Bobrovsky: Goaltender of future?
Daily News Flyers blog
Bobrovsky: Goaltender of future?
PART 1 OF FLYERS’ OFFSEASON RECAP: Goaltending
If there is one aspect of the Flyers’ goaltending situation for next season that is settled, it is that Sergei Bobrovsky will be in the mix. That much is certain.
Few have ever doubted Bobrovsky’s talent since he first arrived in Philadelphia last September as an unknown commodity.
Now, the only question that Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren will wrestle with this summer, is if he has the patience to allow a young goaltender like Bobrovsky time to continue to develop in front of a team that is built to win now.
“I like Sergei a lot,” Holmgren said during his annual breakup meeting with the media on Tuesday. “I think he is a good kid, and a tremendously young goaltender in our league. How that plays out down the road, in terms of when he will be the number 1 goalie? Which I do believe he will, I don’t know.
“Could it be next year? There was a time this year [when he was], so I think we just have to see how things play out over the summer. But I am very excited about Sergei as a goaltender, and being a part of our organization.”
Holmgren acknowledged that he does not view this current team, as it is assembled, on a time window.
“We still have a core of players that have a lot of years left,” Holmgren said. “I don’t know what the window is, to be honest with you.”
Peter Laviolette said on Monday that he agreed he would like to have a goaltender that he would not have to guess his way through – or one that he would need to change on a consistent basis. Laviolette seems like the type of coach to want to stick with one player repeatedly, or until he has no other option.
What Holmgren needs to ask himself is whether he is willing to ship out a big part of this nucleus (i.e. one of Jeff Carter or Mike Richards) in order to make room for a marquee goaltender.
Tomas Vokoun (Florida) and Ilya Bryzgalov (Phoenix) are just a few of the names on the market this summer. Every indication out of Vancouver is that many believe Cory Schneider, Roberto Luongo’s backup, is ready to assume a No. 1 role immediately. Some say Anders Lindback (Nashville) is ready for a starting job as Pekka Rinne's clone.
“Obviously, that is something that needs to be discussed,” Holmgren said. “I think we have to take a look at some things. As I said, I am extremely excited about Sergei and confident that he is a goaltender in the future. I think Peter’s response to you probably had Sergei in the equation too, so I think we are all extremely high on him. We are always looking try to make ourselves better, at every position, so that is what we will continue to do. The idea here is to win a Stanley Cup. We fell short this year and last year.”
Truthfully, the Flyers do not have to go out and acquire any goaltender for next season. Bobrovsky has two years left on his entry-level deal. Michael Leighton ($1.6 million) is under contract for one more season. And Johan Backlund, who struggled through an injury last summer which affected his season, has the final year of his contract flip-flop to a one-way NHL deal starting in July.
“Both of those guys are unique in their situations,” Holmgren said. “Johan [Backlund] had a hip issue last year that he struggled with even at the start of this year. He really didn’t start playing a lot until the end of the season and started playing good at the end of the year. I think it’s a big summer for Johan to see where he fits in. He needs to come to training camp and basically try to win a job.
“And Michael Leighton, his situation is probably not all that different than Johan. He played in one game this year in L.A. and we won 7 to 4. At that point, we made a decision that he needed to go down and work on his game, which he did. When he came back to the team, he played a little bit of the one game, the overtime loss, I thought he played good. Then he got his chance to start and he didn’t play good. He is sort of in the same boat as Johan. I think Michael’s got to, with the hip surgery he needs, he’s got to be around here all summer, working with our medical staff and our training staff to get that strength and to get ready for training camp. I think he’s probably going to want a job in training camp too.”
For me, I am not one to place all of the blame on the Flyers’ misfortune in the playoffs squarely on the shoulders of Boucher, Bobrovsky, et al. Boucher had nearly a 95 percent save percentage in the first round. What more can you ask? Each goaltender had hiccups where they gave up bad goals. That will happen. But the Flyers got through it.
Against Boston, could Boucher have played better? Absolutely. But the goals that were scored – see Zdeno Chara’s laser from the middle of the slot – would still be scored on Bryzgalov, Vokoun or even Jacques Plante. No goaltender, top notch or not, will stop those point-blank opportunities.
But now… the Flyers are at a crossroads. Only Holmgren can decide if the juice is worth the squeeze.
PART 2 ON THURSDAY: The free agents
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I truly hope they do have the patience with Bob. He has grown so much this season and can only get better. Talented and exciting to watch. Don't do something insane, Holmgren.— ecnewman- I wish he grew during the season, as maybe then he would have stopped the never-ending parade of shots over his shoulders.
move a salary to make room and sign the blackhawks' corey crawford to an offer sheet.— kdub13- Thomas stopped point-blank opportunities.....so did Miller— philly thug
- for Holmer to say there is "no window" is to continue the MADNESS. If you want to keep gambling, and paying top dollar to max out the cap, every year trading top picks and paying for high profile vets, to put a playoff contender on the ice, and end up with a decent team who gets knocked out in the 2nd round, then you will always miss out on the TOP goalie in the draft, or Towes, or Kane, or Malkin. Make a deadline, keep the core, evaluate the rest, and move pieces to win now. Despite the claim the Flyers are all about winning now, they're really not. Because Tampa Bay did it as an expansion team, went through their down cycle, ramped back up with Stamkos (plus the older core), and got Roloson (lots of luck combined with a reasonably smart decision). Wham. Conference Finals. Chicago is in the same boat now. Stop these no trade, long-term contracts. Also, the bigger problem is about talent evaluation. Carter and Richards are not Crosby and Malkin. They're not even Staal and Malkin. JVR and Giroux are not Kane & Towes. And how about Franzen and Datsuyk. No trade for Hartnell? The best thing they can do with Bob is tell him he'll have a shot next year. I would go after a goalie who has 1) won the cup or 2) been in the playoffs and drafted in top 1-2 rounds and nominated for Vezina...Voukon is not the answer on paper. Period. Let Bob fight for a backup spot and see how he does while you TRADE up and draft another (1-3) top goalie prospect (s). Repeat until you have multiple Cups.— MichaelZoe
- yes, the distant future (meaning 2-3 years from now)Get a #1 now, our window of opportunity with Pronger, Timonen and Briere is running out— debbyt
- When I look at Bobrovsky, I only see another Nittymaki. The Flyers owe it to their fans to look in the mirror and realize that, for whatever reason, the organizational mindset/scouting of goaltenders just isn't working. Their belief in Bobrovsky, Boucher Leighton, Backlund et al. simply is not good enough anymore. This organization owes it to their fans to go out and acquire a goalie from another organization that can step in next year and help this team win a Cup ASAP.— UncleEddie
- Richards or Carter arent going anywhere nor should they..Is Carter the most tradebale? Sure he is but he is good for 30G's a year. Not to mention the fact he just sign a very lucrative and long contract. He has a NTC that kicks in next season. Richards is the Captain so I would be shocked if he got traded. However Flyers would do themselves some good by getting rid of Hartnell, Carcillo, Shelley and maybe upgrade on D.— shanehockey28
- Carter doesn't have a NTC in his contract — Yardley327
- I stand corrected, from TSN
While Carter is not eligible for a 'no-trade' clause in his contract for the first year, he has a full 'no-trade' clause for years two through four. After that he has a modified clause for the remainder of the contract's duration.— Yardley327 - Does Carter have a clause that allows him to step up and score goals in the playoffs when it counts? Meaningless regular season goals mean, well, nothing. — michaeldhockeyguy
- I see what you're saying Michael but in order to get players like Crosby, Malkin, Toews then you need a Top pick maybe 2 if lucky. I dont imagine that sitting well with fans. JVR is turning out to be a very good player. Besides Kane is punk would.— shanehockey28
- someone said corey crawford, ha!!.... Anyway. We dont need to trade cartter or richards for a goalie. First off no goalie to get in a trade anyway. Voukon is 35. Cap in NHL is expected to rise by 3 million. zherdev is 1million gone, odonell 1 million gone, carcillo 800k gone, boucher 1.3 gone. We need to try to move Hartnell and have him waive the no trade clause. Go after Briener in a trade if needed but bob is the future, but future isnt now.— fman727
- Please show Jeff Carter the door...I'd gladly say goodbye to his 30 goals/season to acquire a stud goalie. Besides, when it matters most (see playoffs) he is a no-show. The time to party is after you win the cup, not every night of the week during the season.— geebee
- Exactly....Meaningless Regular season goals...he does not play playoff hockey and has peaked..he won't get any better... — michaeldhockeyguy
