Whats the deal with Varlamov?

[varano]

I like to keep in touch with other teams in the league and I don't really get to see many colorado games.

When I read the posts, it seems like Varlamov is a whipping boy but his numbers last season were pretty good and this season he has the best numbers of the colorado goalies.

Why does he get so much flack from the fanbase?

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[Pierce Hawthorne]

He's massively inconsistent. He'll put up a 10 game stretch where he looks like Patrick Roy came out of retirement.


Then hell put up another 10 game stretch that makes David Aebischer look like a Vezina candidate.


It averages out to make his numbers look decent but the reality is he's wildly inconsistent and thus can't be truly reliable on a nightly basis.


Grubauer will have better numbers by seasons end if I were to guess.

 

[varano]

He's massively inconsistent. He'll put up a 10 game stretch where he looks like Patrick Roy came out of retirement.


Then hell put up another 10 game stretch that makes David Aebischer look like a Vezina candidate.


It averages out to make his numbers look decent but the reality is he's wildly inconsistent and thus can't be truly reliable on a nightly basis.


Grubauer will have better numbers by seasons end if I were to guess.

I think theres only about three or four really consistent goalies in the league. Then 15-20 average goalies, then 5-7 just terrible goalies.

I feel like varlamov is in the middle there. I was blown away to see a 920 save percentage last year.. Had no idea.. and those tend to be elite numbers.

 

[klozge]

I like to keep in touch with other teams in the league and I don't really get to see many colorado games.

When I read the posts, it seems like Varlamov is a whipping boy but his numbers last season were pretty good and this season he has the best numbers of the colorado goalies.

Why does he get so much flack from the fanbase?

I don't think he does. And he shouldn't.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

I think theres only about three or four really consistent goalies in the league. Then 15-20 average goalies, then 5-7 just terrible goalies.

I feel like varlamov is in the middle there. I was blown away to see a 920 save percentage last year.. Had no idea.. and those tend to be elite numbers.

Over the course of a full 82 game season he puts up solid numbers.


But I'd rather have a goalie who over the course of 20 games will allow 2 or 3 goals in 18/20 of those games and puts up just one major stinker(5+) and has 1 shutout. I'd rather that goalie over Varlamov who in a 20 game stretch probably has 10 games where he allows 2-3 goals, but then 5 games where he let's in 5+ and 5 games allowing 0-1 goals.


Goalie A gives your team a legit chance to win every night. Varlamov doesn't even give you a chance in 25% of the games he plays.


It's why I suspect the Avs brought Grubauer in and why he'll hopefully take over the starters role very soon. Consistency.

 

[klozge]

Over the course of a full 82 game season he puts up solid numbers.


But I'd rather have a goalie who over the course of 20 games will allow 2 or 3 goals in 18/20 of those games and puts up just one major stinker(5+) and has 1 shutout. I'd rather that goalie over Varlamov who in a 20 game stretch probably has 10 games where he allows 2-3 goals, but then 5 games where he let's in 5+ and 5 games allowing 0-1 goals.


Goalie A gives your team a legit chance to win every night. Varlamov doesn't even give you a chance in 25% of the games he plays.


It's why I suspect the Avs brought Grubauer in and why he'll hopefully take over the starters role very soon. Consistency.

Ridiculous

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Ridiculous

How is that ridiculous?


You really dont want to answer that question fyi. I'll throw out the stats to quiet you very quickly.

 

[varano]

I don't think he does. And he shouldn't.

I just flip through some of the threads and you see comments like "I hope sakic trades him", "Grubauer deserves the net", etc....

 

[Iracundia]

I just flip through some of the threads and you see comments like "I hope sakic trades him", "Grubauer deserves the net", etc....

You should have seen some of the MacKinnon comments a couple years ago

 

[klozge]

I just flip through some of the threads and you see comments like "I hope sakic trades him", "Grubauer deserves the net", etc....

That's not the fanbase, though. It's a few people on HF Boards.

 

[klozge]

How is that ridiculous?


You really dont want to answer that question fyi. I'll throw out the stats to quiet you very quickly.

It's ridiculous because it's wrong. I don't need your stats, I'm watching the games.

 

[UncleRisto]

Varlamov's game-by-game saves percentage fluctuates from .950+ to sub .890 from game to game.

 

[Foppberg]

Injuries. Can be inconsistent at times, also has a habit of playing amazing but then giving up a softie.

Personally I love him and appreciate what he's done for us over the years. But there's definitely some who think he's average at best, which is laughable.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

It's ridiculous because it's wrong. I don't need your stats, I'm watching the games.

In 23 games so far this year he's allowed 4+ goals in 6 of them, and was pulled after allowing 3 in 30 minutes in a 7th game, well over 25% and almost 1/3 of the games. You gonna try and tell me that allowing 4 goals still gives the team a real chance to win?


And like I said it's not just this year either. In 48 starts last year he allowed 4+ goals in 12 of them. And another two games where he allowed 3 in half a game.


The year before that it was 4+ goals in 10/23 games.


So yeah, in 25% of games hes not even giving the Avs a fair chance to win.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

For the record I dont dislike Varly by any means. I think he has a great personality, seems to be quite well liked in the dressing room and the fan base in general seem to like him a lot. I would also attribute a large part of why the Avs have become a very Russian friendly team to Varly and the positive experiences we've had with him since he joined us and the mentor role he seems to have taken on with the young Russian players we've brought in(As remember, before getting Varly the Avs almost never drafted or traded for Russian players and now we do it more than any other team in the league pretty much).


His numbers are decent and I'm not suggesting hes a trash goalie by any means. But the numbers have shown for a very long time now that he is simply inconsistent and me personally I would prefer a goalie who doesn't have the same highs as what Varly can have, but also doesn't experience the same lows as Varly does either. And I hope and believe Grubauer or Francouz(Frankie is honestly who my money is on) will provide that improved consistency going forward.


I think the "Trade Varlamov" camp arises more from people who can see the writing on the wall. Grubauer was not brought in to be a backup goalie for 3 more years. Otherwise he wouldn't have signed an extension with us and if he was ok being a backup he wouldn't have left Washington either.


Grubauer as of now is the plan for the future. And Francouz is the planned backup. Plans change but that's definitely how the Avs see it right now, despite what certain posters and their "sources" may suggest.

 

[CB Joe]

In 23 games so far this year he's allowed 4+ goals in 6 of them, and was pulled after allowing 3 in 30 minutes in a 7th game, well over 25% and almost 1/3 of the games. You gonna try and tell me that allowing 4 goals still gives the team a real chance to win?


And like I said it's not just this year either. In 48 starts last year he allowed 4+ goals in 12 of them. And another two games where he allowed 3 in half a game.


The year before that it was 4+ goals in 10/23 games.


So yeah, in 25% of games hes not even giving the Avs a fair chance to win.

Varlamov's game-by-game saves percentage fluctuates from .950+ to sub .890 from game to game.

What you're looking for doesn't exist this season. These are the top preforming goalies in the league this season and none of them are any different than Varlamov.

Varlamov: 5 games with 4+ goals and 7 sub.890% games.

Halak : 5 games with 4+ goals and 7 sub.890% games.
Gibson: 5 games with 4+ goals and 7 sub.890% games.
Vasilevskiy: 4 games with 4+ goals and 5 sub.890% games.
Rinne: 2 games with 4+ goals and 8 sub.890% games.
Bishop: 3 games with 4+ goals and 8 sub.890% games.
Andersen: 6 games with 4+ goals and 5 sub.890% games.
Rittich: 2 games with 4+ goals and 6 sub.890% games.

 

[UncleRisto]

What you're looking for doesn't exist this season. These are the top preforming goalies in the league this season and none of them are any different than Varlamov.

Varlamov: 5 games with 4+ goals and 7 sub.890% games.

Halak : 5 games with 4+ goals and 7 sub.890% games.
Gibson: 5 games with 4+ goals and 7 sub.890% games.
Vasilevskiy: 4 games with 4+ goals and 5 sub.890% games.
Rinne: 2 games with 4+ goals and 8 sub.890% games.
Bishop: 3 games with 4+ goals and 8 sub.890% games.
Andersen: 6 games with 4+ goals and 5 sub.890% games.
Rittich: 2 games with 4+ goals and 6 sub.890% games.

Fair enough.

I would say though, his injury proneness and perceived inconsistency, together with the goalie situation have brought us here. Remember, Roy is believed to have been very close to trading him way before, and that was pretty much due to the instability caused by his injuries.

 

[HartKinnon]

In 23 games so far this year he's allowed 4+ goals in 6 of them, and was pulled after allowing 3 in 30 minutes in a 7th game, well over 25% and almost 1/3 of the games. You gonna try and tell me that allowing 4 goals still gives the team a real chance to win?


And like I said it's not just this year either. In 48 starts last year he allowed 4+ goals in 12 of them. And another two games where he allowed 3 in half a game.


The year before that it was 4+ goals in 10/23 games.


So yeah, in 25% of games hes not even giving the Avs a fair chance to win.

Last season's Vezina winner Pekka Rinne allowed 4 or more goals in 11 of his 59 starts. If we extrapolate both goalies stats for full season Varly allows 4 or more goals 20 times and the number for Rinne is 15. Rinne plays in front of good defensive team and Varly plays in front of guys like Nemeth, Lindholm and Alt. Kind of useless stat in my opinion and it didn't make Varly seem so inconsistent like u guys are trying to argue.

 

[CB Joe]

Fair enough.

I would say though, his injury proneness and perceived inconsistency, together with the goalie situation have brought us here. Remember, Roy is believed to have been very close to trading him way before, and that was pretty much due to the instability caused by his injuries.

He was pretty notorious for slow starts but I never considered him to be inconsistent. Injuries are by far his biggest flaw and it's a fair criticism. Personally I can live with his injury problem because I think it's somewhat easy to protect against by having a good backup. Also because I've seen that Varly can carry a team on his back when he's on his game.

 

[Bonzai12]

so is Grubauer our starter now?

 

[The Abusement Park]

so is Grubauer our starter now?

He should be. He’s been pretty good the last few starts, I’d say.

 

[Piestany88]

Over the course of a full 82 game season he puts up solid numbers.


But I'd rather have a goalie who over the course of 20 games will allow 2 or 3 goals in 18/20 of those games and puts up just one major stinker(5+) and has 1 shutout. I'd rather that goalie over Varlamov who in a 20 game stretch probably has 10 games where he allows 2-3 goals, but then 5 games where he let's in 5+ and 5 games allowing 0-1 goals.


Goalie A gives your team a legit chance to win every night. Varlamov doesn't even give you a chance in 25% of the games he plays.


It's why I suspect the Avs brought Grubauer in and why he'll hopefully take over the starters role very soon. Consistency.

Yeah Grubauer is real consistent, consistently bad an no he won't put up better numbers than Varly at seasons end .

3.07 and .904 , and we are almost at half way through the season . And no he isnt taking over Varly for #1 . He was brought in to be a backup and his numbers indicate he isn't even good at that , even though he gets all the weak teams.

He might get 15 more starts at best unless Varly gets injured

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Last season's Vezina winner Pekka Rinne allowed 4 or more goals in 11 of his 59 starts. If we extrapolate both goalies stats for full season Varly allows 4 or more goals 20 times and the number for Rinne is 15. Rinne plays in front of good defensive team and Varly plays in front of guys like Nemeth, Lindholm and Alt. Kind of useless stat in my opinion and it didn't make Varly seem so inconsistent like u guys are trying to argue.

Surely you recognize the difference between 11 times in 59 games and 12 times in 48?

And it's not like even the best goalies are immune to bad games, they happen to everyone over the course of an 82 game season. The point is that for Varly they happen more often, which is what makes him more along the lines of an average starter then above average.



I'm also not sure I buy the defense argument either. Yes the Preds defense is better no question, I dont think it has a significant impact on goalie stats though. Especially not sv%.

 

[klozge]

For the record I dont dislike Varly by any means. I think he has a great personality, seems to be quite well liked in the dressing room and the fan base in general seem to like him a lot. I would also attribute a large part of why the Avs have become a very Russian friendly team to Varly and the positive experiences we've had with him since he joined us and the mentor role he seems to have taken on with the young Russian players we've brought in(As remember, before getting Varly the Avs almost never drafted or traded for Russian players and now we do it more than any other team in the league pretty much).


His numbers are decent and I'm not suggesting hes a trash goalie by any means. But the numbers have shown for a very long time now that he is simply inconsistent and me personally I would prefer a goalie who doesn't have the same highs as what Varly can have, but also doesn't experience the same lows as Varly does either. And I hope and believe Grubauer or Francouz(Frankie is honestly who my money is on) will provide that improved consistency going forward.


I think the "Trade Varlamov" camp arises more from people who can see the writing on the wall. Grubauer was not brought in to be a backup goalie for 3 more years. Otherwise he wouldn't have signed an extension with us and if he was ok being a backup he wouldn't have left Washington either.


Grubauer as of now is the plan for the future. And Francouz is the planned backup. Plans change but that's definitely how the Avs see it right now, despite what certain posters and their "sources" may suggest.

I'm not saying he's been constantly awesome - and he's not as good as the Avs need him to be right now - but I think you're ignoring the team playing in front of him here. I've seen many games stolen by him and only few which were lost because of him.

However, I also think you're right and the Varlamov era will come to an end soon. Not because of his inconsistency (I don't think he's more inconsistent than the average NHL goalie) but because of injury concerns and because of Grubauer and Francouz. I can't see them trading Grubauer (although he's not starter material imo) and I think the Avs want to keep Francouz who probably won't play another season in the AHL.

 

[Piestany88]

I'm not saying he's been constantly awesome - and he's not as good as the Avs need him to be right now - but I think you're ignoring the team playing in front of him here. I've seen many games stolen by him and only few which were lost because of him.

However, I also think you're right and the Varlamov era will come to an end soon. Not because of his inconsistency (I don't think he's more inconsistent than the average NHL goalie) but because of injury concerns and because of Grubauer and Francouz. I can't see them trading Grubauer (although he's not starter material imo) and I think the Avs want to keep Francouz who probably won't play another season in the AHL.

Francouz is a free agent and another team might offer him more . No guarantee he will sign.