How bad has this season been for Lehtonen? How about 60th in GAA, 62nd in SV%, and are you ready for it......89th in GA. That Duck poisoning is some nasty shit.....
Your beer mug isn't half-empty, your just half-way to the next refill.....
12 team H2H Most Cats Wins; Keep 6/winner keeps 7; G A PPP +/- SHP SOG HIT BLK PIM // W SV GAA SV% SHO
3 C, 3 LW, 3 RW, 6D, 2G, 5 bench
C - McDavid, Crosby, Tavares
LW - DeBrincat
RW - Meier, Miller
D -
G - Jarry
That contract is going to be hard to unload. I really think the Stars are stuck at this point, for better or worse, with Kari. Nill keeps saying they have faith in him. But how much is faith and how much is cold hard realization that they're tied to each other because of that deal that Nieuwendyk handed him? We'll see as we get closer to draft day and free agency. As far as Kari goes, only Kari can fix Kari at this point. His struggles I think stem from that Game 6 against Anaheim.
I'd like to see them deal for a young backup who has starter potential, Martin Jones for one, that can challenge Kari. At least someone who can take on a 1A/1B role with Lehtonen if not a kid like Jones to push out Lehtonen. Campbell may yet be that guy, but I'm not at all sold.
What they decide to do with the assistants, in this case Mike Valley will factor in too. He's the one constant in this carousel behind Kari. It's hard to fathom that both Nieuwy and Nill are this crap at finding backups. Maybe Valley is sent packing or maybe they give him a chance to figure out what's wrong with his system? I'm betting on a major house cleaning among the assistants and Valley's head will be among them.
I do think they will overhaul the D but I don't think you'll see them move both Daley and Goligoski. Daley would be easier to move given his contract, and say what you will about him, I'd much rather have Goli back there than Daley. Perfect world they're both gone, but that's not likely.
Jordie Benn is another that's high on fans lists to pack his bags, though they have found a niche for him as a 7th D. He's been serviceable when they keep him buried on the third pairing and limit his minutes. That said he's UFA so he may walk or they'll let him walk, either way I think he's gone. Yeah his brother is there but he takes a ton of shit from the fans, so Jamie's presence may not be enough to keep him from going elsewhere if there's interest. He'll never be able to win with the fans at this point, the relationship is pretty sour from the fans point of view, so he moves on if he can find a taker for his services.
Nill has hinted that he feels with their prospect depth on D that a couple of them, most likely Jokipakka or Oleksiak could be moved. Nill didn't name those two, that's my supposition, but he has said some of them could be moved. Pair them with one of Daley or Goli and maybe they can pry loose a good D. My own opinion, I think they have their #1 D right in house with Mr. Klingberg, so that's not what they need to focus on when looking to upgrade the D. Getting solid defensively responsible D is the priority.
It's going to be a fun offseason to watch as the Stars are in a good place and with the right moves they are positioned to make some noise in the next couple of years. They just need to solve a few key issues and the puzzle will start to come together with patience and experience.
Your beer mug isn't half-empty, your just half-way to the next refill.....
Mike Heika's piece on what he calls "The Lehtonen Conundrum".
Your beer mug isn't half-empty, your just half-way to the next refill.....
WTF Daley? 1 player single-handedly eliminated my comfortable lead in +/-.
I am a Lehtonen sufferer too. Thankfully, I benched him and actually dropped him to my minor league roster. Stalock this week will really help out.
10 Team, 60 Player Roster
G, A, PTS, PPP, PIM, BLKs, Hits, +/-, Shots, W, GAA, SV%, Saves
C- JHughes, Trocheck, RThomas, Zegras, Norris, Bennett, PLD, Stephenson, Danualt
RW- Raymond, Stone, TWilson, Toffoli, KJohnson, Nyqvist, Zary
LW- Keller, Schmaltz, Bunting, Skinner, Barbashev, Duclair
D- QHughes, McAvoy, Doughty, Heiskanen, LHughes, Mintyukov
G- Shesterkin, Demko, Andersen, Kahkonen, Levi, Tarasov, Annunen
Notable Prospects- Nikishin, Kulich, Leonard, Wood, Perreault, Lekkermaki, Ostlund, Othmman, REvans, L-Heureux, Ivanov, Murashov
How did Nichushkin look in his first game back?
Limited minutes (at least early), but got on the board!
Points-only, Full Keeper Dynasty League
Active roster (no starts, just total points): 12 FW, 6 D, 1 Goalie
Forwards: Kucherov, Barkov, Teravainen, Seguin, Hoffman, Lindholm, Gusev, Horvat, Meier, Perron, Schwartz, Johansen, Pavelski, Buchnevich, Hischier, Granlund, Bracco
Defense: Josi, Dahlin, Letang, Gostisbehere, Ekman-Larsson, Petry, Slavin, Keith, Matheson
Goal: Lehner, Holtby, Varlamov
Farm: Soderstrom, York, Woo, Tracey, Dorofeyev
Your beer mug isn't half-empty, your just half-way to the next refill.....
Your beer mug isn't half-empty, your just half-way to the next refill.....
"So do you blame Lehtonen, who has a sparkling 34-17-10 record, but ranks 26th among No. 1 goalies in goals against average at 2.94 and 27th in save percentage at .903? Or do you blame a team that is 0-14-0 when the back-up goalie starts?"
Wow. Yeah, I feel this is a team problem.
12 team H2H Most Cats Wins; Keep 6/winner keeps 7; G A PPP +/- SHP SOG HIT BLK PIM // W SV GAA SV% SHO
3 C, 3 LW, 3 RW, 6D, 2G, 5 bench
C - McDavid, Crosby, Tavares
LW - DeBrincat
RW - Meier, Miller
D -
G - Jarry
It's complicated. There are far, far too many times when the defense hangs the goalies out to dry. They'll make a bonehead mistake in coverage or a turnover deep in their zone and Kari or Enroth can't possibly make a save. Then there's nights where the defense is playing good, great even, and the goalies are allowing marshmallow softies in or goals from crazy impossible angles. It's a which came first the chicken or the egg situation. Personally I think it's time for fried chicken with a side of scrambled eggs.
With Dallas' offense all that's needed is competent goaltending and team defense and the Stars will make noise. Of course fixing those two issues is much easier said then done. This much I do know, I don't envy Jim Nill his job as he tries to sort things out.
Your beer mug isn't half-empty, your just half-way to the next refill.....
It's jason spezza hockey. Can't believe they signed him.
Ev, you should stick to Senator propoganda...