Reply With QuoteI think Leclaire will be given every chance to get the starter role!!! But I really think he will choke! Elliott will not, he's a better goalie that make it look so simple!!!!
Leclaire or Elliott
Pretty simple: Who do you think wins the starter's gig with Ottawa? With his big salary this year and his playoff performance in the final two games, I'd have to think Leclaire will be given every chance to retain his spot. Does either have value in a keeper league?
I think Leclaire will be given every chance to get the starter role!!! But I really think he will choke! Elliott will not, he's a better goalie that make it look so simple!!!!
8 Teams. H2H. G, A, PPG, PPA, SHG, SHA, for Goalie Save %
Line-up weekly:3LW,3RW,3C,6D,1G
43 Players roster,keep 23+5 (-25y and less than 10 games in our league) + 5 prospects( Entry level contract)
LW: Hall, Marleau, Van Riemsdyk, Tatar, Galchenyuk, Ennis, Tanguay
C: Stamkos, Giroux, Nugnet-Hopkins, MacKinnon , Grigorenko, Stastny
RW: Voracek, Stone, Hossa, Pominville, Silfverberg, Jaskin, Connolly, Hemsky, C.Stewart
D: Hedman, Ekman-Larsson, Doughty, Pietrangelo, Fowler, Trouba, Muzzin, Chara, Murray, Beaulieu, Demers
G: Price, Luongo, Hiller, Lehner
Prospect: Duclair, Virtanen, Shinkaruk, Morrow
Simple answer:
Leclaire is a band-aid boy and even though he played well in the playoffs, it was only two games. Yes, he'll be given chances, but so will Elliott. It will be a fun battle.
Elliott is worth owning and I think he's much more durable and suited to carry a heavy workload in today's NHL.
Not to jump this thread, but i'm interested in your thoughts re Lehner and whether or not he's a factor in the LeClaire/Elliott battle this year....and/or 2011-12??
Thanks
@SmittysRant
Simple Answer:
Not this season, but maybe in the 2011-12 season. Even if he starts off in the AHL this season, he could still be sent back to juniors (this is highly likely considering he only has one season with the Greyhounds under his belt) and that means he would need the next season (11-12) to spend in the AHL and then 12-13 would likely be his rookie NHL season. I really hope they don't rush him too quickly...an enthusiastic kid will take anything he gets and that's not always a good thing.
Bringing up the topic of Leclaire again. Now that Rick Wamsley is the goalie coach (I knew it was going to happen ... just one of those things I guess), how does that impact Leclaire's fantasy value heading into the season?? Let's break it down.
http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.ht...id=DL|OTT|home
I would start by reading that article. Pay close attention to the quotes below:
"What he has, you can’t teach," Wamsley said of his former pupil in Columbus. "(Leclaire) is extremely quick, he’s really good side to side and he has good hands. What he needs constant reminders about is how to be a goalie, rather than just trying to stop the puck all the time."
"He has the ability to make the unbelievable save like probably no one else can, but what he needs to do is make the easier saves all the time. Sometimes, he puts himself into positions where it’s tough to recover from or tough to play from. So it’s how do we want to best use what he has to become a successful National Hockey League goalie?"
Wamsley agreed injuries, which have plagued Leclaire through much of his five-year NHL career, have hampered the goaltender's development.
"I think he lost a lot of early development when he got hurt at a young age," said Wamsley. "Injuries are tough at any time but especially when you're trying to establish yourself, it adds extra weight to the injury."
So what does this set of quotes from one of the goalie coaches that knows Leclaire best say about Leclaire's ability to be a top-notch fantasy goalie?
It says to be extremely careful, because you're taking a huge risk.
This a total knock on Leclaire (not on purpose of course), but Wamsley's quote where he says, "...what he needs constant reminders about is how to be a goalie..."
What that means is that Leclaire doesn't have much of a foundation for executing effectively at the NHL level. He's completely all over the place and relies WAYYY too much on reflexes and agility to stop the puck. Leclaire has very little blocking ability.
As I've mentioned millions of times, the best NHL goalies can balance their game with both blocking and reacting styles and abilities. There has to be a healthy balance because, depending on the situation in front of a goalie, the decision (mainly subconsciously) must be made to make a blocking save or react and try to catch or re-direct the puck with gloves or stick. Sometimes it's a pseudo-combination of both in order to effectively make the best save possible in that specific situation.
Leclaire doesn't have a very good understanding of this...or he might have the understanding, but doesn't have the mental toughness (wherewithal) to execute it on a consistent basis.
Because he's prone to guessing and flopping around, he's more prone to injuries. This has been a running theme throughout his career and it has only become more of an issue because some of his past injuries have been quite severe.
None more severe than the meniscus injury. I have ranted and raved about the destruction a meniscus tear can do to a goalie. See Manny Legace, see Leclaire. They are poster boys for meniscus injuries. Leclaire is the most affected by it because he does rely on agility and quickness so much. The ankle injury was another foot in the grave. Tough to recover from and tough to stay polished and refined when you're just focused on re-strengthening those areas of your body. You are going to depend on those muscles and joints less to make saves...and that's a bad thing for Leclaire.
Between my intense coverage of these issues with Leclaire, and now Wamsley's quotes reinforcing all of that coverage ......... WHAT CAN THEY DO TO MAKE LECLAIRE DURABLE??
This is a two-part answer.
1. STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING - Get him in the weight room and work him to death. Like a pack mule in the sahara desert style. Slave away and hope he puts on 10-15 pounds of muscle. This is probably happening right now and could very well be accomplished before training camp begins. This will not only help Leclaire's body and frame, he'll have an extra level of intensity and readiness when training camps open. He was fully healthy last season after having surgery, but he was ultra rusty. He won't be rusty this go-around.
2. UPPER BODY POSITIONING - All issues with Leclaire on the ice stem from his inability to cover the upper portion of the net. We all know he's got elite footspeed, leg work and quickness. So it's all from the waist up. He is way too hunched over. His stance is way too wide. He needs to narrow his stance, which will make him appear slightly taller in the net. Then he'll need to work on STRAIGHTENING his back.
Goalies are burned on a constant basis when they don't have a straight back because it gives the shooter a few extra inches of space and that's all they need. Or a goalie's shoulders are not parallel to the crossbar and one corner is more exposed than the other. When that happens, shooters read it, and goalies are forced to guess.
Playing a refined butterfly style is a series of connected movements that act in a sequence together at a very fast rate. If one piece of that movement is slightly off or not completely balanced, the whole process is janky, inconsistent and leaves a goalie prone to being beat.
Until Leclaire proves he has refined these areas of his game, he will always be the exact same injury-prone, guessing, way-too-reactive goalie. But if anyone can get him to straighten and strengthen up, it's Wamsley.
But that process has to start TODAY. Right now. No time to waste!!!!!
Will it happen? I think there's a good chance you'll see some of these dynamics play out but it won't happen overnight. I think Leclaire will get plenty of opportunities to prove himself, but it cant' just be flashes...it has to be stretches. It has to be a run of 8-10 games where he looks so much more refined that he's able to further gain confidence and develop that durability.
Brian Elliott was able to successfully achieve this two seasons in a row. And he's totally primed to do it a third year in a row. I don't have nearly the same confidence in Leclaire making that happen. But it's definitely a possibility.
With Leclaire only having one year left on his contract, I can see the term "waivers" flying around his name. He's probably good at eating oats and sugar cubes though.Originally Posted by GoalieGuild
Arguably the Sens would be better served to bring Mike Brodeur up and have him provide backup services to Elliot. The Sens are going to be in trouble when it comes to goaltending as their prospects are still looking to be 1b goaltenders, at best.
This, however, may be a product of Bryan Murray.
Robin Lehner?
The only problem with Senators goalies prospects is that it's singular.
Lehner.
And that's it. He's going to be FRIKKEN amazing but they don't have ANYONE else. Barry Brust is it. Brodeur is way too old to be considered a prospect.
I'm glad I handcuffed Lehner in my prospect draft to Elliott whom I took in the nhl player draft in our league
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