Gus, Skinner or Kochetkov?

[jimc21]

My goalies are a nightmare. Shesterkin has been getting killed lately, Vas is as likely to give up 6 goals as he is to pitch a shutout, and I can't figure out Kochetkov. He got pulled last night after giving up 3 goals on 6 shots. I need someone who's half-way reliable until Vas and Shesterkin find their stride. Should I drop Kochetkov and grab either Skinner or Gus? Both seem to have been on a roll lately. What do you guys think? Will rep! Thanks!

[senryu]

First off, I wish I knew. Everything that follows this is gut-guessing, so take that for what it is.

For both Carolina and Minnesota, whatever defensive structure they had last year just doesn't seem to be there this year. With Minnesota, I attributed that in some part to the loss of Spurgeon, who is a positive difference maker. With Carolina, I attributed that, in part, to human bollard DeAngelo getting minutes. But DeAngelo hasn't been getting minutes recently and Carolina's D has still been awful. Edmonton isn't a defensive team anyway, who didn't have Ekholm for a while. He's back, but he doesn't seem to be 100%.

I have some hope for Minnesota, some hope for Carolina, and little hope for Edmonton, as far as goalie percentage stats. As far as your individual goalies, I like Gus as Minnesota has committed to him. Skinner second, as there are no other choices and they figure to get some offensive wins, even though Skinner won't help your GAA and will probable be a worse percentages goalie than Gus. And Kochetkov last among those three, because if things are going poorly, I'd guess that Carolina would turn more to the veteran Raanta to carry them than putting the burden of turning the team's defense around on the younger Kochetkov. Plus, Carolina can't win games with offense to the same degree that Edmonton can. Also, Carolina's "system" tends to limit shots, which isn't great for the total saves category that you appear to have.

[Shelbs]

First off you can’t give up on Shesterkin or Vasi. Whenever they play you’ve got to start them. Both of them have the track record that proves they will turn their games around.

As for Kochetkov, I would easily drop him for Skinner. The Oilers seem to have righted the ship and he is the beneficiary of all of that. Edmonton is a playoff team and honestly a team that can even possibly contend for the Cup. I would even drop Kochetkov for Gus even though I don’t trust the Minnesota team to continue this hot streak as much as I do with Edmonton. I would prefer Skinner over Gus.