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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- seven of those meaningless regular season goals were game winners tying him for fifth place.
— yantastic - Comparing Bobrovsky and Niittymaki is completely off base. In Niittymaki's 6 seasons in the NHl his highest save % is .912, best GAA is 2.71 and highest amount of wins is 23. Bobrovsky in his rookie season mind you had 28 wins, .915 save % and 2.59 GAA. People tend to forget that Bobrovsky has never played on a North American style rink until this year, and didn't know a lick of English while also dealing with the cultural shock of being in a totally different country at 22 years old.— Yardley327
Comment removed.- I am DESPERATELY hoping this is just some pandering and smoke and mirrors from Holmgren. If they don't get a goalie who can solidly play 50 or so games next season then they will be exactly like the Sixers. Good, but never good enough. Always going in a circle. I am cool with Bob becoming the man, but not for a few years. He needs to be brought along. He is not Pelle or Bernie or Hexy. Don't ruin him.— ragecage22
- I would trade Carter, either straight up for Quick or for Bernier and a high draft pick ...either that or trade him to LA for a first and second round pick, then take the salary saved and sign Bryzgalov in free agency.— richieformvp
- Try to sign Bryzgalov, as he can mentor Bob. If they trade Bob, that would be a huge mistake. He will definitely be a top tier goaltender in a few years. Goalies don't hit their peaks until they're older. Yes, Miller and Vokoun have made great saves, but where are they right now?— NYluvsPhylers
- I think Bobrovsky is the goaltender of the future; he's got to go through the growing pains. Make him the starter, and I would pick Boucher to be the backup. Leighton's back issues make me think he's not the guy, and he might end up back in Albany. Either way, the defense is the big problem for the Flyers, and I assume they will address that matter in the off-season.— MidStaterUXB
- BOUCHER— Howard32
- 'Bob' to the Devils for Marty Brodeur.
J. Eriksson and A. Morrison will be up in 2/3 years.— Romus - Let Bobrovsky have a full season in the AHL to learn the North American game better, get some more confidence, and SIGN TOMAS VOUKON!! Bob isn't ready to be a 50-60 game workhorse. Out of all those pads Bob is skinnier than Ryan Miller, who sheds about 10-15 pounds as his season wears on. The days when Bernie Parent could play 70 games in a season and Hextall playing close to that are over. Bernie played a lot but faced 15-16 shots a game, many from long range. Bob-Boucher faced anywhere from 25 shots on up. I think we already saw Bob break down from overuse (remember those 10 straight starts?). A talented, season, tested veteran is the answer. I rather have Voukon than the Coyoetes goalie or the untested backups from Nashville and Vancouver.— phillyfandc
- What I don't understand is why the Flyers have strayed from what had been their foundation. When the team was created in 1967-68 the first two players selected in the expansion draft were Bernie Parent and Doug Favell. The team knew then that good goaltending was important and could hide a multitude of offensive-defensive sins. Somewhere along the line some genius in the front office concluded that goalies were too tempremental or too expensive. The result, the goalie carousel we've had since Hextall retired. It's time to get off the merry-go-round and get a real netminder. Maybe even exhume Jacques Plante if that's what it takes.— phillyfandc
I bet Bob comes back next season with a better grasp of the English language and he'll be better at handling the puck behind the net. He's got all summer to practice.— ej610- Yardley - I was merely implying that their styles and potential are similar. I am sure any way you frame your argument through statistics would undoubtedly dispute my opinion. However, you don't have enough of a sample size. Additionally, this Flyers team had the best regular season in recent memory. So good, in fact, that even Boucher's statistics were above average. I recommend watching the game instead reading the box scores/stats. Bobrovsky is not the answer for this team. He is just more of the same.— UncleEddie
- Commenting on the article, yes every goalie will give up goals no matter who they are and how good they are, but it's the soft ones that make a huge difference. Maybe those other goalies don't stop Chara's laser, but I'll tell you everyone of them will stop the Kane goal, or anyone of those other goals in the Boston series.
Wow, did anyone watch BOB AFTER the first 15 wins? Teams figured him out and realized the can score EVERYTIME if they shoot high. I don't know what koolaide all of you are drinking but can't I have some? Bob has great potential but needs to change parts of his style, PERIOD. He also needs to do some time in the AHL to work on his skills. If you watch him hi isn't very good when players crash the net because he hasn't, doesn't and can't seem to hold the post.
I think Leighton is better than Boucher, Boosh has slowed down too much, not to mention that he is a lifetime backup.
I say get starter, dump Boosh, use Leighton/Backlund as a backup and have Bob spend some time in the AHL, to hopefully hone his revised style.— LAFlyer - Get a goalie. A real honest-to-god goalie. Otherwise whatever they do is just a waste of time and money.— Jerome99RIP
