Is Chad Johnson the real deal? A legit starter?

[Fig]

Hes a great back up and jealous Calgary got him. He was best one on the market. Hes on a hot streak right now but even his career average numbers are still good.

If Calgary was smart theyd dump Elliott and go with Johnston. Or atleast ride Johnston this year for 40 more games and see if hes legit and make decision after that

Talbot was 27 when he was putting up insane numbers with Rangers and people thought he could be flash in the pan. Came to Edmonton and has been a dynamite #1 ever since, so for Johnson it could happen as well

I think Elliott will rebound. That's still not to say we might not go with him long term, but I doubt we unceremoniously play hot potato with him. We do need to pay the Blues a 3rd if he re-signs with us.

CJ + MAF or Bishop or (Insert legit starter here) would be slick though. I am also happy to see GG's system start to take shape.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Talbot had great numbers with the Rangers his entire tenure there, and played great when he got more games in his 2nd season(when Hank got injured), so I wouldn't exactly call him "coming out of nowhere" unless it's in regards to not being drafted.

How is thst different from Johnson's stints in the past?

 

[ManofSteel55]

Remember when people laughed at me when I said he's at least as good as Cam Talbot?

And they should have. Johnson is one of the best backups in the NHL. Talbot has been a top 10ish starter this year, and was a legitimate starter last year as well.

 

[thepuckmonster]

He's a very good back up but starter? I'mma go with a no from me, dawg.

He just looks way better because the expectations for him are way lower than a normal starter.

 

[ManofSteel55]

How is thst different from Johnson's stints in the past?

Johnson has been streaky in the past. Has a stretch of amazing play, then cools off. Then heats up again. Talbot doesn't really do that, aside from a struggle early last year that he corrected. Consistency is the big difference between the two. If Johnson played on the top of his game all the time, I have no doubt that he could be a very good starter. I expect he will cool off eventually though.

 

[madmike77]

Hes a great back up and jealous Calgary got him. He was best one on the market. Hes on a hot streak right now but even his career average numbers are still good.

If Calgary was smart theyd dump Elliott and go with Johnston. Or atleast ride Johnston this year for 40 more games and see if hes legit and make decision after that

Talbot was 27 when he was putting up insane numbers with Rangers and people thought he could be flash in the pan. Came to Edmonton and has been a dynamite #1 ever since, so for Johnson it could happen as well

This is pretty much what the Flames are doing. Johnson has been the clear starter the past couple of weeks and will likely remain the starter until he cools off.

I still think Elliott will play better than he has to this point. He's had a handful of very good starts. But he also seems to be good for one soft goal a game and those are killers.

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Johnson has been streaky in the past. Has a stretch of amazing play, then cools off. Then heats up again. Talbot doesn't really do that, aside from a struggle early last year that he corrected. Consistency is the big difference between the two. If Johnson played on the top of his game all the time, I have no doubt that he could be a very good starter. I expect he will cool off eventually though.

Johnson had exactly one season (4+ NHL GP) with a SV℅ below .919 - the season where the Islanders' goalie coaches asked him to change his style to a more aggressive one.

 

[Aceboogie]

I think Elliott will rebound. That's still not to say we might not go with him long term, but I doubt we unceremoniously play hot potato with him. We do need to pay the Blues a 3rd if he re-signs with us.

CJ + MAF or Bishop or (Insert legit starter here) would be slick though. I am also happy to see GG's system start to take shape.

Thatd be a solid tandem

itll be interesting to see what Calgary and Las Vegas does. CJ is a free agent at the end of this season IIRC so Las vegas could sign him as FA and wont cost them a pick up from a team(they only get 1). Does Calgary wait to resign them till after draft; or resign the better option? or resign both and expose the worse option and have that goalie be their expansion draft player chosen

I am a believer in Johnson tho, selfishly wish Vegas steals him away or Oilers sign him. He is a legit great back up and break out potential

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

I don't know if he's a starter but I am interested to see what his next contract is because he's getting PAID

Reimer got 3.4X5 Johnson gets that AT LEAST

also makes me interested in Ellott's next deal see what that brings because he hasn't delivered as expected

 

[BostonBruins11]

He's the real deal, but it's a long season. A .930 is unsustainable for just about any human unless they are Carey Price, who is probably not even a human. Elliott's struggles are just as unsustainable.

I'm glad to have some goaltending this year though.

Tuukka Rask had 2 seasons with .930% + .....

Tim Thomas had 2 seasons with .933% +....

Dominik Hasek had 5!! seasons with .930% +

overall there has been 24 seasons where a goalie has achieved a .930% + (and price only has 1)

so yeah it's definitely possible

 

[Kahvi]

He won't keep up with his current pace, thats obvious, but at the moment I just sit back and enjoy great goaltending.

 

[DarrenBanks56]

Im still trying to figure out how he kept pastrnaks backhand out of the net last week. That save was just unreal

 

[HarrySPlinkett]

He's a very good back up but starter? I'mma go with a no from me, dawg.

He just looks way better because the expectations for him are way lower than a normal starter.

This doesn't make any sense. What do expectations have to do with how well Johnson has played?

Elliott was expected to be the starter - he's 3-9-1 with a 3.31 GAA and an .885 sv%.

Johnson is 8-4-1 with a 2.06 GAA and sv% of .930.

He's salvaged the Flames season at this point. Is he a true starter? I guess we'll find out.

I do cringe when I see people throwing Price's name around when discussing him though - a better comparable for Chad would be Martin Jones, and that's mostly stylistic.

He's got the job for now. Hope he doesn't give it back.

Finally, some other goalies who didn't get their chance to start until way later:

Tim Thomas - 32
Miikka Kiprusoff -27
Domenik Hasek - 28

Goalies figure it out at different times - Dubnyk is only 30 himself and he wasn't good until he was pushing 28.

 

[HarrySPlinkett]

Tuukka Rask had 2 seasons with .930% + .....

Tim Thomas had 2 seasons with .933% +....

Dominik Hasek had 5!! seasons with .930% +

overall there has been 24 seasons where a goalie has achieved a .930% + (and price only has 1)

so yeah it's definitely possible

But not probable.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Guess we'll find out.

I will say this is as comfortable I've been with a Flames goaltender in a long time. Just seems like not much phases him.

 

[Dust]

Johnny goes down and it looks like the Flames might be headed for disaster and it's worked out pretty good for them. He's righted the ship.

 

[Kronwalled8*]

In the history of the NHL, how many times has a career back up at age 30 suddenly become a starter?

Think about that. Then think about sample size.

Fred Brathwaite.

 

[Insomniac99]

Of course he is. He was solid in Buffalo too.

 

[FerrisRox]

Dubnyk
Talbot
Bishop
Anderson

I'm not saying it'll happen, but get real.

Surely you realize that none of the goalies you listed were "aging backups" as the original poster stated, right?

Devan Dubnyk was an NHL starter at 25.

Cam Talbot had just two seasons in the league under his belt and was 26 years old when he became a starter.

Bishop was 26 years old and had just 36 games of NHL experience when he was dealt to Tampa Bay and became their starter.

Anderson meanwhile became a starter at 27 years old with the Avalanche after four seasons as a back up. Is that you're example of "an aging back up?" Because if it is, it's certainly not a good one.

 

[Man of Principles]

You know, people keep saying he's a career backup but he keeps winning games. The guy was good in Boston, good in Buffalo and good in Calgary.

 

[sabrebuild]

Good goalie. His cap makes him a fantastic value. I think he has been hot lately, but even his average play is decent.

 

[JT Kreider]

How the hell is this guy playing this lights out. He's been one of the best goalies in the league the last month. Maybe even the best.

Outside of Price but that's a given

 

[Kronwalled8*]

Sportsnet crew have been talking about Johnson a lot the past few days and quite a few of the guys there truly believe Johnson is a legit starter.

 

[Bleedred]

I think he's just on a hot streak. He's not as good as he's been the past month and Elliott isn't as bad as he's been this season.

Although this must be pretty embarrassing for Elliott, Johnson is outplaying him astronomically right now and they've played the same number of games.

 

[Kronwalled8*]

Another impressive win by Johnson tonight. The guy has remarkable patience.