now. Last season he missed the end of the season and playoffs for one that wasn't anyway his fault, but missed. He also missed 10 games in the middle of the season to a groin. The season before was most of the year. 14-15 and 15-16 he had off and on issues forcing the Avs to Pickard and Berra. So this isn't a Varly vs Gru sort of thing... this is figuring out who Gru is so the Avs can figure out how to attack the issue long term. It might be Gru runs with it. It might end up Frank running with it. It might end up that the Avs have to find another outside player. It might end up that the Avs try to figure out something with Varly. But they need to start going down that list and understanding their current options before the go after outside options. Varly has been here for 8 seasons now, they know the story on him.

 

[chet1926]

I see and understand why people don't want to turn to Grubauer right now... he hasn't earned the starting spot and has only had glimmers of hope. Nothing sustained. I believe the point of the people saying Grubauer needs to be given a shot comes down to believing and seeing that Varly isn't the answer. When Varly is on his game, he is a top flight NHL goalie... we all know that. What we see is there is an inconsistency to his game that can be rough, but further beyond that, Varly has a pretty lengthy injury history dating before he arrived in Colorado and has continued here. You look back at the list of lower body injuries he has had, and it becomes quite lengthy. This year he is out now. Last season he missed the end of the season and playoffs for one that wasn't anyway his fault, but missed. He also missed 10 games in the middle of the season to a groin. The season before was most of the year. 14-15 and 15-16 he had off and on issues forcing the Avs to Pickard and Berra. So this isn't a Varly vs Gru sort of thing... this is figuring out who Gru is so the Avs can figure out how to attack the issue long term. It might be Gru runs with it. It might end up Frank running with it. It might end up that the Avs have to find another outside player. It might end up that the Avs try to figure out something with Varly. But they need to start going down that list and understanding their current options before the go after outside options. Varly has been here for 8 seasons now, they know the story on him.

I think you nailed it. We know what Varly brings. So far Grubauer has been very average. I think it should be Frank's turn to show us what he's got.

I think at the beginning of the year the hope was for Grubauer to prove to be a number 1 so we could move on from Varly. I think it has now shifted to we just want the two best guys in here next season. If that is Varly and Grubauer then great. If that's Grubauer and Frank great. It could even be Varly and Frank or Frank and a different person.

I don't think Sakic much cares, he just wants consistency from the position. He knows he can resign Varly at a reasonable rate if he needs to. He also knows that he could probably move either one of Varly or Grubauer if that's what is best.

At the end of the day he is going to find a combo that works.

 

[Balthazar]

Grubauer needs considerably more time before we decide he isn't going to be our future starter. We just invested quite a bit into him (2nd round pick, Orpik's buyout, 3-year contract), it would be quite dumb to decide now that he isn't our guy.

 

[UncleRisto]

Avs are never winning a game again. Shades of years previous.

 

[Papa Francouz]

Avs are never winning a game again. Shades of years previous.

Can we at least beat Ottawa in their barn?