Schwarz 3 times. Montoya dozen of times. Dubnyk twice.
Most NHL ready goaltender at the moment is likely Schwarz IMO. He's been facing grown men in the Czech elite league, not to mention he's the quickest goaltender.
Although some well say Montoya plays more of a NHL game compared to Schwarz, witch is true, it comes down to if he can stop the puck, and right now Schwarz is the #1 guy out of all three with little second thought. But I think the gap between Schwarz and Montoya is not as big as most think it out to be. I think Montoya is a better goaltender prospect then most of you are giving him credit for.
I still think Montoya's upside is getting dogged in this thread. I expect him to be a better goaltender then Dubnyk down the road. IMO here is the basics of these guys.
Marek Schwarz: Simply put, the best goaltender, I love his agressiveness, his confidence, coolness, his head for the game, most of all though it's his reflexes. He makes alot of saves he shouldn't. He's a big game goaltender, plays best when his teams needs him to. The way he plays out so far on his angles and still kicks the puck to the corner some times blows me away. He is going to be a star. He'll make some bone headed plays trying to handle the puck likely, but he'll make up for it by stealing games and making saves he shouldn't ever have. The thing that worries me about Schwarz is that he seems to aggressive at times, and his style could lead to some troubles in the NHL. No one can deny his reflexes, and amazing lateral movement. He can make saves that no other goalie can but untill he learns to keep the simple saves simple, and use the least amount of movement possible, he'll get burned for rebounds and by the playmakers there are in the NHL. Still, no one can teach what he has, and the things he needs to work on can be in fact..Worked on....A good goaltender coach and patience could warp Schwarz into an absolute star in the NHL.
Alvaro Montoya: I love this guy as a prospect and dont' get me wrong, I think we'll be seeing him in a few all star games in his career possibly. What sets Montoya apart from the other three is his mental composer, along with his all around well knowing of how to be a pro goaltender. He's extremely competitive and LOVES THE BIG GAMES. He reminds me so much of Marty Turco it's almost scarey. In fact he's better then Marty was back in the mid 90's. I have seen him play alot in Michigan then I saw him play the WJC's. He's more of a calm and smart goaltender compared to Schwarz, witch well help his chances in the NHL. I think Schwarz needs to calm down his agressivness at times, where as Montoya is the kind of goalie that well make saves look simple and stick to what he's supposed to do. He seems to be a well coached goaltender, when I watch him, he always grades well, he really seems to know what he's supposed to do in every situation. He's got this composer and calmness that really helps out his defenders. They never have to worry about what he's going to do or what he wants you to. The way he thinks the game is very underated, and well help him alot.
Devan seems to be a Brian Burke carboard cut out. Although he seems to be alot more straite to the shooter on the angles. He doesn't have the lateral movement of the other two, witch he needs to work on, but he's no slouch, he's got quick hands, and really is a fundamentally sound goaltender. I saw him in one game completely steal the game. So he can steal a game for you much like his two partners.
All three goalies grade out very well when I watch them and I project all three to make the bigs.
Some people may say i'm two high on all three, but this draft was great for goaltenders, just because there is no hype train like Fleury had last year, and the fact that aside from goaltenders this was a average draft year, shouldn't take away from three great prospects and the fact that it was one subpurb goaltender class. I expect big things from Montoya and Schwarz, and I wouldn't be least surprised to see Dubnyk put together a very succesfull career for him self.
What's also funny about these three goaltenders is the similarities they share with some great goaltenders. Marek Schwarz is very much like Hasek, Montoya is very much like Mike Richter, I mean Montoya just seems to be born to play for the Rangers. Also a very good goaltender in Sean Burke compares well to Devan Dubnyk.
This thread also doesn't point out the great goaltenders like Shantz, Glass, Peters, Greiss, Churchill, Brown ect. ect. who were selected in this draft.
