Fantasy Mailbag - October 18

[Sprya]

Hi, Justin. You are goalie genius, I think

1. Will the Penguins be happy with Fleury as their No.1 goalie in 3-4 years, if he will play like he did last year (mediocre)? How strong pressure will he have from Curry/Thiessen?

2. Will C.Crawford be the No.1 goalie in Chicago next year? Why?

3. Rank Rask, Bernier, Neuwirth, Varlamov, Fleury, Crawford in 3 years.

4. Your thougths about goalie controversy in Was after early Varlamov's injury and Neuwirth hot start? 60/40 for Neuwirth?

Thanks a lot for doing this!

[GoalieGuild]

Hi, Justin. You are goalie genius, I think

1. Will the Penguins be happy with Fleury as their No.1 goalie in 3-4 years, if he will play like he did last year (mediocre)? How strong pressure will he have from Curry/Thiessen?

2. Will C.Crawford be the No.1 goalie in Chicago next year? Why?

3. Rank Rask, Bernier, Neuwirth, Varlamov, Fleury, Crawford in 3 years.

4. Your thougths about goalie controversy in Was after early Varlamov's injury and Neuwirth hot start? 60/40 for Neuwirth?

Thanks a lot for doing this!

1. Can't see that far into the future. He already won them a Stanley Cup and he's capable of doing it again. What exactly is considered as the Pens being happy with him? Getting to the playoffs? I'm sure the Pens are playoff bound over the next four years, regardless of Fleury's inconsistency during the regular season. The older he gets, the more mature and experienced he becomes. I'm sure they are confident in his ability to win over an extended period of time. Johnson is signed through next season so Curry/Thiessen isn't a threat until 2012-13 at the earliest.

2. No, I don't think so. If anything, he'll be a 1B goalie.

3. Rask, Bernier, Neuvirth, Fleury, Varlamov, Crawford

4. There is no controversy in Washington! When an injury arises, there is no controversy. One goalie is on the shelf, the other one starts and plays until the injured goalie returns. When the injured goalie is healthy, the coach must decide whether or not to continue to ride the goalie that has been playing well or delineate from that. To be honest, if Neuvirth keeps winning, he will continue to get starts until there's a back-to-back. Like I have been saying for close to two years, Neuvirth will be the better long-term goalie and I think 60/40 split for Neuvy is very close to accurate =) But be careful with that word, it's used too loosely. There is no controversy in Washington because Neuvirth is 4-1 and Varlamov is just now healthy. Let's see what happens in tomorrow's game and then go from there!