Mrazek/Bernier or other?

[Moosetache]

since those are the two UFA's I'd be most interested in, please give me your thoughts on those options.

If you think "other", please say who and why.

Click to read more...

 

[Joe McGrath]

I’d rather have Ward than Mrazek. Bernier has been ass when asked to be an actual #1. Maybe he turned the corner last year?

 

[A Star is Burns]

I'm not particularly interested in either, but the options do appear to be limited. Mrazek definitely doesn't do much for me. Didn't at the deadline, and doesn't now. I'd be okay with Bernier in a platoon situation.

 

[Svechhammer]

f*** no on Mrazek. He was poo in Philly after his trade. We put him and Darling together, and we're straight up challenging for 2019 1OA.

 

[bleedgreen]

Bernier is a flat out no. Just not good enough. Mrazek has moments and if here’s no one else I’d give him a shot but I’d hardly be chasing him.

 

[FreshSeabass]

If i had to make a list of goalies id like right now Varlamov, Hutton, Bernier, Halak, Mrazek. Would like varlamov but the injury history is concerning.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Not Mrazek.

Bernier kicks the can down the road (certainly won’t be our starter for the next 3-5 years), but if that’s all we can manage that’s fine.

I’m curious if we are actually looking to solve the goaltending problem this offseason, or just find an acceptable, below league average but not league-worst stopgap. The market would suggest we are going for the latter. Grubauer would’ve been an attempt at the former, other than that I see a lot of guys that would be the latter.

That said, coming off of 11 years of the same goalie, maybe I need to change my expectations. Not every franchise does the whole “find your goalie for the next 5 years” thing. Maybe we are the next franchise in the Philadelphia, Winnipeg, St Louis, Calgary mold to just awkwardly keep trading Brian Elliott and Steve Mason to each other.

(And, compared to what we’ve gotten from our goaltending the last three years, I’ll take that.)

 

[Moosetache]

statistical note: Mrazek has a career .9111 sv % and Bernier is at .914

.914 would have had us like a freaking 4 seed last year.

 

[Moosetache]

I agree with what most of you are saying....but I'm just not sure there are better FA options out there. I like Varly too, but hes not a FA. I understand he can probably be had, but I was trying to simplify this at least a little.

 

[Stickpucker]

I like Mrazek as a 2nd goalie. I still think he has a lot of talent I'd he can put it all together.

Lehner
Halak
Mrazek

Are my 3 goalie target s assuming Darling is moved out.

 

[Svechhammer]

That said, coming off of 11 years of the same goalie, maybe I need to change my expectations. Not every franchise does the whole “find your goalie for the next 5 years” thing. Maybe we are the next franchise in the Philadelphia, Winnipeg, St Louis, Calgary mold to just awkwardly keep trading Brian Elliott and Steve Mason to each other.

(And, compared to what we’ve gotten from our goaltending the last three years, I’ll take that.)

Assuming Slavin and Pesce continue their growth, and knowing we're bringing in Hamilton to create an excellent defensive core for at least the next 3 seasons, I think we could end up being one of those franchises that makes a goalie look a lot better than he might actually be, based on the play in front of him. You know about the struggles of a team like Philly and Winnipeg over the long haul because their defense routinely hung their goalie out to dry, and with a subpar player in net, things went to shit. Its no coincidence the second that Philly shored up its D (at least for a brief time) with Pronger, they were able to ride Michael Leighton to Game 6 OT of the Stanley Cup Finals.

I think that's the angle we're taking right now. Can't fix the goalie overnight, well then time to make everything in front of him such a nightmare to get through that all you need is a goalie who can make the routine save.

 

[DougieSmash]

I prefer to put Thomas f***in Vanek in the net than give Lehner/Bernier contract.

 

[Moosetache]

I like Mrazek as a 2nd goalie. I still think he has a lot of talent I'd he can put it all together.

Lehner
Halak
Mrazek

Are my 3 goalie target s assuming Darling is moved out.

I have no interest in Halak whatsoever....or Lehtonen for that matter. I forgot about Lehner honestly.

 

[FreshSeabass]

Let's retread Khudobin

 

[Mike1167]

Saw Mrazek play several times for Philly this season. He's either really good or really bad. Certainly wouldn't want him as a #1. Too inconsistent.

 

[MinJaBen]

If we aren’t trading for a goalie, I’d start with Hutton, then Lehner.

 

[DaveG]

trade for Varlamov, sign Hutton or re-sign Ward to back him up, Darling to back up Helvig for the Everblades.

 

[GoldiFox]

trade for Varlamov, sign Hutton or re-sign Ward to back him up, Darling to back up Helvig for the Everblades.

Yeah all these options make me queasy. It is sad that my preferable options at this point are Varlamov or Anderson. At least these guys have actually been a decent #1 at some point in their career.

 

[DaveG]

seriously though, rolling the dice on Halak may not be the worst idea when it comes to getting someone with experience. He's not an ideal #1 any more but with a quality backup we can get a good 50-55 games out of Halak.

 

[NotOpie]

Khudobin - because he can be most of a starter
Anderson - if, and only if, we can get him for super cheap asset-wise
Bernier - because he's been a bit below average starter in the past; not great but better that what we've had
Lehner - he's still young and maybe our defense will give him a bit more confidence
Hutton - only on a 2 year deal at most

I'm assuming that Ward or some other semi-reliable option is there as a back up.

I'd do exactly what Waddell said they were going to do, in that I'd bring in at least 3 tenders and let them battle royale it out for the starter and the back up position. I'd send the 3rd guy somewhere else...

 

[geehaad]

Assuming Slavin and Pesce continue their growth, and knowing we're bringing in Hamilton to create an excellent defensive core for at least the next 3 seasons, I think we could end up being one of those franchises that makes a goalie look a lot better than he might actually be, based on the play in front of him. You know about the struggles of a team like Philly and Winnipeg over the long haul because their defense routinely hung their goalie out to dry, and with a subpar player in net, things went to ****. Its no coincidence the second that Philly shored up its D (at least for a brief time) with Pronger, they were able to ride Michael Leighton to Game 6 OT of the Stanley Cup Finals.

I think that's the angle we're taking right now. Can't fix the goalie overnight, well then time to make everything in front of him such a nightmare to get through that all you need is a goalie who can make the routine save.

The addition of Hamilton has done very little to give CAR a better defensive defense. Pronger? LOL

If they keep Slavin and Pesce together, and bring in a quality defensive defenseman to play with Hamilton, then you *might* have what you're looking for. Even then, the goaltender will still need to be at least average...there's just no getting around that.

 

[geehaad]

Don't we already have a goaltending thread?

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

This is not the year to be in search for a starting goalie. All that's out there are 1B types, at best. I'm becoming increasingly convinced that there's only one potential solution in net for this franchise next season: Nedeljkovic. On an optimistic note, I think he's the perfect stylistic fit if the defensive system is similar. I'd like to see him given a real look this time around if the goalies falter.

Keep the future books clean-ish and re-sign Ward for 1 year. He's the one solid goalie I can see doing that with this franchise.

Put Darling on a short leash and I mean short. If he's sub-.900 in mid-October, swap him out with Nedeljkovic.

Ward
Darling/Nedeljkovic

Nedeljkovic/Booth/Helvig
Darling/Booth/Helvig

Booth/Helvig
ECHL Back-up

 

[WreckingCrew]

This is not the year to be in search for a starting goalie. All that's out there are 1B types, at best. I'm becoming increasingly convinced that there's only one potential solution in net for this franchise next season: Nedeljkovic. On an optimistic note, I think he's the perfect stylistic fit if the defensive system is similar. I'd like to see him given a real look this time around if the goalies falter.

Keep the future books clean-ish and re-sign Ward for 1 year. He's the one solid goalie I can see doing that with this franchise.

Put Darling on a short leash and I mean short. If he's sub-.900 in mid-October, swap him out with Nedeljkovic.

Ward
Darling/Nedeljkovic

Nedeljkovic/Booth/Helvig
Darling/Booth/Helvig

Booth/Helvig
ECHL Back-up

Ned showed some solid improvement in the AHL last year, but was still pretty inconsistent...he was either >.920 or <.900, little in between. IMO, if there's ANY chance of him making the NHL in the future, you let him continue to develop in the AHL vs bringing him up to the NHL before he's ready and potentially destroying his confidence

 

[FlyingSquirrels]

For the love of God, can we please just move on from Cam Ward? We cannot solve our issues with a franchise icon looking over anyone's shoulder.