I think it is pretty obvious that goaltending should be addressed AFTER solidifying a solid defensive group, as a solid defensive group can make any goaltender look good. We've had the discussion about Vegas playing a system that helps their goaltenders out. Let's start there and see what we have in the roster before looking.
Hellebucyk, despite being in my eyes the most talented goaltender in the NHL hasn't won shit with Winnipeg because their D is almost as bad as ours. We wouldn't win with Hellebucyk either. Defence first.
This is the truth. One essential ingredient that all good goaltenders possess in commonality is they perform at their pinnacle when the team's defensive structure causes the shots on goal, in volume, to be familiar in placement and timing. This is an easily explainable phenomenon because defense in hockey is a set of routines. Anyone who becomes exceptional at something does so because of repetitively under like conditions.
The goaltender for a great team, a contender, needs to know what to expect and when to expect it. First a strong defensive system must be installed and practiced until it becomes a routine for the team. Then the saves will become routine for the goaltender. This can only occur when the proper defensive structure is put in place for a goaltender to thrive in. Meaning, the conditions, for the most part, can be repeated every shift.
Notwithstanding the depth of the defense corps, even shots from higher danger areas, are controllable when a full team defense works efficiently. As long as the team performs their defensive routines alike every single shift. The goaltender will have the advantage.
The goaltender will be sharp and ready for the eventual exceptional scoring chances because the bulk of scoring opportunities, which are not outstanding, become routine saves. Until the rare occurrences of grade A scoring opportunities arise, the majority of saves are conventional. Throughout a game the vast majority of the saves will be routine and when the goaltender faces a difficult shot the goaltender will have a greater chance of making that save because the goaltender will be in a grove.
That's what high level coaching is all about. That's where Woodcroft failed the Oilers goaltending against the Vegas Golden Knights, and to an extent, the LA kings. Skinner looked dreadful at times but most goalies would with the absolute lack of structure the Edmonton Oilers demonstrated.
The video evidence is out there to consume and critique. Every Oiler fan has the opportunity to delve into the Oilers defensive breakdowns and scrutinize over what went wrong.
This is where Nurse should be criticized. From one end Nurse makes the defensive mistakes, and from the other end Nurse has not been properly coached. Nurse fails at the defensive fundamentals. He needs to perfect the defensive fundamentals, then make them routine.
If Woodcroft and his coaching staff cannot instill the fundamentals into the Oilers 9.25M defenseman than another coaching staff needs to replace Woodcroft and company to transfuse those defensive fundamentals into Nurse's game.
I cannot see what difficulties there would be for Nurse correcting his fundamentals beyond his own personal stubbornness and the weakness of the coaching staff to make Nurse adhere to the proper fundamentals.
A good defensive team not only takes a physical toll on the opposition, they come to psychologically own them. When a team puts on a defensive clinic the game becomes clockwork for the goaltender. The saves the goaltender faces in practice metamorphose into the saves the goaltender faces during series deciding games.
