Reply With QuoteThere are some quality backups out there, it wouldn't surprise me if they signed someone, or even went with Sabourin, I think he is still signed.
Neuvirth and Holtby
Does anyone know what the Caps are planning to do with Holtby next year? Now that Varlamov is gone will they bring in a veteran back up or roll with Neuvirth and Holtby.
There are some quality backups out there, it wouldn't surprise me if they signed someone, or even went with Sabourin, I think he is still signed.
my opinion is they run 1a/1b and i think that holtby becomes 1a after an injury to neuvirth
10 Team Salary Cap Keeper League-protect up to 15
Total of points and +/-; position vs. position (ie. my 2 Centres vs. his 2 Centres)
C -Crosby, Ribeiro, Strome, Granlund
LW -Neal, Nyquist, Johansson, TBD
RW -Coyle, Eberle, TBD, TBD
D -Streit, Phaneuf, Green, Keith, Letang, TBD
G -S. Mason, TBD
Neuvy is the CLEAR starter. Holtby's body of work isn't nearly as good as Neuvy's at this point in time and Washington will want to get Holtby as many starts as possible, meaning that they'll use a veteran backup in the NHL and put Holtby in Hershey.
GO WINGS!
I would agree with you except for two factors. First, Bruce Boudreau is so reliant on the "hot hand" and competition that I would expect him to want both players available on a nightly basis. And second, they are already so tightly against the cap that I don't think they'll want to waste what little room they have left on another contract that they hope not to need. That's why I didn't like the Hamrlik signing... they may really wish that they had some of that $3.5M when the trade deadline comes around.Originally Posted by sentium
T.G.
I've been saying this for awhile now (that I think Holtby will start in Hershey and Neuvirth will start in Washington). Glad to see I'm not the only one that thinks so
THey just signed Chris Bourque and they do not yet have Brouwer signed. THey have essentially zero room under the cap ... and will likely have to move some $$
Last edited by Saskpool; July 2, 2011 at 3:20 PM.
A true Blackhawk fan for 30 + years
they had all last season to grab a back-up. i think holtby impressed enough to stay. no way he stays in hershey if he starts there.
10 Team Salary Cap Keeper League-protect up to 15
Total of points and +/-; position vs. position (ie. my 2 Centres vs. his 2 Centres)
C -Crosby, Ribeiro, Strome, Granlund
LW -Neal, Nyquist, Johansson, TBD
RW -Coyle, Eberle, TBD, TBD
D -Streit, Phaneuf, Green, Keith, Letang, TBD
G -S. Mason, TBD
here here!
I see those two splitting starts.
G,A,+/-,PPP,SHP,GWG,H,BS,W,SV%,SA,SO
12 Man H2H Salary Keeper League
C - S.Crosby/S.Monahan/G.Landeskog(lw)/W.Karlsson
LW- T.Hall/B.Rust(lw)/N.Hoglander
RW - J.Guentzel(lw)/ T.Tatar(lw)/J.Pulujaarvi/K.Kapanen(lw)
D - B.Burns/E.Karlsson/M.Heiskanen/J.Carlson
G - I.Sorokin/I.Shesterkin/T.Demko/C.Peterson/C.Talbot
Farm - C.Primeau/P.Kochetov/C.Caufield/E.Svechnikov
The numbers they've posted might disagree with you.
G,A,+/-,PPP,SHP,GWG,H,BS,W,SV%,SA,SO
12 Man H2H Salary Keeper League
C - S.Crosby/S.Monahan/G.Landeskog(lw)/W.Karlsson
LW- T.Hall/B.Rust(lw)/N.Hoglander
RW - J.Guentzel(lw)/ T.Tatar(lw)/J.Pulujaarvi/K.Kapanen(lw)
D - B.Burns/E.Karlsson/M.Heiskanen/J.Carlson
G - I.Sorokin/I.Shesterkin/T.Demko/C.Peterson/C.Talbot
Farm - C.Primeau/P.Kochetov/C.Caufield/E.Svechnikov
Nope, I don't buy that. I went back to the start of Boudreau's coaching tenure in Washington and checked out injuries and goalie starts combined with what I rememeber from each season. Check it out for yourself if you want to. ESPN's schedule pages for each team is pretty good for this and TSN logs player injuries.
07/08: Kolzig the clear starter, Brent Johnson got to play two games in a row once. Then when Huet was brought in he was the clear starter. Huet was the clear starter in the postseason as well.
Verdict: Played the clear starter, not the hot hand.
08/09: Theodore was the clear starter and Johnson got a five game streak in early November, otherwise he never got more than two games a couple of times. Neuvy and Varly got three and five starts respectively on single nights because of injuries to Theo or Johnson. Varly took over in the postseason because Theodore sucked complete ass, not because Varly was the hot hand.
Verdict: Played the clear starter, not the hot hand.
09/10: Theodore started out as the clear starter. Neuvy got eight starts out of ten straight games in late Dec/early Jan when Varly was injured, until he stunk it up and Theodore took over again. Some stray injury issues throughout the rest of the season, but Theodore continued getting the bulk of the starts. Neither Varly nor Neuvy had more than two games strung together after the beginning of January. Theodore, again, started the playoffs as the clear starter, stunk it up in two games and Varly came back in after not having played a string of games for the whole season.
Verdict: Played the clear starter, not the hot hand.
10/11: Neuvy was the clear starter to start the season. Holtby and Varly got a combined three starts until Nov 22 when Neuvy went down and Varly took over for four wins. After that Washington started their abysmal losing streak and Neuvy/Varly took turns losing. After the new year Boudreau rode the hot hand for the ONLY time in four seasons, with Varly, Neuvy and Holtby each getting a few stringed-together starts on different occasions. Neuvy played seven of the last eleven games and was the clear starter in the playoffs.
Verdict: Played the clear starter for the first half of the season and at the very end and inbetween that he had a two and a half month stretch where he played the hot hand. He also publically stated that he would play the hot hand because they had a unique situation with three good young goalies and they needed to know who would be right for the playoffs.
Where are they now? Neuvy is the clear starter because he ended the season as that and he's the more experienced goalie, while at the same time the Caps want Holtby to get as many starts as possible. Getting a cheap, veteran backup can be achieved by moving a contract, which is likely because both McPhee and Leonsis have been very vocal about the Caps making several trades to change the makeup of the team.
GO WINGS!
A handful of games at the NHL level isn't NEARLY a good enough statistical base. Besides, as good as Holtby was during those callups and strings of starts, it was clear to everyone that he still needs a lot more seasoning.
Neuvy's a proven big game winner who consistently elevates himself in the playoffs and won the AHL playoff MVP trophy apart from shining at the junior level as well.
Yes, Holtby is a good young goalie, but Neuvy has a clear edge simply because he's older and has more experience. That's not to say that Holtby won't be better than Neuvy, but at this point in time, Neuvy is clearly ahead of Holtby.
GO WINGS!
Yeah I dunno Sent, I'd love to see the kind of stability you're predicting but I was in DC throughout those early years, and it was actually a very public "how to we justify paying Theodore without starting him" / golden boy situation more than anything else. Huet was just 13 games and gave the team no reason not to continue playing him, and as much as we're talking about Neuvirth as the established starter now, he wasn't named playoff starter until basically the night of, and Holtby actually had a far better (if, as you say, non-representative sampled) record against winning teams. Yes, Neuvirth is clearly the opening night starter, and I'll be glad to be wrong about this one... but for now I'll just have to believe in DC goaltending stability when I see it.
Last edited by Thieving Giraffe; July 2, 2011 at 4:10 PM.
T.G.
My gut says that they'll keep Holtby in the AHL except for when injuries happen or to give him a cup of coffee to see where he's at. Then IF he gets a callup I need a few things to coincide for him to become the starter.
Neuvy needs to have sucked badly for a long time. Holtby needs to play lights out consistently. That's what's needed when he's the underdog in the duel and he IS the underdog right now.
Another important factor is that both are young and I think Washington wants some veteran experience and stability in the goalie dynamic.
Just my hunches.
GO WINGS!
I would love to see this happen. I'm pretty thrilled that they brought Olie Kolzig back as goaltending coach this season. He and Dave Prior will be a great team - my recollection is that they always got along quite well - and even if Holtby's not there throughout the season, hopefully he'll get the chance to work with them during callups and training camp.
T.G.
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