He was never mentioned in the threads/replies I was posting to so I’ll accept your apology.
Have you seen HL’s playoff stats? Give it a look before commenting. Did they go deep the last time they made it? NO, that was after they failed in their window of opportunity. Then they dismantled for a rebuild over the next few years. Last time they made playoffs no one expected much. But the 3/4 year they went to conference and Stanley cup finals was their window.. Maybe look at actual numbers before you reply.
As for significant improvements to win a cup... what would you change about your D? Probably not much right? What about offence? 3rd line C? Still not significant. 2 inexperienced goalies... hmm maybe a veteran who is one of the best to play, kinda like Roy in his final years, would be a solid insurance plan given that grubuaer is suspect still. Question is, do you have cap space? YES! Why not take that insurance policy? It’s cheap. I mean the issue is HL may not waive the NTC but if average 28 year olds are your thing then so be it. It will only cost us 750k more to buy out and lose out on a mid draft pick.. He may even retire knowing we are putting the rookies ahead of him.. Just to be clear, HL won’t carry an average team far in playoffs but those cup contenders out there he would be just fine in the pipes. Rangers are a below average team. They are where they are because of D and penalties. But all our G have decent numbers.
1. HL hasn't been in the POs for a couple of seasons so his PO stats aren't highly relevant. I also don't follow the Rangers and given that fact, I'm not comfortable saying let's grab HL. And I don't completely trust stats either.
2. HL doesn't fit the Avs because of his age and contract. Then the Avs would have to go through the headache of dumping his contract next season. He's too expensive to keep as a back-up even if Francouz leaves. I don't want the Avs to inherit the Rangers problem to solve.
3. For the SC run, the Avs would do far better IMO acquiring a defensive D-man than HL. Then a 3C. I have consistently advocated for that since December for the 3C and even earlier as to the defensive D-man. Some would then advocate for a 1W (not me. I definitely don't want Kreider as a rental). Not many Avs fans would advocate signing a G much less HL. I might have agreed earlier this season when Grubauer was injured but that isn't the case now.
I concede the Avs' netminder(s) could be injured and then they would be in trouble. That's life. If you're calling the Avs goalies inexperienced in the POs then I don't know what to say to you.
4. Most importantly, I'm happy with Grubauer and Francouz and regard HL as extra baggage that's not needed or to be honest, wanted.
5. I don't view HL as an insurance policy. More like a headache.
6. If the Avs are using their cap space then I'd rather they try and help other teams make a trade deal and acquire some extra picks in the process.
7. Given the above, I think it's a terrible move for the Avs to acquire HL. It'd be a great move for the Rangers though. HL has got value but not to the Avs.
While I don't mean to be rude, the G PO performance that I remember watching was 2014 when Quick beat the Rangers. No doubt HL was great. But what I distinctly recall of PO performance was watching Martinez beat HL to win the SC. HL didn't win the SC. That's the bottom line. That's why what you wrote was obnoxious. So you'd do well to ease up on the PO performance shtick bit and stop acting like you know better than us what's good for us.
